frankenstein
Title: Frankenstein In 1816, nineteen-year-old Mary Wollestonecraft, her fiancŽ Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and his doctor were assembled in a fine villa in Geneva. The stormy weather kept them inside, so they each decided to make up a ghost story. Mary could not come up with one until one late night after a discussion about modern science and the nature of life. She dreamt up the story of Frankenstein and his monster. This story is entirely in the form of a very long letter from an Englishman named Walton who is on a boat headed for his own country, to his sister. He tells her of the arrival on board of a shipwrecked man, Mr. Frankenstein. Frankenstein tells the long story of the past few years of his life to Walton, who writes them to his sister. Frankenstein, a Genevan, upon arriving at college, becomes fascinated with chemistry and biology. He is especially interested in life. After months of study, he figures out the secret of giving life to dead beings. Frankenstein creates a handsome manlike creature and gives it life. As soon as it rises from its bed, it ceases to be a good-looking human and distorts into an ugly beast. The monster escapes. Frankenstein fears this, but does not tell anybody until it has killed his brother and his good friend Justine has been charged for murder and executed. Frankenstein vows to have his revenge, but when he finds the monster, he learns to what extent he is to be blamed. This novel is a tragic look at the way we judge people. FrankensteinÕs monster learns everything about society from spying on a poor village family. The blind man welcomes him inside and speaks kindly to him. When the others see the monster, they attack him. The monster is a Caliban figure. He is not evil; he is repressed and despised. Like Shakespeare, Shelley puts in his mouth some of the most beautiful speeches of the work. He talks about his disgust with mankind and his own shame. He hates the one who has given him life and wishes he had never come into being. The monster tries to befriend FrankensteinÕs little brother, hoping that he is not yet prejudiced against deformity. But when the lad runs away, the monster kills him out of desperation. The monster is condemned by his creator to live through life entirely alone. He has the sympathy of none. This book, much like the film Jurassic Park, also raises moral questions about "Playing God" and creating life. FrankensteinÕs creation of a monster is a vain attempt at playing the Great Creator. He cannot imagine that God knows more about his Art than he does. This bookÕs viewpoint is similar to that of Wuthering Heights. There are three levels of removement from the action: Walton, Frankenstein, and the Monster. This approach can be confusing at times, but leaves the writing open to interpretation based on who the speaker is and how many times the story has been handed down. The writing is in Victorian style, and reads like Dracula, though it is more continuous. The annoying thing about reading this novel, which I also experienced reading Dracula, is that movies and spoofs have taken away all the surprise from the experience and these tragic figures seem almost comical. Also, for some reason everyone calls the Monster Frankenstein, even though thatÕs really only the name of his creator. Despite this itÕs worth while returning to the original story to see what spurned all those tacky halloween frankenstein masks.