Myrjun Angeles Ms. Ammendolia EWC4UI 10/13/17 Frankenstein Novel Analysis Frankenstein is partly an epistolary novel. In what way do the letters at the beginning of the text help frame the story that follows? The series of letters at the beginning of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley are from Robert Walton, and were sent to his sister, Margaret Saville. In each letter, Walton tells his sister of updates while he’s on one of many sea trips and to coincide with that, readers of the novel get a glimpse of the personal turmoil he is facing. On his trip, Walton meets a stranger who he thinks can be the one to help aid in his feeling of loneliness and isolation. So not only does finding out more about the stranger make him a friend of Walton’s, but …show more content…
So that’s why when he encountered the stranger, he immediately found a sense of comfort in confiding in him because he finally satisfied his need for companionship. In Frankenstein’s situation, he too was seeking a friend because he shared Walton’s desire for companionship. The parallel storylines between a human and a monster make it evident that the two beings, though physically different, may not be as contrasting as initially thought. Frankenstein is a story within a story. What effect does this technique have upon the narrative? The story within a story technique can also be called frame story/narrative. In Frankenstein, this technique helps introduce different characters as well as their perspectives. Through the letters written by Robert Walton to Margaret Saville, readers learn about Victor Frankenstein and his creation’s story. If one thinks about it, this novel actually has many layers, and can be referred to as a story within a story that’s within another story. The reason being is in Walton’s letters, we learn of Victor Frankenstein and his adversity when he created the monster, which is the last narrative the readers experience. To restate, this technique brings together the individual stories of Walton, Victor and Frankenstein in many ways that overall become clearer in the initial letters Mary Shelley uses in the beginning of the novel. Explain the purposes of each of the following characters in the story. Why does Shelley need them? How are they
The feeling of loneliness and longing for a friendship links Walton, Frankenstein and the Creature together. Walton writes in one letter, "I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me, whose eyes would reply to mine . . .I bitterly feel the want of a friend."` Frankenstein hears the same desperate plea for friendship from the Creature when he says "everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy , and I shall again be virtuous." Unfortunately, Frankenstein never offers the same friendship to the creature as he does to Walton. However, Frankenstein did get a taste of the lonely friendless misery felt by Walton and the creature when he was sent to prison for the murder of Clerval.
The structure of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley makes a great difference for the readers. Frankenstein is a novel that follows the story of Victor who creates a monster, which is eventually abandoned. It then follows the story of the lonely creature and its life with the cottagers. Also in the novel is Robert Walton is a man who nurses Victor Frankenstein back to help and listens to the story of the creation of the creature. The different points of views help contribute to the overall effect of Frankenstein and lets the readers understand the characters on a deeper level.
What purpose does it serve to have multiple narrators telling a story? In Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, three main narrators tell the story about the creation of a monster and the events that follow. The job of narrator shifts between Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster that Victor creates. As each narrator shares his own recollection of the events that occurred, new facts are introduced to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Although Frankenstein uses multiple narrators to tell the story, it is important to look at the effects it might have on the stories accuracy. In this essay, I will closely examine the motives, differences, and similarities of each narrator to see what influences, if any, they have on the narrative.
The following essay is concerned with the frame structure in Mary Shelley`s Frankenstein and its’ functions as it is suggested by Beth Newman`s "Narratives of seduction and the seduction of narratives". To start with, the novel Frankenstein is a symmetrically built frame narrative with a story at its center. This is not always the case with frame structured novels, as there are examples without a proper center (e.g. Heart of Darkness). The elaborate system of frames indicates that this center reveals some kind of a mystery. However, it would be wrong to asume that the center alone contains the meaning of the novel. On the
Shelley’s writing style is known as a frame story, or a story within a story. As few readers remember, Walton is the true narrator of the story. But as walton is telling the story victor told him it seems as if Frankenstein himself is narrating. The author uses eloquent language and rich visual writing for the reader to truly visualize the story while reading. Her metaphors and similes are all very precise and not overused in the book or haphazard.
The unique structure and narratives of frankenstein determined what we can approach characteristics of main character in the book through various perspectives from different narrators. By developing her story through epistolaries, Mary Shelley employs a lot of parallels to demonstrate similarities between different narrators. Especially from the second volume of Frankenstein, in which the monster begins to narrate his own story, we can easily derive mountains of similarity between Frankenstein and his monster. First of all, Both of their passions for exploration reveal their similar interests toward new knowledge. Secondly, Both of them are so fascinated by the nature around
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is a Gothic novel that contains two genres, science fiction and Gothicism. The novel is a first person narrative that uses a framing technique, where a story is told within a story. Shelley gives the book a distinctive gothic mood tone by the use of her chosen setting which is dark and gloomy, by doing this it reflects the hideousness of the creature; the point of views helps towards the realism of the novel; and characterization able the reader to interact with the characters and feel sympathy or hatred towards each one. To entice the readers into her suspenseful novel Shelley uses foreshadowing. The narrative structure shows a wide range of perspectives rather than just one, by doing this it provides the
Mary Shelley started off Frankenstein to imaginably set up multiple themes for the novel, and to foreshadow the types of characters within the letters to the types of characters within the novel. Framing the novel with an epistolary beginning and starting off with letters written to someone else allowed for the reader to perhaps gain a perspective of realness of a situation that would be considered unlikely in modern days. Meaning that a hand-written, tangible letter must indeed seem more real and believable to a story like this, versus telling ghost stories that do not necessarily have a tangible feel to them. From a reader’s perspective, the reader can gather thoughts and develop an imagination as to believe that the hand written letters did come from a real person and were sent to another real person, revealing that the events could have really happened and were not made up. This could also lead to the challenge of distinguishing what is real and what
Shelley uses an interesting style of writing; working her novel in a circular way. She starts and ends with letters written by Robert Walton. He writes to his sister, telling about the life of Victor Frankenstein in the first person. By starting off the novel with letters, Shelley opens up the opportunity for her round-about structure. In the first of Walton’s letters, Frankenstein said, “‘… listen to my history and you will perceive how irrevocably it is determined’” (Shelley 24). She introduces Victor as a minor
Frankenstein is an excellent piece of literature that exemplarily integrates into the contemporary issues in the society and disguises itself as modern literature, despite its antiquity. Shelley perpetrates a paradigm that recreating life can revitalize life and orchestrate detrimental predicament in equal measure. According to Geoghegan, Frankenstein demonstrates
The perspective, from which a story is told, causes an influential response from readers to certain issues, characters and conflicts that are found in literary texts. Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, was published in 1818 and tells the story of a scientist known as Victor Frankenstein who reanimates life in an unethical science experiment. In this novel Walton, Victor and the creature tell their side of the story, through which Mary Shelley uses the effect of a frame narrative so that it provides readers with extensive information about characters such as their intentions, emotions, and thoughts, which allows for each reader to create a unique and individual response to the novel.
The beginning and ending of the novel Frankenstein are written in epistolary form as a series of letters from Robert Walton, to his sister. The letters are unusual as they contain very little information about Walton’s sister and mostly detail Walton’s exploits in exploring the Arctic in search of the North-West Passage, in this way resembling journal entries instead of letters. While Walton spends many pages explaining his adventures in a “land surpassing in wonders and beauty,” the few questions asked to his sister are either rhetorical such as “do you understand this feeling?” which is also condescending, snidely suggesting his sisters incapacity to
It starts off first person narrative as a brother writing to his sister, While he's gone away on voyage in the frozen Arctic. The narrative changes a lot in this book. The primary narrator is Robert Walton, who quotes Victor Frankenstein, whose first person narrative at length. In addition less greater characters in the story such as Elizabeth Lavenza, and Alphonse Frankenstein also have a little part in the narration from their letters as well. The author portrays the book in so many views from the characters, especially the monster. She wanted the reader to really have a perspective. The setting of this novel is very interesting also, because it’s being taking place in many different parts in Europe. The first part of the book takes place in Russia then transitions to Geneva,
Understanding the time, place, and mentalities of characters in a book is a huge part of how one perceives a book and its characters. Being born in a time where things are looked at upon a certain light, the audience forgets how different life was in previous times. In the novel “Frankenstein”, by Mary Shelley, The story is set in the enlightenment era, a time where new ideas were being formed and innovation took place. It was also written during a time of scientific and technological advancements which plays a key factor to the events that take place in the story.
Therefore, similar to these systems, the novel can be subdivided into three parts: the novel begins and ends with Walton’s frame narrative, where the letters about Frankenstein’s main story are included. Frankenstein’s story contains the story of his monster, which describes its own story.