Frankenstein's Monster

Godzilla was used as “a metaphor for the growing fears of a nation living in the shadow of doomsday.” (Brothers 52) Monsters have been used as a storytelling tool across cultures for centuries, but why? What do monsters offer us that reality doesn't? Monster's success as a tool is because of their simple, fictional nature.

When analyzed online many of the definitions you will find for the word monster include: a strange or horrible imaginary creature, one who deviates from normal or acceptable behavior, or an animal of strange and/or terrifying shape. (Merriam Webster) When observing the “Monster Theory” by Jeffrey Cohen and the 7 theses that he provides in this text, one can begin to somewhat disagree with these formal definitions and attempt to say that it has an even greater meaning. Monsters might scare us and frighten us because of their physical appearances but also can provide us with possible solutions to gaps and uncertainties in our mind that Sigmund Freud would label as “The Uncanny”. I can only but agree with

The natural being of monsters is supposed to instill fear in humans. They were used to scare

When people think of monsters, the first thing that pops into their head is Frankenstein, zombies, creatures of the night. Monsters are scary. Monsters in society reveal peoples fears and anxieties, their preconceived notions of normality, and represent the unknown.

Every culture has its way of representing mysterious situations and channel their intense fears and nightmares caused by such situations through the figure of a monster. The creation of monsters in horror films and literature varies on the writer’s perception of monsters and what various cultures find horrible and frighten. According to Bruce F. Kawin, author of Composite Monsters: Island of Lost Souls and The Fly, monsters in horror films provide individuals the opportunity to explore all forms of life from natural to unnatural. For instance, Kawin’s defines a monster to “an imaginary creature made up of the parts of two or more animals, one of which might be a human” (Kawin 99) Kawin braces monster’s definition by comparing the following

A monster can be hard to define. Describing a monster can be easier than defining one. The term ’monster’ is broad and vague and as a result, it is easier to describe a monster rather than to define one. Tina Boyer says: “A monster is a cultural construct. By definition, it is a thing that shows or reflects cultural fears and forbidden obsessions, social and moral problems that express themselves in the body and behavior of the monstrous creature (Boyer 240).” What makes a monster scary differs among cultures, however, there are general trends of monsters and villains among cultures. Monsters are ugly in many European-based cultures, depicted with asymmetrical limbs and features. Hollywood has used these traits to make better movies for

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.

The monster notices that humans are afraid of him because of his appearance, he feels embarrassed of himself, as humans do when they don’t seem to be accepted. He admires the De Lacey Family that lives in the cottage, he also learns from them, and hopes to have companion as they do. The monster is like humans, as mentioned, in the way that he wants someone to listen and care about him. He is discovering the world and his capacities, he seeks knowledge and understand plenty aspects of life by learning how to speak and read. “The gentle manners and beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to me; when they were unhappy, I felt depressed; when they rejoiced, I sympathized in their joys” (Shelley 47). The monster developed feelings and emotions as humans. The creature is different from humans also, since he never got to grow up as a normal human, and

Monsters. They’re everywhere, from Sulley in Monsters Inc., to the iconic role of Dracula, to being key figures in literature and film.These creatures are recurring characters due to the reactions they invoke from the audience and other characters of the work. Despite (or due to) their gruesome nature and physical appearance, monsters are able to tap into the spiritual, social, and psychological aspect of people to capture their fascination.

A little girl screams in fear for her parents as she envisions a green, three-eyed monster lurking under her bed, waiting to get her until she finally closes her eyes. A little boy scares fellow trick-or-treaters as he’s dressed as a vampire for Halloween brandishing his pointy teeth with blood dripping out of his mouth. Both of these examples of monsters focus on the physicality of a creature and undermine the weight which the word ‘monster’ actually carries. In Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, and in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, there are characters that perfectly fit the description of a tangible monster. However, monsters are more than their somatic features. Monsters are created within based on circumstances, decisions that are

In Mary Shelley´s Gothic novel, Frankenstein, the Monster once claimed, “The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” Frankenstein, since the 1910 film adaptation, has known a series of several adaptations that changed drastically, not only the plot but one of the main characters, the Monster, from stealing its creator´s name to being portrayed as a cold villain. Though, in the original storyline, the biggest threat to society is the creator itself, the one pretending to play as God, Victor Frankenstein. This essay will discuss the nature of the main characters of the novel and conclude who is the “real monster” in the end.

Among many people in our day and age, people recognize the story of Frankenstein as something incredibly different from the book; a pseudo-Gothic tale of a mad scientist and his demented hunchbacked minion who together to create a colossal, bright-green, stupid, flat-headed ghoul called Frankenstein (apparently after the creator?) in their castle-like laboratory. The leading factors of this hilarious misconception is in the way that the film crew of the movie adaptation of Frankenstein (1931), took their own artistic take on the book. As the many years have gone by, people unfamiliar with the book tend to mistake the elements of the film with the book. Ever since the adaptation in 1931, Frankenstein has rarely been portrayed accurately due to the visual novelty of not only the creature on film, but of motion pictures themselves. Not only did the magic of movies "brainwash" people into believing the changes of the film, but it was the fact that at that time, the book Frankenstein was over 100 years old and it could've been

As a child, the first image of a “monster” is introduced to us. This very specific visual representation sticks with us as we develop and grow. Without even realizing it, monsters comprise more than just the creature under our bed or in our closet. Figurative or literal, monsters dominate all parts of our lives. They shape our thoughts and beliefs.

This interview with Guillermo Del Toro is pretty interesting he talks about many different topics regarding the making of monsters he has helped produce. Guillermo thinks people most of the time look at monsters as, what is scary and how the writing process happens when creating multiple monsters. The first thing he talks about is how he can often create a monster, he compares it to creating music rather than a type of math problem. In his process of making a monster he states there is no exact way to start, it’s not as simple as a step by step sequence it’s more of a flow that needs to occur naturally and he talks about how monsters are often creatures seen as symbols of power. Personally to me this relates to what we discussed in class on how often we as people

There are many monsters that people have created or made up like Stephen King. Making up the story or creating creatures that scared us Because many people are scared of what is different From us. Like Frankenstein was a monster that was made by a professor that everyone was scared Because he was dead and come back from death. Those are many monsters scaring us. A monster is something everyone is scared when they were little thinking it was something under our bed or thinking about something that it will come to get us. Hitler was a monster that was destroying our world after WWI he commands and gets too much power after that WW 2 begins. Grendel kills many people "Thens, when darkness had dropped, Grundel Went up to Herot, wondering what the warriors Would do in that hall when their drinking was done. He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting Nothing, their dreams undisturbed. The monsters. Thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws: He slipped through the door and there in the silence Snatched up thirty men, smashed them Unknowing in their bed and ran out with their body, The blood dripping behind him, back To his lair, delighted with his night slaughter " Page 44 in the literature book. Hitler was a horrible monster worse than Grendel. Hitler almost destroys a whole nation just because there were different from him and try to make a nation of people with specific trades He was unable to be touched because he was a leader of a big nation just like Grendel's was