Jordan Anderson
Laura Cline
English 102
15 October, 2011
Frankenstein
was a good novel. It surprised me because I kind of thought it was going to be
a boring old novel and I didn’t know what to expect. I like how everything
seemed to relate to each other. It was interesting. I thought it was full of
emotion. I thought it was thought provoking in the sense that I had to stop
reading a few times to think about something from the book and how an idea
relates to my life. Numerous themes stuck out in the telling of the story. They
were the creation of life, the danger of having ambition, loneness, duty,
family, guilt, justice, and perspective, purpose of life, sacrifice, revenge,
and appearance. I think shelly wanted us to be happy with what we are that we
should not strive for ambition but be happy with our relationships with our
family and friends because they are what matter most.
We
must strive for tranquility. Earlier in the novel Frankenstein it reads, “A
human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind,
and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his transquillity”
(Shelley 33). Even Frankenstein believes this and that many problems in the
world wouldn’t have occurred if this was true. His understanding was in
retrospect though as a result of telling his story to Walton. Frankenstein
understands where his attention should be focused but it’s too late. Mary
Poovey writes, “But ironically, the very gesture that disciplines his desire
has already destroyed the possibility of reestablishing relationships with his
loved ones” (Poovey 255).
Frankenstein
sacrifices himself for humanity. He recognizes that he would be selfish if he
didn’t. In the novel Frankenstein says, “I shuddered to think that future ages might
curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had hesitated to buy its own peace at
the price perhaps of the existence of the whole human race” (Shelley 114). He wouldn’t want to create a female for that
if they reproduce they could create a race of hateful monsters. The result
could destroy humanity with Frankenstein to blame. He couldn’t live with that.
Frankenstein
is devoid of life because all his closest friends and family were dead. Because
of this he had no other reason to live. His purpose is to track down and kill
his creation. Only then can he die. In the novel he says, “I must pursue and
destroy the being to whom I gave existence; then my lot on earth will be
fulfilled, and I may die” (Shelley 148).
Frankenstein
becomes a monster just like his creation by the end. I am supported here by
Levine when he writes, “As they pursue their separate lives, they increasingly
resemble and depend upon each other so that by the end Frankenstein pursues his
own monster” (Levine 209). This is all true with all the characters. All the
major and minor characters are echoes of each other. Both Frankenstein and Walton resemble each
other. Both are explorers trying to gain knowledge and both have ambition. Walton
puts his desires first at the expense of his sister and admits his adventure
might end badly. Walton writes in a letter to his sister, “You will not hear of
my destruction, and you will anxiously await my return. Years will pass, and
you will have visiting of despair, and yet be tortured by hope” (Shelley 148). Frankenstein
spent a great amount of his time working on creating life at the expense of his
family. His family was worrying from Frankenstein ignoring their letters. This
is because Frankenstein placed them second to his interests and desires. Frankenstein
advises Walton to learn from him. Walton does learn from Victor, The author
writes that because Walton rejects Victor’s wish for vengeance and ends his arctic
exploration, “He is finally freed into a better (and perhaps a lesser) life”
(Levine 210).
Throughout
the whole book we went from this good fortune guy who had a great life but by
the end we are at this desolate lifeless arctic environment. “It is the story
of two antithetical modes of parenting that give rise to two increasingly
parallel lives- the life of Victor Frankenstein, who is the beloved child of
two doting parents, and the life of the monster he single-handedly creates, who
is immediately spurned and abandoned by his creator” ( Johnson 242). Because
Frankenstein’s monster was created and not born he was never a belonging or brought
up in a family. From the death of his family Frankenstein becomes like his
creation. Levine writes, “What Frankenstein’s ambition costs him is the family
connection which makes life humanly possible” (Levine 213). In the desolate
artic Frankenstein dies with his thirst for revenge unsatisfied. He gives advice for Walton, the arctic
explorer.
I
thought the novel did a good job of putting the emotions of the characters out
there. Sure most of these emotions were depressing. I knew at some point that
the monster would kill the rest of his family but I was just waiting for him to
act. He could strike at any moment and Frankenstein didn’t have much protection
or much of anything he could do about it. Frankenstein lives in fear and so
carried weapons but it didn’t do him any good, “I carried pistols and a dagger
constantly about me, and was ever on the watch to prevent artifice; and by
these means gained a greater degree of tranquility” (Shelley 133).
Frankenstein’s
monster just wanted a connection with another being but that connection would
never occur for various reasons. One reason was that he was eight feet tall and
hideous looking. His appearance is the reason for being treated as an outcast. He
looks the part so he became the part; He becomes the monster everyone thinks he
is. Was this his destiny? He put all this work into understanding language and
he became part of the family for the time. With the monster wanting connection,
he later asks his creator to create another female monster he could share with
and he would be happy and live in exile. This is all he needs but he is denied this.
Victor Frankenstein does not want to create another monster.
Everyone
strives for connection. The monster’s sole wish is to have a companion. After
the speaking his story of how he came to be, the monster explains to
Frankenstein, “You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the
interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being” (Shelley 98). While
Frankenstein had these connections growing up, he didn’t realize this was all
he needed. He wanted more when he had
all he needed and after the fact that he created the monster he realizes this.
Frankenstein
hid the secret for creating life because some things are meant to be unknown
because they can cause a lot of problems. After Walton asks how exactly the
creature was made Frankenstein responds with, “Or to what do your questions
tend? Peace, peace! Learn my miseries, and do not seek to increase your own” (Shelley
146). This relates to the time period
though and historical and author background. Science of the time wasn’t too
advanced. Scientists thought that to create life, “A mysterious superadded
force was needed, some subtile, mobile, invisible substance, analogous on the
one hand to soul and on the other to electricity” (Butler 304).
The
monster just wanted what Frankenstein had all along. If his demands weren’t met
then he would make Frankenstein suffer, “I will revenge my injuries: if I cannot
inspire love, I will cause fear; and chiefly towards you my arch-enemy, because
my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred” (Shelley 98). Frankenstein refuses
his demands. As a result the monster takes away all those he loved. With all his
family members dead, Victor has no reason to live. Shelley wanted to show how ambition
can lead to neglecting the meaningful relationships.
Works Cited
Shelley,
Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. J. P.
Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. Print.
Levine,
George. "Frankenstein and the Tradition of Realism." Frankenstein. Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton &
Company, 1996. 208-214. Print.
Johnson,
Barbara. “My Monster/My Self.” Frankenstein. Ed.
J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. 241-251. Print.
Poovey,
Mary. “My Hideous Progeny: The Lady and the Monster.” Frankenstein. Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton &
Company, 1996. 251-261. Print.
Butler,
Marilyn. “Frankenstein and Radical Science.” Frankenstein. Ed.
J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. 302-313. Print.
