After reading the novel Frankenstein by Mary
Shelley I was so shocked by how amazing the book was I found myself explaining
the story line to anyone who would listen. Not only is there a monster
who kills multiple people but there is also a monster who loses everything in
his search for everything.
I have no
clue where the idea of Igor and Victor working in an underground laboratory in
the lightning came from, because the novel presents none of these
elements. Instead the novel has two murders that are blamed on two
innocent people, a wild goose chase through the Arctic, and love between two
adopted siblings. All of this is tied together with themes of false
godhood, guilt, and good versus evil. The novel also leaves the reader
with one important question: who was the real monster?
Following
gothic themes one would argue that the monster (he isn't given a name) is the
monster. He kills multiple people, including the man who is both his
father figure and creator. He lives in caves and society hates him.
But he also reads works of literature and tries to give goodness back into the
world that has rejected him. He finds himself living near a farm for a
time and helps the family out be giving gifts that he knows they could
use. Once he is rejected once again by society, he just tries to find
someone live himself to accept him, he wants his eve so he can be happy.
Sure, there are arguments (Victor gives many of these) about how once the
monster gets his "wife" he will be happy for a time and then want something
more, but through this comparison Victor compares him to mankind yet treats him
like an animal.
Victor arguably is the real monster. He creates
life and then abandons it, then once he again is confronted with it he tries to
destroy it. The monster kills many of his loved ones, but this is all in
response to being treated like a monster. Is he acting this way because
he wants to, because he has never been taught to act any other way, or because
of self-fulfilling prophesy. If the monster is conscious enough to understand
good and evil, blackmail, motivation, and love and friendship then maybe also
he is conscious enough to be accepted as a human.
-Amanda
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