Uh Oh, My Science Project Has Achieved Sentience

I really enjoyed the framing of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Not only did it parallel the actual story, but it made the story appear as if it had actually happened. It was stated in class that it was very “found footage”-esq and I completely agree.

                The book is very morally gray with it’s Gothic monster, Frankenstein’s monster. His first appearance is quite off putting, I think more so than the classic green appearance he has in media now. However, later on he is able to learn English and how to read and write. I was not expecting this, as I have always known Frankenstein’s monster as more… zombie- like. This makes it a lot harder to antagonize him in the way Victor does. However, I was then surprised when the monster confessed to murdering Victor’s younger brother. This bordered on irredeemable for me, despite the connection the reader is supposed to have made with the monster following his interaction with the DeLacey family. I don’t see the monster as totally evil, nor do I see Victor that way. This murder just caught me off guard, especially after Victor seemed to sense that the monster had done it without any evidence. I expected a twist. That maybe Justine, the maid, had killed the boy and Victor was going to have to face that the monster was more than an evil embodiment Victor believed him to be. But, no, the monster really did kill the boy.

                I found loneliness to be a pervasive aspect of this story. R.Walton, the framing device character who is writing the letters to his sister, says “I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans. How would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother!” Walton wants someone to share his passion for exploration and knowledge. Later, Victor expresses how he would coop himself up, alone to study alchemy, rejecting friends or companions in pursuit of knowledge. He also laments that the professors at his school do not all share in his fascination with his studies. Frankenstein’s monster also expresses his loneliness in the world when he asks for Victor to make him a mate. I found it interesting that these characters all seem to feel isolated in their lives. The parallels between Walton and Victor are very strong, with both of them giving up companionship in pursuit of their passions. However, the monster is the only one who wants a companion and is denied it, resulting in more of Victor’s family being killed. Overall, I think isolation is emphasized to be something dangerous and reviled in Shelly’s story.