Lovely Literature

"...but trust him not. His soul is as hellish as his form, full of treachery and fiend-like malice. Hear him not; call on the manes of William, Justine, Clerval, Elizabeth, my father, and the wretched Victor, and thrust your sword into his heart. I will hover near , and direct the steel aright." (153).

Poor Victor...he has gone through such turmoil in such a short amout of time and he still cannot seem to win in the end. I kind of wish he got to his creation so he could confront him again instead of the mocking game that the creature created. At this point in the novel, the main story is over and we are on to Walton's frame story again as it began. The frame stories were extremely important in this novel because it gave the differing perspectives of the three main characters involved in the creation whether directly or indirectly. It gave the monster's point of view on how he lived and was treated, it gave Walton's view on Victor, and it gave Victor a chance to redeem himself for creating such a terrible monster. It was important to have every aspect in this novel because without the monster's story we would not have any remorse whatsoever and we would see him merely as an evil being with no conscience and no chance of goodness inside him. I find it interesting that he claims that he was good and that the toils of mankind turned him evil, but at the same time it annoys me because if he was so good, why couldn't he stop with the whole killing thing? He committed the ultimate sin, not once, but multiple times. Something I wonder after reading this novel is how does he receive redemption after he dies since he is not a mortal being? Does he go straight to hell or does nothing happen? I know it's not real but it would be interesting to hear someone's take on what would happen to him. In the end, he still has humanlike characteristics that cause his anguish and his regret for his actions, but he turned out to embody evil more than good throughout the course of events.

"In the mean time I took every precaution to defend my person, in case the fiend should openly attack me. I carried pistols and a daggar costantly about me, and was ever on the watch to prevent artifice; and by these means gained a greater degree of tranquility." (page 142).

Once Victor decides it is time to wed Elizabeth before he is killed or before she finds another man, he takes every single precaution to ensure that he will be alive before their ceremony and hopefully they can then get away before the monster can find them. It amazes me that he was so concerned about keeping himself safe but he didn't stop to think that the monster was killing everyone close to him so to make him suffer but to not yet kill him. It reminds me of a horror movie because after they are married and are residing in Evian, Victor tells Elizabeth to go to sleep and he will be there soon after he checks the perimeter. Soon after, he hears the screams from her room and realizes the mistake he has made. He has made many fatal mistakes in this story and it is a wonder he hasn't realized the implications of them yet. It's amazing to me because he is such a smart, well-educated man and yet he doesn't seem to think ahead. I think the anger, fear, exhaustion, and revenge has been clouding his vision for many years since the monster was created and it has completely altered his life and well being. Victor basically doesn't have a well-being any more and he has given up on anything and everything in his life except for hunting down his creation and destroying it. The only thing I wonder in all of this...and maybe I missed it...was where is Ernest his brother now?

"Ay, sir, free enough for honest folks. Mr. Kirwin is a magistrate; and you are to give an account of the death of a gentleman who was found murdered here last night." (page 127)

Frankenstein at this point has already decided that he is finished with dealing with this monster situation. He has toiled over this new creation for many many hours and days, but he has realized that he would be more of a monster if he created another being. His problem is that he could not handle the grotesqueness of this new monster and he would not be able to tell if the new creation would like the original creation and vice versa. The female creation could even hate the world more than the male creation and he would not be able to tell what the outcome would be then. Also, Victor must have given them reproductive organs because he mentions them having more demon babies...which would just be wonderful of course. The dead would be reproducing...hm....

So the monster is at it again. One of the themes my group has been studying is depravity, or sin, and the monster who claims that he was once good has only been showing off his evilness. He has apparently killed again and he is framing his creator once again. He threatened Victor with the fact that he is more powerful than his creator and he will be with him on his wedding night because Victor destroyed his second creation and broke his original promise. The creation has zero remorse anymore. He does not care what repercussions could occur and he does not care about his creator and his well being. Basically, he is sick of being treated like a monster...but well...he is a monster. He is almost making the situation worse by actually acting as a monster now. The theme of depravity is prevalent in the story, but as I continue reading the end of this novel, I can see that sin will become more prominent and prevalent in the main ideas.

If you were wondering, yes that is the legitimate German pronunciation of "Frankenstein." :]

"It was a place fitted for such a work, being hardly more than a rock, whose high sides were continually beaten upon by the waves. The soil was barren, scarcely affording pasture for a few miserable cows, and oatmeal for its inhabitants, which consisted of five persons, whose gaunt and scraggy limbs gave tokens of their miserable fare." (page 119).

As Victor is touring Europe with Henry Clerval, he realizes that it is important for him to get this monster business out of the way and just create the "bride" for the creature so he doesn't have to toil and slave over it anymore. Remembering the anguish the creation took on his body, mind, and soul before, he is having a difficult time bringing himself to making another monster. He can barely handle himself just thinking about the horrendousness of the monster, and yet he is willing to put himself through pain again so he can try to save his family and humanity from this awful infestation. He sends Henry off and then retreats to this sad little place where no one else lives. He seriously has some depression issues or something because he puts himself in situations in which he will be hurting himself or depriving himself of his basic needs. He needs to have people in his life...not monsters....who he can be happy with and not have to worry about making some creation that would ruin his life. The description of the new setting he is planning on working in is even miserable and decrepid sounding. There is one thing to say for Victor though. When he is determined, there is not much that will deter him.

"....and I did not strive to control them; but, allowing myself to be borne away by the stream, I bent my mind towards injury and death. When I thought of my friends, of the mild voice of De Lacey, the gentle eyes of Agatha, and the exquisite beauty of the Arabian, these thoughts vanished, and a gush of tears somewhat soothed me. But again when I reflected that they had spurned and deserted me, anger returned, a rage of anger, and, unable to injure anything human, I turned my fury towards inanimate objects." (99).


The creature shows that he is actually a round, dynamic character in a way. He is present throughout the entire story and he ends up being well developed even though he has only been alive for a year. He has excellent speech, he is literate, and he knows the ways of mankind. Not many people who are fully developed and are real even have his knowledge that he portrays. At the same time though he is very contradictory at times because he cannot make up his mind about his feelings. He has very real, humanlike emotions, yet he cannot control them as easily as other humans can. The creation has a difficult time realizing what feelings are rather than concrete words, but he figures out anger and hatred pretty quickly. He also ends up learning about love and connection as he felt like he had with his "friends" that he spied on for a year. He realizes that he can never be like them and it puts him in a deep depression and extreme anger toward his creator because he was abandoned and absolutely no one wants him. This makes him turn to anger and malice. It portrays almost a disgusting view of humankind because the fact that he was able to learn mischief so easily in less than a year from humans shows the values of society today. While the monster has not had the same "upbringing" so to speak as humans do or should, he has learned valuable lessons about what he should or shouldn't do. Unfortunately, he has been acting in ways he should avoid because of his lonely nature.

"I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers-- their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions: but how I was terrified, when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification. Alas! I did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity." (page 80). The creature is incredible eloquent for only being alive for a year or so. He learns the way of the world quickly by learning how to act, eat, breathe, and speak, but he cannot speak to many people since he is so horribly ugly. He had watched a family for a long time and he wanted to be friends with them and look like them. However, when he looked in the pond, he could not even stand the sigh of himself. He hated himself and his creator for giving him life that he abhorred so much. He scared himself and his deformities made everything worse. I think he resembles a person with terrible self esteem because of his looks. Now I fully understand that he is in a different situation because...well..he isn't real and he was randomly given animation, but he still has developed humanly feelings. He feels self conscious and quite honestly he hates himself because of how he looks. He has developed so many human characteristics that it amazes me. I don't understand how he can become like a human, but this is one of those things I think I just need to accept because it's not a real situation. The creature has a long way ahead of him though and Frankenstein also does because he has to deal with everything the creature makes him put up with.

"I expected this reception," said the daemon. "All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyong all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind. If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satuated with the blood of your remaining friends." (page 68) So Frankenstein now meets his creature again, but this time the creature can talk and basically fully function. He speaks of his misery as this ugly spawn and how he scares all of hte people he meets. His anger spawns from the fact that his creater left him immediately when he realized the horrid mistake he made. He makes a deal in this quote with Frankenstein which adds foreshadowing to the plot. As we find out later in the plot, Frankenstein is being asked by his creature if he could make another creature like him in a woman form so he may have a companion (Bride of Frankenstein maybe? :)). If Frankenstein refuses or does not follow through, the creature will destroy more of human kind, focusing on Frankenstein's family and friends. This brings foreshadowing because Victor had such a hard tim emaking the creature then stomaching it. I don't think he could make another one because he nearly died of sickness trying to make the creature which he worked for so ridiculously long on. There is no way he would be able to remain healthy and sane by making another creature. Therefore, it is going to be interesting on who the creature kills that is close to Victor. He has already killed William (I think) which then caused the death of their servant, and Victor's mom is already dead. Currently the death tole is rising for the Frankenstein family. His creature sure is a bargainer...