Comparing Frankenstein And Heart Of Darkness

From the second a baby is born, knowledge and information has been thrown at the infant. What the man makes of this knowledge and how he pursues it, can ultimately lead to his demise. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein has to come to terms with the selfish creation he made and he has to take responsibility for his actions and life. Like Frankenstein, the monster has to take responsibility for his own life. His monster, however, also has to struggle with human nature and struggle to conform to society. Opposite of how Frankenstein was selfish, in Aldous Huxley's book Brave New World, knowledge has driven a society to become one entity and to become a society where it is wrongful to be alone. Huxley’s novel entails a society

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, an epistolary novel that structure a diverse narration enable through letters and dialogue. During the story, he author goes back and forth from writing from Victor’s point of view and other character’s perspective in the letters. The diction used to capture the feeling of abandonment, sorrow, and loss of identity that the monster felt. Victor also endured the feeling of sorrow because the very thing he created destroyed his entire family. The diction allowed the audience to connect to the characters, feel the pain and agony one’s faces after making a wrong decision that affects the rest of one’s life.

In many movie adaptations of a novel, the film doesn’t do the book justice in its story telling. Movie versions generally do not focus on the characters’ emotions or thoughts like the books do. They also do not develop the characters as well as the original story, giving the viewer little to no knowledge of a certain person. This is the case in Frankenstein. While there are some similarities between the original written version and the one on screen, the movie doesn’t delve into the lives of the main characters: Victor and the creature. The loss of characterization and focus on their lives takes away the audience’s take on consequences.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has a very complex narrative structure: “the narratives seem to grow organically from one another”. Within the novel, Shelley weaves characters and their different narrative perspectives together, creating a cyclical, triplicate layout to the story. Her use of multiple narratives provides a range of perspectives on the story, allowing us insights to the

Shelley uses the structure of the novel to explore human nature, clouding the reader’s perceptions of good and evil, right and wrong, man and monster. By creating multiple unreliable narrators, she establishes that nothing is certain, positioning the readers to question their own ideas about who is really in the wrong throughout the novel. Frankenstein and the creature are seen as opposites on a scale of good and evil, master and slave, god and devil, however these positions change throughout the novel. Frankenstein wants the readers to see the creature as a monster, but through the characters narratives and reflections, we see that Frankenstein did not actually create a monster. Frankenstein made a man and turned him into a monster, and the

At the beginning of Marlow’s journey his aggressively states he hate of liars and hypocrites, yet at the end Marlow lies to Mr. Kurtz fiancé, “But I couldn’t. I could not tell her. It would have been too dark- too dark altogether… (Page 72).” The journey changed this aspect of Marlow’s personality. As Marlow faces the horrors of the Congo River he learns that some lies are necessary to spare others. In How To Read Literature Like a Professor, the author Thomas C. Foster states, “Okay so here’s the general rule: whether it’s Italy or Greece or Africa or Malaysia or Vietnam, when writers send characters south, its so they can run amok… if we’re being generous, that they can run amok because they are having direct, raw encounters with the subconscious (Foster, 179).” As Marlow travels down the Congo River he continues to here about Mr. Kurtz and he begins to relate himself to Kurtz. As Marlow’s journey continues he begins to realize that Kurtz is crazy. As marlow begins to realize that As that happens Marlow begins to connect himself to Mr. Kurtz but as he continues to relate to Kurtz he begins to realize hat Kurtz is not the man Marlow believed him to be. This realization of how Mr. Kurtz is subconsciously hurts Marlow because Marlow saw himself and Kurtz as kindred spirits and no that Marlow sees that Kurtz is a horrible person

The novel Frankenstein is written in the first person point of view, but at different points in the book, different storytellers recount the tale. Therefore, it can be found three different narrators, being Robert Walton the first narrator, who in his letters cites, second narrator, Victor Frankenstein’s narration; Victor, at the same time, cites the third narrator’s story. Furthermore, Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein narrate parts of the story through their letters to Victor as well, but they are not as relevant narrators as the other characters. With Victor Walton’s character Mary Shelley uses a device denominated epistolary form, novel in the form of a sequences of letters written by one or more characters:

He is telling his story of his adventure to his job on the Congo, presenting the story inside of a story notion. In the reminiscent story he is telling, he talks about a man named Kurtz, the ivory manager at the company is going to work for in the Congo. He learned about the characteristics of Kurtz, which happened to be the opposite of his. At first, he is slight displeased and shows disgust towards the actions of the other workers’ at the company and Marlow; stopping in plot ever so often to regain his thoughts because it made him upset. However, as he continued deeper in the Congo, he starts to change into Kurtz making Kurtz and Marlow complex. The reader can not tell if they are different people or perhaps the same. Before this transformation, Marlow and Kurtz was already similar in a few ways. For example, Marlow and Kurtz both shared a certain amount of respect for the natives, Kurtz even had a mistress that was native. However, they may have a certain level of respect for them they both feel that they are savage like and they are not equal to the white men. This shows the white man’s burden, of the white man that feels the need to educate the natives. Marlow even ends up agreeing later on in the book that they should be

The novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley involves the complex issues with the creation of life through an inanimate life. Shelley uses these character archetypes to develop a deeper meaning of the characters intentions. Shelley does an excellent job at allowing the reader to have a peak at the characters inner thoughts and feelings. The archetypes presented in Frankenstein allow readers to identify with the character's role and purpose.

Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein and Tim Burton's film, Edward Scissorhands has an abounding amount of similarities. They both hold the same plot and alike characters. But they do have some differences.

In the gothic novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley creates a story about a man named Victor Frankenstein who decides to recreate life without knowing the possible consequences it can have in the future. Throughout the novel the author incorporates a variety of literary elements to develop a clear view as to what the theme is. In Frankenstein, the writing depicts a theme of family and how being isolated from family or society can lead to despair and tragedies. To begin, the qualities of the characters presents them in a way that demonstrates the theme of this novel. For instance, in chapter twelve the creature states, “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,

At the end of his journey he realized the reason that everyone who went on this expedition was trying to make their fortune and that is how Kurtz eventually died. His “appetite for more ivory had got the better” of him. No matter what the cost to himself and the people around him, he was going to be the best and get the most money. His selfishness eventually caused his death when the manager downstream would not send food because he hoarded all of the ivory all to himself. Marlow knew that Kurtz was very serious about his job when he saw “heads on the stakes” in front of his house. Which could have been a warning to other people who try to come get his ivory. But the interesting part was most of the heads are faced toward his house. Kurtz wanted attention and loved to have power. These heads could be there to adore him just like the natives when he was with them. Kurtz search for power and wealth left in its wake death and destruction, showing that humanities quest for wealth leads to destruction.

Contrary to what Marlow hears and begins to believe about the great Kurtz, he is a heartless monster. Upon their first encounter Marlow is disgusted. Kurtz’s mistreatment of the natives and the idea he has engraved upon them of him being a god-like figure. Marlow immediately sees through the facade he has built for himself.

If we look at Kurtz, he was a “civilized” businessman, before he entered the Congo. Marlow went to meet him, imagining him to be “civilized,” as a boss should be. But when he finally arrives he meets someone entirely different, Kurtz has become a “savage,” as the conquerors would say. He is more like the natives then Marlow. But why has he changed, and how? It is because of the Congo, the “heart of Darkness” has gotten into him just as it will anyone else that enters the Congo. This is because the Congo is a place of darkness, and horror. The same happens to Marlow, not to the extent of Kurtz. But it does change him, just in a different way. In part 3, the unnamed narrator says,“ Marlow ceased, and sat apart, indistinct and silent, in the pose of a meditating Buddha.” This quote is significant because it describes how Marlow is after the Congo. The quote is on the last page, after Maelow has finished his story, this is after he practically relieved the time through his storytelling. Now he sits in silence in a mediating position, because he is content, he thinks back to his time in the Congo and remembers all the darkness, how it affected him, anything he saw, his obsession with Kurtz. But now time has passed and he has moved on from those horrible times, but keeps the experiences he got from it with him. A Buddha represents wisdom, and Marlow is wisor

He feels greatly out of place, disgusted by these things. It is through his eyes, then, that we can experience the terrible situation the Europeans have created to strip the land for personal profit. The darkness no longer applies only to the shadowy jungle, but to the blackness of men's souls. This is a land of mystery, and what is unknown is used to create the mood and influence the reader. With every terrible act Marlow witnesses, the reader is more disgusted; we learn more about Kurtz and Marlow—the setting provides the opportunity for characterization. Part of the suspense of the story rests in the unknown dangers in the jungles. This also comes from the story's setting. All this prepares the reader for butchery, human sacrifice, and Kurtz's complete moral degradation—the same man who is worshiped by the natives as their chief...like a god. When Kurtz is found, he is completely mad and physically ill—changed by what he has done and what he has seen. The setting affects the mood, the characterization and the plot development. The setting allows for more realistic plot development, and as a result, more credible