Not really. That's the popular image of "The Creature" thanks to James Whale and Boris Karloff and the 1931 movie version. But it's miles away from Mary Shelley's creation.
This creature innately tends toward Good (that's how the Romantics and Transcendentalists saw humankind -- go figure!). But then he's launched -- with no helpful or guidance -- into this fallen world.
Your assignment: read chapters 10 - 17. Find a passage, line, phrase, or even word (it's a lectio) that captures your attention. Then expound upon it.
Due date: Friday, February 22nd.
(By the way, if you're looking for something to do over the Winter Break, check out Gods and Monsters. It's a biopic about James Whale, the director of Frankenstein. Starring Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser. Available on Netflix, but not for streaming.)
"Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather a fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed."
ReplyDeleteBefore reading Frankenstein, I always thought about the cliche version of a scary monster. These chapters clearly portray the creature as kind and loving, while the creator seems to be more of a "monster." These particular words stood out to me. The creature is reminding his creator that he came to life because of the creator's actions. Yet, the creator has treated him as an evil burden. I think the biblical context here was very interesting. In the Adam and Eve story, God loves his creation, and gives them everything they could ever want in the garden. Here, the creator does not love his creation but loathes it. The creature says he has been treated as a fallen angel, which is an angel that has been stripped of its wings as punishment. Yet, what did the creature ever do? He did not know any better, and proved through out these chapters that he was able to be taught the way to live and behave. He did not have any "misdeeds," so why is his creator shunning him out of his life? This passage creates a feeling of pity for the creature. He clearly understands how he came to be, and it is unfortunate that his creator does not accept him for who he is, or was. This passage seemed very accurate to how the creature was feeling when he was all alone.
I was also intrigued by the passage(s) speaking of how the creature began to observe the family in the cottage next door. "Yet why were these gentle beings unhappy?" The creature can sense the unhappiness in this family, but can not understand why. This emphasizes his naive personality. "They possessed a delightful house (for such it was in my eyes)and every luxury." He does not understand until later that it is severe poverty that troubles them. The reason this stuck out to me is because everything is relative depending on how you compare it. A tiny cottage in a third world country would seem like a luxury to those who do not know more than that. Yet those accustomed to larger luxuries would find a tiny cottage as a terrible home. The creature was not able to compare the home these people lived in to anything else, and therefore saw a lot of appreciation in what they had. He didn't quite see what they didn't have. That's actually a good outlook on life. You should think about what you do have and not of what you don't.
Yes, I found it interesting how Shelly used the creature like a untarnished lens to view how people live and everything they take for granted. the childlike creature does not understand why people want more because this is a bad trait people seem to develop as they get older.
Delete“I heard of the division of property, of immerse wealth and squalid poverty, of rank, descent, and noble blood. The words induced me to turn towards myself. I learned that the possessions most esteemed by your fellow creatures were high and unsullied descent united with riches. A man might be respected with only one of these advantages, but without either he was considered, except in very rare instances, as a vagabond and a slave, doomed to waste his powers for the profits of the chosen few!”
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading, this seemed to stand out to me. Here we have the creature that came into the world with the mind of an infant. He was eventually forced to live under what I see as a back deck of a cottage and had to learn all about humans through watching and listening to Felix and the others. He had an innocent mind, much like that of an infant, but after his poor experiences with humans he realized the world isn’t all rainbows and daffodils. Unfortunately he found that the harsh truth was that humans are typically very stereotypical and are quick to judge based off appearances. The world was split into the ugly and the beautiful, the dumb and the smart, the rich and the poor. In this case it was talking about social status. In that time, if you didn’t have a lot of money and weren’t of a respected family, you were nothing. It was during these observations where the creature really lost his innocence and learned of the cruel society. He realized that, after seeing himself and recognizing the conditions in which he lived, that he wouldn’t be accepted by most people. He had to remain in hiding and live by his own hand. I find that really disheartening because he was a kind hearted creature who just didn’t know what was “right” by the standards of society. If everyone had his heart and mindset (at that time-I do realize he killed people later on) then the world would be a marvelous place to live. Humans are too judgmental and hypocritical. “Don’t judge a book by its cover”- yet almost everyone does. It’s truly a shame that social statuses dominate such a huge part of life, especially in high school.
The Shelleys are quiet aware of the power of social status. Although born a aristocrat himself, Shelley sympathized with the working man, and felt it his duty to work for the benefit of the latter. It's Mary's book, but her husband's influence is definitely felt.
Delete“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.”
ReplyDeleteLike Martha, I always pictured Frankenstein to be a horrific monster that everyone despised. In these particular pages, I see that he is like a child willing to be taught by his master who doesn’t care about him.
In this quote, we see that his master hates what he has created. He has left Frankenstein to fend for his own in the world. Frankenstein talks about how everyone around him hates him, even his creator. His life is nothing but sadness and despair, but he will still fight for the right to live his life the way he wants to. I feel like a lot of people in the world can connect to this quote because all people want to do is fit in and live the life they want. They don’t want to be hated for being unique, they just want to be accepted for who they are and that’s how Frankenstein feels. In this specific passage (page 102, first paragraph) I feel sorry for Frankenstein. He questions his master and asks haven’t I suffered enough? The image of the Frankenstein I have pictured for so long in my head is now gone and is replaced by a confused individual who just wants to be loved. He is judged on his appearance and not by the character of his personality, and it’s unfortunate that society does that with people too. Even in school, we are taught from an early age not to judge people and yet we do it all the time. It is a character flaw that everyone has and the theme is once again brought up in this book as well.
Hey Anna,
DeleteI totally agree with you about judging. No matter how many times we teach children and even young adults how hurtful it is to judge by appearance, everyone does it! I guess that is one flaw that will never be abolished from human character. The creature in this story had such a kind heart, and yet is not given a fair chance at life due to his appearance. That is wrong, and I am glad the creature comes to terms with the wrongness.
"I am glad the creature comes to terms with the wrongness."
DeleteAre you? On the terms he chooses? (Within the context of this fictional novel, I must confess that empathize with (even condone?) his actions.)
Before actually reading the story, I had been told by my sister that it is a great story. She didn’t tell me anything about it. I had seen the movie, so what I remembered from cartoons and movies about Frankenstein (or, actually, The Creature) was that he was basically a large drooling hunk of meat that killed everything and really had no brains. Right from the start of the reading I realized that this viewpoint was extremely incorrect and that the reality of the story is basically the exact opposite. All the killing was done in an almost childish sense of ill-conceived notions of right and wrong and that revenge would be the best answer. I was also able to see that the Creature was actually quite intelligent in most senses. He had to learn everything, from taking care of his basic needs to language, from the start. He was like a small child without any adult supervision or schooling to teach him anything. This was difficult because he had the issue of his monstrous appearance which scared away all of the local people he met. I was surprised that he was able to learn so much from the people that he spied on in the cabin. In his explanations, he seemed also almost cultured in the way he rationally explained things with even with his minimalistic knowledge of the world. This proved all my stereotypical “Frankenstein” completely wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe line that I found to be the most meaningful to me was located on page 85 in chapter 13. It read: “Was I then a monster,” he asks, “a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned?” This quote seems to demonstrate my point. He doesn’t see himself as the monster that everyone, including Victor, believes him to be. The media plays this up in movies. Yet in his own mind he is not a monster. He has made mistakes and some unethical choices but those were usually done due to lack of knowledge as he tries to solve his problems and pay back others for the wrongs against him. He didn’t understand the culture and why so many people hated and feared him. His appearance made them believe he was some sort of evil monster killing machine, even when his behavior was not violent.
"He was like a small child without any adult supervision or schooling to teach him anything."
DeleteWho always tends toward Good.
“I perceived that the words they spoke sometimes produced pleasure or pain, smiles, or sadness, in the minds and countenances of hearers.”
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein surprised me. I didn't really know what to expect from it. I found it to be deeper and more thought provoking than I anticipated. While reading, I came across this quotation and had to stop and think about it for a minute. I found it fascinating to hear Mary Shelley’s interpretation of human interactions. Imagine arriving in a world where you were unaware of how to speak or comprehend words. It was a compelling thought. The creature could not understand how the moment of your mouth could bring such joy or pain to someone. In my life experience I have found that it is not the physical pain that hurts. Physical pain is temporary. It is the emotional pain that scars you.
However, I found that even though the creature was not able to communicate with other beings yet he still experienced a full range of emotions. He knew that the family was happy and that brought joy to him. He knew feelings of sadness. Most of all he knew feelings of loneliness. He knew more than anything that he wanted love and compassion and someone to care for him.
I wondered what emotions and to what extremes you would experience emotions if you were not able to interact with other humans and were never taught anything. The creature was able to experience emotions because they are not something that are taught to you. In fact, most of the time we are just taught how to better control them.
I thought the creature was a very relatable character. I am sure that most people imagined how difficult it would be to not have anyone to talk to. It would just be like watching a television show on the couch. There is no one else beside the characters in that one show. You desperately want to involve yourself in their lives because that is all you know and all you care about, but you know that no matter what happens it is just impossible.
I thought it was a flawless display of human character when, instead of seeking more revenge and attempting to kill his creator, he asked him to creature a woman like him. It demonstrated how violence and revenge would never fill the gap in the soul that was meant for love.
The creature in this story gives a perfect example of the desires of the human spirit. I think it captured many of the feelings of a human outcast in our society.
So, first and foremost, to be human is to experience all manner of emotions?
Delete"As i read...I applied much personally to my feelings and condition. I found myself similar yet at the same time stangely unlike to the beings concerning whom I read and to whose conversation I was a listener" - The "Demon"
ReplyDeleteThis QUOTATION has a significant double meaning to me. As we have discussed in class before, when you read a piece of literature, each student sees their own "barn." Your experiences and personal interpretations of the words before you shape what you draw from the literary work. The demon's feelings of sadness and wonder from reading the books he find are shaped by his lonely life and longing to get along with regular men. In class when we were talking about "Kubla Kahn" our group thought that it was a journey through life while others thought that it was a biblical reference or other things. This just goes to show how differently you can perceive a work of literature.
The quotation spoken by the demon also highlights another thing about reading that intrigues me. You can feel connected to a character in a poem, movie, or novel no matter how different your physical circumstances are. For instance, in "Frankenstein," the demon sympathizes and weeps for the characters in the books that he reads, yet he realizes that there are "none to lament his annihilation" and wonders why he lives if he is so gigantic and ugly. One of my favorite series I read as a kid was the "Pendragon" series. It was about a teenager who traveled through time and space in foreign worlds to save the universe. What i liked so much about it was that, at first, he was a normal teenager who liked a girl and played basketball and had a family. I could understand where he came from, and I felt his confusion and sense of helplessness when he was blindly sent into this battle for the entire universe.
“‘Now is the time! Save and protect me! You and your family are the friends whom I seek. Do not you desert me in the hour of trial!’” This quotation really stuck with me, and I felt like it really wrapped up everything. Like others have said in their responses, I also have always pictured the book Frankenstein to be about some scary, man destroying monster. As these chapters go on you find out that he was a little like that towards the end but only because society hadn’t accepted him and couldn’t look past his horrific looks. The creature created was kind and wanted to get to know the people around him and learn from the world. It’s awful that whenever people would see him they would immediately run and think he was going to kill or hurt them. In the quote from above, the creature is finally talking to a man who was actually listening to him but the man was also blind. The man couldn’t see how he looked, he could only judge the creature by what he said. I believe the blind man, De Lacey, was started to realize that the creature was a nice person with a kind and honest heart and didn’t mean any harm. However, when the rest of his family gets home and they see the creature they quickly kick him out and don’t even let him have a chance to defend himself. The creature which is faster, stronger and as good or better than a normal man, finds himself trying to have a brittle old blind man defend him. He’s “supposed” to be harmful and mean but instead is found relying on the blind man to not judge his looks and to accept him. I feel like this line sort of relates to reality too. A lot of people in this world are stereotyped for their looks. Whether they are white or black, ugly or pretty. Many people don’t get to know a person before they make their assumptions just like what happens to the creature. I think that it’s sad that this is what the world is coming to. We shouldn’t care what a person looks like. We should go off the sole reason of their personality and who they are as a person. Frankenstein has a life lesson that is very valuable to the world. People or “creatures” shouldn’t have to hid because of what they look like, the world should see them for their personality and accept them.
ReplyDelete“As yet I looked upon crime as a distant evil; benevolence and generosity were ever present before me, inciting within a desire to become an actor in the busy scene where so many admirable qualities were called forth and displayed”
ReplyDeleteReading the few chapters of this book that we read, I feel much sorrow for the creature. Society has labeled “Frankenstein” as a brute unintelligent monster with no emotions or remorse. This is totally false seeing as Frankenstein is the man who created the creature. Also, the creature is extremely both intelligent and emotional. While somehow managing to seemingly master language, speech, and reading, he also feels great sorrow and loneliness for being abandoned by his creator, and later on, all mankind.
Being a deformed monstrosity, one might expect the creature to be a big ball of negativity and hatred. However, learning about his story, it really makes me appreciate the creature. This passage reveals the true nature of the creature- he is purely good and strives for excellence. He praises good deeds and benevolence while simultaneously shunning crime. Being a “monster” that was abandoned by his creator and beaten by the village people, he’s surprisingly upbeat. The desire to become an actor reveals multiple aspects of the creature’s persona. For one, he appreciates the great qualities that all people look up to and wishes to acquire these qualities. Celebrities are often looked up to as all powerful, perfect Gods and he appreciates the great qualities they possess. Also, it shows how deeply he wishes for acceptance, particularly from Frankenstein. Everyone likes actors and celebrities and he wishes for people to like him too. He feels extremely lonely being abandoned by his creator and seeks his approval. The creature is truly not bad. At least at this point in time he isn’t.
This passage, and the revelation of the creature’s morals, both make his rejection so much more upsetting. The creature had to hide and learn and plan before he tried making contact with De Lacey due to his previous encounter with humans in which he was mercilessly beaten. Once he finally gained up the courage to approach the man, I found myself seriously hoping for the creature to be accepted. He isn’t evil, nor is he bad in any way. He is in a bad situation and truly has the best of intentions. This is what makes his rejection and expulsion by Felix all the more upsetting.
He doesn't mean to become a stage actor (you're thinking of _Young_Frankenstein_), but just an actor in the events of the day, instead of a mere onlooker.
Delete"While I listened to the instructions which Felix bestowed upon the Arabian, the strange system of human society was explained to me. I head of the division of property, of immense wealth and squalid poverty, of rank, descent, and noble blood"
ReplyDeleteThe way Mary Shelly displays the process of socialization is interesting to me. Somehow, she managed to put all of our human complexities into something coherent and relatively simple.
Although her explanations of differentiating pain, hunger, and other emotions,fire's ability to be both good and bad, and the use of sounds to convey ideas are impeccable, I find this quotation on society to be the most interesting.
I've often thought about the difficulties of traveling to foreign places- the differences in customs, mostly. The idea of trying to enter an entirely new society is overwhelming because before you know it, you've offended someone or done something completely wrong.
However, emotion tends to be universal. If a child is killed, people of any society can agree on the feeling of sadness it evokes. Humans all understand loneliness, joy, or sorrow. Emotions cannot be taught or applied or differentiated between cultures.
This quotation seems to emphasize how society isn't a pre-existing or naturally established, as emotion is; it's a completely human idea shared by a collective, and has to be taught. This is shown directly by Saife, who has to be explained the ways of society, and especially by the creature.
It is obvious that the creature experiences human emotion to the fullest by his resonance with his friends emotions, and the request of a lover to Victor. However, he must be introduced to the ideas of the society his friends live in. It is a shock to him. He realizes he does not have a place in it, for he has no assets. He finds this ridiculous and incredibly heartbreaking, knowing that he and everyone else shares the same feelings, and yet some people are not deemed worthy to be anything more than "vagabonds" or "slaves."
It's a handy device of Mary Shelley's, to come up with the "Arabian". (As is the whole lean-to arrangement that allows the Creature to eavesdrop and educate).
DeleteA passage from Frankenstein that I found particularly interesting was, ”Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on the rock.” I found this very interesting because of imagery of knowledge being a lichen. I had never heard this before and I liked the contrast it gave both visually and connotatively from how most people would describe knowledge. The way Frankenstein’s creature used his description of “lichen” gave it a negative connotation, as if it was a nuisance that wouldn’t come free. Also visually, I had always pictured knowledge to be stored away internally, and would use something more along the line of a filing cabinet to describe it. To me, the use of the descriptor “lichen” suggests that knowledge grows on a person, and that it is not a conscious effort of obtain, but something that happens whether we like it or not, and cannot rid ourselves of once it catches hold. I found myself liking this new way of looking at knowledge quite a bit, and that is why the quotation stuck with me so much.
ReplyDeleteI found that Frankenstein’s creature had many of these “new ideas” and ways of looking at things, which made him a fascinating and refreshing character for me to read about. The fact that he had been just “born” made him see everything in a more clear light, without the cloudiness that comes from everyday use, making things seem mundane and easy to take for granted. One thing that I found new and insightful in particular, besides his views on knowledge, which seemed to switch between extreme lust and interest and regretful distain, were his views on language, which he described as a “godlike science” and was something he passionately pursued. The way that he perceived and yearned for language made me realize that he was right, that language is one of the most powerful tools mankind possesses. Despite this, I had never really thought of it in the way that Frankenstein’s creature did. It had become so basic to me that I took it completely for granted, and it took the views of another for me to realize how big a disadvantage the absence of language in the world would be. I had a similar experience when reading about his views of literature, when he said that his possession of “these treasures [three books] gave me extreme delight.” All in all, the chapters from Frankenstein helped me take a step back and gain new fresh perspective on many things I had before considered to be common, which was something I thoroughly enjoyed.
“Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized it, like a lichen on a rock.”
ReplyDeleteThis quotation made by Frankenstein’s creature rings totally true. This reminds me of when I was little, and going to school was actually fun. I enjoyed learning, and I would cry when I missed school because I knew that I would be missing out on all the exciting new things my teacher was teaching that day. You know what; I miss those days when I smiled every time I stepped off the bus sat at my little desk ready to unravel another mystery in the world. I miss those days when M&Ms were used in math class and our class created our own dioramas of different Native American houses in history. And I miss those days when our class played games to learn Spanish and went outside to draw in art class. School back when I was little was interesting because it felt like I wasn’t just learning new material, but I was actually experiencing it. That is why school was so much fun for me; I got to explore a world that I didn’t know, just like the way the creature learned about the people and the world from Felix.
And now, school doesn’t allow me to explore the world. Schools today are pressured into making sure that kids know a certain level of math, history, science, and English, otherwise that school is not successful. But are they really succeeding in teaching children. Because I know for a fact that a teacher who shoves information down my throat, hoping that I will remember it for some test isn’t the same as learning about that same subject. When you learn, it should captivate you, make you want to question it and solve those questions. And in most of my classes, I feel that I’m not given that opportunity to question the information that is put in front of me. The teacher just lectures on and on, making sure that he or she covers all the information and expects you to understand it for a test. If people want today’s generation of people to be successful in life and solve the numerous problems that face our society, than they need to question everything that is around them, not memorize useless facts that won’t be relevant to them down the road. If people want schools in our country to improve, we need to change the way we teach people. School should be a place where people enjoy going to learn about the mysterious and ever-changing world.
Facts have their place, there is no doubts of that. We see what's happening nowadays with the legions who have no use for facts.
DeleteBut they've got to be balanced with wonder. In fact, what's more wonderful than facts, once our curiousity has been piqued?
For instance, have you ever considered the fact that "a lichen is not a single organism, but the result of a partnership (mutualistic symbiosis) between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacteria. Some lichens are formed of three or more partners. The body of a lichen consists of fungal filaments (hyphae) surrounding cells of green algae and/or blue-green cyanobacteria. The basis of the mutualistic symbiosis in lichens is similar to the mycorrhizal partnership between some species of fungi and the roots of most plants. The lichen fungus provides its partner(s) a benefit (protection) and gains nutrients in return." Awe-inspiring!
“Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned?”
ReplyDeleteThis quote didn’t have any captivating language, but it did hit me with emotions. The monster came to terms finally with who he was. He may be ugly on the outside, but on the inside all he wants to be is accepted. This quote truly did make me sad. This relates to many people today. Many people feel unwanted, ugly, and a nuisance at times, but once people truly get to know them they are beautiful on the inside. I understand Victor does not like the monster and he is scared and angry, but all the monster wants is for someone to dig deep into him and truly understand him.
The monster sat day after day peeking into the cottage at Agatha and Felix wanting to be friends, get to know them, and learn their language. The monster is just curious, but every time someone gets close to him and sees his outward appearance they run in fear. It broke my heart that once the monster came to reveal himself to De Lancey, Felix, Safie, and Agatha they chase him out in fear of his image. He spent so much time building up his courage hoping to be accepted, and then he is driven away because they didn’t give him the time of day to explain his story. This really is sad and upsetting.
How come the monster kills Victor’s brother? I know he wants revenge for Victor making him into the monster he is, but I feel killing is not the answer. It bothered me once again when the man shot the monster for “attacking” the girl. All he did was save her, but once again no one gave him a chance. We need to give people a chance in life. We are taught not to “judge a book by its cover” but people are judging the monster. If only the monster was given a chance then William would still be alive and Justine wouldn’t have been brought into the mess.
I really did enjoy reading these few chapters. I can honestly say this book is a page-turner. The amount of sympathy I felt for the monster was unbelievable to me. It seemed as though I could feel his pain.
-Tori Cronin
"He may be ugly on the outside, but on the inside all he wants to be is accepted. This quote truly did make me sad. This relates to many people today. Many people feel unwanted, ugly, and a nuisance at times, but once people truly get to know them they are beautiful on the inside."
DeleteMary Shelley would be pleased, I'm sure.
"I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me: I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge.”
ReplyDeleteThis quotation immediately had me thinking, the monster has this perception of his worth in life all wrong! I am a strong believer in the fact that the key to life is the pursuit of happiness, that only the person themselves can allow them to be happy; no one else can thrust happiness upon them. And with knowledge should bring happiness, not sorrow. Newly found knowledge is a gift, and the sensations that come from happiness and learning new things are often taken for granted. There is the kind of knowledge that you can obtain from textbooks and research papers, and then there is the knowledge that one gains due to their personal experiences, experiences that teach more about society in general and human interactions. This kind of knowledge is what the creature is enduring, and I think it scares him. The fact that he is perplexed by “why the gentle beings were so unhappy” and “what their tears implied” indicated that the monster was overwhelmed, ultimately leading to his negative self-analysis.
I understand that it is human nature to have a defeatist attitude when one acknowledges their several flaws. Since the monster is new to learning about human society and how actions and emotions are perceived by other people, this reaction and self-reflection of himself is normal. I am not an enormous, unsightly creature, and I am still learning about what seems like the simple things in society that I feel that I am never going to fully understand. I can do all I possibly can to make my friends think that I am the coolest friend ever, and the next time we have a school project to do in groups and we get to pick friends to work with, I am the backup friend to the backup friend. Then I realize that I am not as cool as I thought I was.
A short passage from this book caught my attention because I feel it can relate to modern times and experiences belonging to people today. "Shall I not then hate them who abhor me?" This quotation was a painful statement spoken by the monster, recognizing who he is and his place on the earth, and over the course of his story his feelings of isolation and abnormality grow deeper. I think that the quotation can apply to so many circumstances and is a really wavering concept.
ReplyDeleteI say that it is wavering because the idea of not hating those who hate you is hard to swallow. Pride gets in the way. If somebody finds out that another person dislikes them- automatically, without questions, confrontation, or hesitation, that person will most likely have negative reactions and feelings to whomever didn't like them in the first place. In case I've clouded my point, let me put it into high school "Mean Girls" terms. One girl tells her friend that she doesn't like another girl, for reasons unknown or unimportant. Her friend reports this information back to that other girl, because that's what girls do, and the other girl feels attacked and takes it personally. All of a sudden she doesn't like the other girl, even though they may have had no past interaction to have led her to this discovery.
Of course I'm generalizing the human population into this observation, and I know everyone is not like that. But its a topic that I struggle to answer for myself. If I hear negative statement about myself spoke by another- not even the "abhorrence" felt by the monster, its hard for me not to feel bitter towards the person. I know that everyone has their rights to their opinion, and of course I know that not everyone is going to love me, what I say, wear, or do. But when it comes down to it, I can't help but cringe at the thought of someone hating me and I think I would start to hate them back without consciously deciding it. I'd like to say I'd be a better person, but it's a difficult thing to hold back our subconscious feelings and emotions.
I think the quotation stated by the monster is a good one, he's questioning the right thing to do- should he hate those who are disgusted by him? I think he finds his answer later on in the story, when he discovers reality of the scenario and how it makes him feel.
"Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me." (Shelley 133)
ReplyDeleteThis passage grabbed my attention for several reasons. I tried to read Paradise Lost a few times, and while I never finished it, I did pick up that Milton says Satan, was an angel. He rebelled against God, and the Archangel Michael casts him down, and so the devil and demons, were actually fallen angels. Knowing that, this passage stuck out to me because the monster feels like a fallen angel, he connects with the feeling of being unwanted, of being feared, and unloved. I think that at some point in our lives, we all feel like we have been unwanted or that we're not going enough, but it goes away and you can overcome those problems, but with the monster, he can't. Those feelings are all he knows; his life is a constant hell, with no escape. That has to be a miserable existence, and he is alone, without companionship? I don't think that should be wished on anybody. The chapters do evoke pathos in the audience and I felt myself sympathizing with the monster during the reading, which surprised me quite thoroughly.
The other level this scene, and quote connected on was again biblical, but the part that stuck out to me was the comparison that the monster holds to Frankenstein, because it is almost identical to the one Satan holds for God in Paradise Lost. The monster kills Frankenstein’s brother, simply because of his relation, and that is similar to how Satan vows to corrupt God’s creation (Adam and Eve).
From what it seems, I think many began reading this story with the stereotypical Frankenstein image in one’s mind. However, after reading it I see him now as a more childlike in thought, and angelic creature. His portrayal of a “monster” is so opposite of what I actually understood from the reading.
ReplyDelete“Like Adam, I was apparently united by no other link to an other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse and aquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature: but I was wretched, helpless, and alone.”
I really like this passage because it shows how this “monster” was formed like Adam, at the hands of a Creator. However, while adjectives attached to Adam are perfect, happy, prosperous, those the creature attaches to himself are very different. The creature sees himself as wretched, helpless, and alone. This indicates to me that the creature has grown to feel this way because of the actions of his Creator and others. One doesn’t just come up with that image of themselves without some indication that he is different in a negative way.
A prime example of why the creature feels the way he does is by the relationship with his Creator. The Creator really has nothing to do with him, and appears to be burdened with the creature. The Creator is the only thing this poop creature has. There is no one else out there that is like him, and appears to have feelings enough to long for acceptance and love. That should be given to the creature by the Creator, but isn’t. A part of the story that portrays one instance of why the creature could feel in such a way was when he wanted to connect with the family he had been observing for some time. Upon entering, the blind man greeted him warmly but as soon as the others entered, it was chaos. Without even having spoken to the creature they were terrified and lashed out. Later on in the reading, another situation occurred. The creature was in the woods when he was startled by the screams of a young girl. He dashed from his location and courageously saved the youth from drowning in a stream. Then, a woman who I assumed to be the mother, ran and snatched her child and was off. After having just saved the girl’s life, he should be crowned a hero, but instead was humiliated for his deed. His appearance has really hindered experiences he should rightfully be praised for, or has given people a false impression.
By the end of the reading I grew to love the creature. He was capable of emotions and they were displayed throughout the chapters. He felt love for the family before he even knew him, rejection when they met him, frustration when the children ran from him in the woods, longing for acceptance. He really is a creature that was created and has gone through experience real humans are capable of going through as well.
Keep reading. He's done one bad (but understandable) deed. He will do more.
DeleteAmusing typo there, by the way.
I was only a few pages into chapter 10 when I found the line that stood out to me the most. “I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.”
ReplyDeleteI thought that was pretty strong considering the basic philosophy behind that statement is that happy people do good things, and sad or angry people do bad things. Not that it’s at all uncommon for someone in a good mood to be nice, or for someone in a bad mood to be a jerk, but to just have it written like that was interesting.
To me, it’s sort of like saying your mood controls what kind of person you are. In many cases this can be very true. Humans are very emotionally creatures and we tend to act out on our feelings without always meaning to. I totally understand what the Creature was getting at; everyone treated him horribly so he acted out in response, but the first time I read the line I almost laughed. The line, “Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous,” seems really funny to me for some reason, I immediately picture some angry child who won’t do anything his mother says until she gives him a cookie. Imagining Frankenstein’s Monster doing the same thing is even more hilarious.
I do really love the message though, ‘make someone feel bad and they will do bad things, make someone feel good and they will do good things.’ It can almost be applied to that rule about treating others the way you want to be treated. It’s karma basically by definition, and the bad things that other people did to the creature have come back to bite them.
It goes a bit deeper than happy/sad, though. He's in misery. Life is all but unbearable. Get him back to a stage where life is halfway decent -- good, even -- and you would see a different result.
Delete"Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling; but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death."
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated this quote when I read it because it shows the true innocence of the monster. It is like he is a child, yet with the learning capacity of an adult. He is facinated with learning as well as knowledge, something that students take for granted now. As he watched the family from outside the cottage, he became more and more aware of what things were. I think this shows his true willingness to learn which is great in a creature that was deemed "a monster". He says that knowledge "clings to the mind" which I find true especially when talking about common sense. When the monster walks through the town and people get scared after looking at him, he knows to not show himself to people again. This is true in many circumstances; if you do something wrong and your parents yell at you, you are not likely to do that again (hopefully). I thought that it was very well written by the author to add that in because when you are growing up and maturing, you learn what to do and what not to do by the reactions of people around you. It proves that the monster has basically been "born" and is now trying to figure out the difference between right and wrong.
I also thought it was very interesting that the monster said he wishes he could "shake knowledge" out of his mind, but he can't unless he is dead. I thought that that was very interesting because many times people wish they didn't have to remember painful moments and wish they could just "shake them away." Another way of looking at it would be that the monster would like to get rid of unnecessary information in his brain. I like to look at it that way because often times I find myself knowing completely usless information and wondering if I could just "delete" that knowledge in order to make room for more important things. I think that would be very helpful if you could figure out a way to delete things from your brain once they are no longer in use to you. I think that that would make for smarter individuals. I really appreciated this quote and the pure innocence about it. It really grabbed my attention as I was reading and I was quick to be able to interpret it.
There are certain things that you can't "unsee" or "disremember", much as you might lie to.
Delete“I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.”
ReplyDeleteThe monster is saying that it isn’t his fault he has done all of the bad things he has done. He’s also saying that he isn’t control of his ability to do good, either. He is an artificial creation after all, so it’s only natural for his actions to be the responsibility of his creator, or humans in general, as well. Of course, it isn’t. He can control himself (or maybe he can’t, I don’t know the specifics of how an undead brain works) just like humans can. But maybe he just doesn’t know how to. A lot of people, including myself, are too quick to blame their actions on others. The monster has learned that it’s pretty difficult to forgive someone who has wronged you. Which is true, it’s something I struggle with. Because the monster is experiencing these things for the first time, I don’t blame him for his misdeeds (however disgusting they might be.) He is basically a child, and we know how cruel children can be. I’ve heard a lot of parents tell stories about letting their kids know hitting someone isn’t the right thing to do, after it’s too late to prevent them from doing it.
Kids love their parents though, and the monster sure hates Victor. The monster concludes that only his creator can give him permission to be good again, he can’t make that decision on his own. The monster's philosophy is essentially “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” with the ‘you would have them’ replaced with ‘they’.
He may hate Victor, but I think that what he desires more than anything in the world is his father's love and praise.
Delete“I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me: I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I forever remained in my native wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst and heat!”
ReplyDeleteI thought that this quotation really showed the monster’s distress and how he knows how different he is from everyone else. Although the monster was learning the humans’ ways and how they act, his outward appearance was very different and proved to be a major factor in the hostility towards him. He knew he was alone in the world and he knew he was without property, friends, money, or family. Even his creator abandoned him. This monster had lost all hope and he had just started to learn of the human emotion of sadness. In some ways, the monster was better than the humans around him. Because he started out without any knowledge or speech, he had his innocence and was without prejudice. He was also stronger, taller, more durable, and could eat almost anything. In almost every facet of life, he was better than humans. The only thing he lacked was outward appearance. In human eyes, he was ugly. This caused humans to fear him and hate him. Because he was not used to hate or fear, he became vulnerable to human emotion.
The hate and fear brought out the anger and sadness in the monster during his life. He hated himself and believed that he was a hideous monster. I thought that this idea of no self-confidence is something we can all relate to. Sometimes, we all feel a little isolated from society and think that we don't belong. Despite the monster's outward appearance, he is just like us. With the body of a monster, he was born a baby. He learned without the guidance of a father or role model and taught himself how to live. We all think of a village-killing monster when we hear of Frankenstein but it really is a tragedy of human nature and human ignorance.
“Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?”
ReplyDeleteSince his creation, The Creature has struggled with coming to terms with his identity. On the surface, he appears a terrible, horrific, disgusting creature with little thought for things other than eating and killing. Anyone who crosses paths with him is terrified the moment they see him; no one will give him a chance to show that he isn’t a gruesome monster.
When he finds the De Lacey family, and becomes enthralled with observing their day to day life, the Creature begins to reform his ideas about humans. From his earlier encounters, the Creature has formed the opinion that humans are judgmental beings who know nothing of kindness and will never accept him. After spending a fair amount of time watching the family, he starts to reform his opinions, and allows himself to believe that some people really are good, even though others can be cruel and terrible. After revealing himself to the family and having them wholly reject him, his previous opinions were unfortunately restored.
This quotation made me think, first off, about the Creature’s experiences with people, and how at times some people can be so good and gentle, while at other times we can be truly awful beings. It also made me think about humanity in general. We have had highlights where people have proved to be honorable and good, but there are also times when people really can be absolutely ruthless. On a huge scale, for example, there’s the Holocaust. On a more local scale, bullying and suicide has become something of an epidemic. People can appear to be so good on the surface, seeming tocare and to have to best intentions, but there have most definitely been times we’d prefer to forget, and pretend never happened. Actions have been taken that punch a hole in the integrity of humanity. At times we can be so good, so powerful, and at others we truly are “vicious and base.”
The Creature sees both sides of humanity, but because being judgmental is a prominent characteristic of human nature, he only has the one negative side directed at him. The people he comes into contact with take in his terrible appearance and give no thought to whether or not there could be something good underneath the rough exterior.
This quotation stuck out in my mind because I found it to be a very true evaluation of humanity. At times our morals, actions, and perceptions of the world get very mottled. We can be good, but we also can be bad. This quotation concisely stated the contradictory nature of humans.
"Should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No..."
ReplyDeleteI chose this quotation because it seems indicative of the very human nature that causes war and other negative aspects of society. The creature chooses not to forgive his enemies but instead to hold a long lasting vendetta. While you would be hard pressed to find and flaw in his logic (they hate me, therefore I should hate them) it is exactly the kind of attitude that prolongs this suffering. It reminds me of Mr. MacArthur's quote about humans hating the wretched. It is easy to love someone who has earned your admiration, but to care about someone who has spurned you in incredibly difficult. Just like how Ivan explains how hard it is to actually love your neighbor instead of an abstract being, it is very difficult to forgive and forget when you yourself were harmed. The monster at the time of this quote is only focused on rage and hatred and is unable to look past the injuries done to himself. I find it more than a bit ironic that while he was created so hideous, he was pure and innocent, yet as he learned more about humans he became hideous on the inside. I guess this refers more to the "Who is the real monster" cliche.
"But to me, hated and despised, every country must be equally horrible." (Pg. 99)
ReplyDeleteThis quotation really bothers me for some reason. And after I read it initially, I kept going back and re-reading it over and over again until I figured out why it gets on my nerves.
I understand that the creature feels desolate and feels hated by all of mankind (who's to blame him.. after everything he has experienced?), but this general comment towards all of mankind is ignorant. Every country and its people have something different to offer, and how can this creature be sure that a country and its people are actually "horrible"? How can he judge thousands of people he has never met, most of which he will never meet? Even if his appearance is atrocious, and his behaviors are sometimes malignant…there has got to be at least ONE person out in the world who could accept him for who he is. But when he says that "every country must be equally as horrible," he is not giving anyone that chance.
I think the creature's statement really captured my attention because it instantly reminded me of an experience I had a couple of years ago when I went on a roadtrip through Europe with my Italian cousin, her parents, and my sister. I was given the opportunity to travel through Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland (AHH, it was amazing.)
Naturally, before this trip began, I had visions of what I expected each foreign country to resemble. I pictured Paris to be a romantic city full of art, Switzerland to be a land of mountains and clean air, and Holland to be full of pinwheels, tulips, and wooden clogs. (So cliché, I know.) Anyways, what led me to think about this quotation from Frankenstein was my mental picture of Amsterdam. When my cousin first gave me and my sister a list of all of the cities we were going to visit, Amsterdam was the one that threw me off. I was a bit shocked. Amsterdam? The place where marijuana and prostitution are legal? We're going there?! I had this preconceived image that Amsterdam was a terrible, corrupt, and dirty place. (Obviously, I had never been there before and I was basing my thoughts off of what others' have told me about only a small portion of the city.) I was being a bit too judgemental but I did not complain to my cousin because I wanted to be able to experience as much of Europe as I could.
When we arrived in Amsterdam, I was pleasantly surprised by the art museums, boats of Tulips, and the thousands of bicycles propped against… everything! Amsterdam ended up being one of my favorite places we visitied (along with Switzerland… because that country is BEAUTIFUL.) If I had never given Amsterdam a chance, if I had let my ignorant thoughts determine my experience, I would have missed out on such an incredible culture. Sure, the Red Light District was what I had expected it to be… but I can't believe I thought the entire city was just like it. Amsterdam had so much more to offer. This just proved to me that everything is not always as it seems, and one must travel to foreign places and be open to new things before he or she makes harsh judgements.
I couldn't help but be reminded of this instance as I read along to the creature of Frankenstein's words, "…Every country must be equally as horrible." Until the "fiend" has visited more places and interacted with many more new people, it is not right of him to judge based off of only a couple past experiences. He cannot give up on all of mankind, because he could be missing out on a relationship he would have never expected.
-Brianna Ricciardone
You could probably find individuals in any country who might overlook his ghastly looks. But on the whole, you'd have to say he's right. (And, that's the message that Mary Shelley is going for.)
Delete"For a long time I could not conceive how one man could go forth to murder his fellow, or even why there are laws and governments; but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased, and I turned away with disgust and loathing."
ReplyDeleteThis quotation got me thinking about how the creature did not even know violence and was even disgusted by the concept. This illustrates how truly childlike the creature is, having had to figure out the world on his own. This quotation also made me think about how the creature was molded into a killer by the actions of society. If people hadn't always rejected him, Dr. Frankenstein in particular, the monster would not have felt so angry and vengeful against them. In fact, the creature did not understand or really know of violence until he was shunned by the cottagers he had been hoping could be friends with him. It was only out of lonliness and hurt that the monster became a killer. What had once disgusted the monster soon became something the monster did out or hatred for society. It is human nature to want to strike out at something or someone when hurt or rejected and that is just what the creature did, illustrating that he was more human than anyone gave him credit for. The creature was rejected because of how he looked and because he was different. I think that this novel is timeless because of this. Even in the U.S. today, we still have problems because someone may be different. Discrimination against someone or a group often leads to violence. Therefore, it is clear to me that the "monster" was no monster at all, but just a misunderstood and rejected individual who only craved love and acceptance from his creator and from society. The quotation above also made me think about how it is Dr. Frankenstein's fault that the creature reacted in such a violent way. The creature was innocent of even the most basic knowledge and even when he learned about violence, it disgusted him. When he found out how his creator truly felt about him, though, the creature was mad and hurt and, therefore, lashed out. Dr. Frankenstein should not have abandoned his creature and if he hadn't, the creature would never have lashed out because he would not have been so lonely. The creature's story really saddened me because everyone, even the people he helped and thought were so nice and understanding, rejected him. This quotation, I think, perfectly illustrates how someone can start as innocent and be molded by society into a vengeful monster, as well as how rejection and hurt can cause someone to lash out at people.
This is indicative of how the Shelleys and the Romantics in general (and the Transcendentalists) saw human nature -- as innately good and benign.
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