How Is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: A Narrative Fiction

Quote: He stated “I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe…..I shunned the face of man; all sound of joy or complacency was torture to me; solitude was my only consolation–deep, dark, deathlike solitude.”(Page 88).

Every work is a product of its time. Indeed, we see that in Frankenstein, like in the world which produced its author, race, or the outward appearances on which that construct is based, determines much of the treatment received by those at all levels of its hierarchy. Within the work, Mary Shelley, its author, not only presents a racialized view of its characters, but further establishes and enforces the racial hierarchy present and known to her in her own world. For the few non-European characters, their appearance, and thus their standing in its related hierarchy, defines their entrances into the narrative. For the Creature, this occurs on the ices of the Artic, when, “atop a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile;” Walton and his men perceived, “a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature.” (Shelley 13) Shelley clarifies, even this early in her novel, the race of its principal Other as soon after the intrepid adventurers rescue its namesake, Victor Frankenstein, who, Shelley clarifies, “was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but an European.” (Shelley 14) Later, closer examination of the Creature reveals a visage and figure of near unimaginable disfigurement, with a “shrivelled complexion,” and yellow skin which “scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath.” (Shelley 35) This could be contrasted directly

Shelley addresses romantic conventions in Victor to convey his loss of identity. Victor is impatient and restless when constructing the creation, so much, that he does not think about it’s future repercussions. One of the great paradoxes that Shelley’s novel depicts is giving the monster more human attributes than to it’s creator [p. 6 - Interpretations]. This is true as the monster seeks an emotional bond, but Victor is terrified of it’s existence. The monster later reveals, “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurred at and kicked and trampled on [Shelley, p. 224].” Victor’s lack of compassion is rooted from the inability to cope with his reality. He distances himself from others and is induced with fainting spells [Shelley, p. 59]. From this, the nameless creature exemplifies Victor’s attempt to abandon his creation to escape his responsibilities. His creation is described as, ‘wretched devil’ and ‘abhorred monster,’ eliciting that the unobtainable, pitied identity [Shelley, p. 102]. The act of not naming the creature reveals Victor as hateful, and unnaturally disconnected to his own created victim.

In Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, the creation, made from scraps of corpses, was built by Victor Frankenstein, a man fascinated and obsessed with the knowledge of life. Following the creation’s rouse, Victor immediately abandons him with no desire on keeping or teaching his new being. Because of his lack of nourishment and direction “growing up”, the creation goes through a process of self-deception. He endures a period of deceit by believing that he is a normal human being like everyone around him. But as time progresses, he learns to accept how he is alone in this world and disconnected with everyone. Because of the creation’s lack of guidance and isolation, he grows up feeling unwanted.

I had just left my father’s funeral. I was wondering where my brother Victor was. He was not at the funeral; could he just have been at home? Why would he miss our father’s funeral. So I got in my carriage and rode home. Victor was not at home. So I went to ask the people in Geneva. One woman told me that victor had left for the Arctic. I asked myself: Why would Victor leave for the Arctic? I realized that I had no family member left, I was all alone. All the money and property was supposed to go to victor because he was the oldest son. But now since he is not here to inherit it, the money was all mine. I being a teenager thought that throwing a party would be fun. But then I thought let me get settled and used to this empty home. I

John Locke is one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and is famously known for asserting that all humans have natural rights. He also believed that humans are born with clean slates, and that the environment humans grow in, especially at a young age, has massive influences on aspects of their personalities, ideals, and motivations. Shelley was most definitely influenced by this claim when writing Frankenstein. As the reader, we can see the monster that Victor Frankenstein creates grow up alone, without guidance, and be formed by the experiences it is put through while trying to survive. Its emotions and beliefs throughout the book were merely a result of its experiences as it encounters the harsh reality of the world. Mary

We react with ambivalence to this question because we have been exposed to both sides of the story, which is a rarity in most cases. Shelley represents the creature as truly monstrous and evil through the eyes of Victor Frankenstein, which gives readers the opportunity to view Frankenstein as the hero. It is only when we read the creature’s account that we began to feel both sympathy and even empathy for the struggles he has encountered. The creature never asked to be born and continually suffers at the hands of other throughout the novel. It is hard not to feel sympathy with someone who is so childlike and “new” to the world. Especially when the creature cries out in agony: “‘Cursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God in pity made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of your’s, more horrid from its very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and detested’” (Shelley, 91). The creature also goes on to say: “‘Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?’” (Shelley, 95). How could one not feel sympathy for someone who hated themselves? Humans have experienced such feelings of loneliness and isolation. The creature even says that Satan, of all people, had friends, but he is so hideous that he is utterly alone in the world. All

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is an early product of the modern Western world. Written during the Romantic movement of the early 19th century, the book provides insight into issues that are pertinent today. Similar to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Shelley's Frankenstein concerns individuals' aspirations and what results when those aspirations are attained irresponsibly.

The momentum forces me to stumble down. I fall on my back, the air knocked out of me. I lay for a moment, attempting to catch my breathe. As I learn to breath again, a heavy thing falls on me. My vision is blocked as a handful of black hair lands on my face. Next to my ear is a set of lips.

If only I knew how much those words would mean to me now. My eyes shot open in fear, the unknown surroundings swallowing me whole. My throat closed up, the rawness rubbing along with air ways, clawing at my neck. I couldn't breathe, as I rolled over to my chest, coughing up the remains of dryness within my throat.

Adelaide swallowed hard, pushing herself off the earth beneath her. Fear radiated from her body as the lights temporarily blinded her as she looked up. She sat on her knees and wrapped her arms around herself, what had she gotten herself into. She was trapped in a silver lined circle, it almost reminded her of a baseball field because of its lighting fixtures. There were two different sets of lighting fixtures and one set wasn’t turned on, she could only assume they were back up lights or perhaps specialized lights of some kind.

I was just a little kitten when I was brought into my new home on the summer of 2011. Of course I was scared because there were six humans, 2 older humans and 4 smaller humans, living in this apartment. The human that seemed way too happy to see me was the oldest of the smaller humans, Cindy. She is my favorite human. She is the only one who lets me sleep in her bed, feeds me chicken under the table, when I got sick she was the only one who went and got the medicine I needed, and I feel more comfortable sleeping on her lap or only her letting me pet me for hours. When she is not taking care of me, she is taking care of the other little humans when the big humans are not around. Do not even get me started with the three little humans, they are always interrupting my mid afternoon naps with their loud voices, petting me too hard, or are too busy watching other humans

I promised myself that when she woke up the next day we would start our new life without fear of the evil creature ever being in our lives. I knew he was going to show up, he made a promise when he said he'd be with me on my wedding night. So there I was pacing up and down the lonely halls of the mansion. Inspecting every corner that might inhabit my enemy. Taking meticulous steps forward, peeking out the windows to see the faint images of trees covered by the thick fog. Looking over my shoulder now and then expecting a surprise attack. The fiend was nowhere to be found, I began to assume that some fortunate chance had intervened to prevent the execution of his menaces, that's when my heart dropped, my breath and very muscle suspended.

The stars were gleaming in the night sky. Emily, Luke and Tim were eating cold tomato soup in the living area. It was horrid. The groundskeeper began to speak abruptly. “Now, I’m gonna tell you about an incident that happened right here in this building about 8 years ago. Kids just like you were sent here. It was night fall, and the atmosphere was eerie and uncalm. Something was about to go down. Something big! So, as I was saying, every child was heading off to bed when there was harsh sounding scream that came from upstairs. And then there was another after that. A girl and boy had been slaughtered. I looked up towards the staircase and saw a dark black figure with fiery red eyes. For one moment, the hideous looking creature was there, staring at me. The next, vanished!”

In the gothic novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley offers an ominous tale of science gone terribly wrong using the theme of the father and son relationship that also goes terribly wrong. Though Victor Frankenstein does not give birth per se to the Monster, Frankenstein is for all intents and purposes the Monster's father as he brings him to life via his scientific knowledge. Once the Monster is alive he looks to Frankenstein to protect him as a father would, but Frankenstein who is mortified by his creation shuns him. The longer the Monster lives without Frankenstein's love and the more he discovers what he is missing, the angrier he gets and he sets out on a mission to destroy Victor Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Shelley's purpose is to reveal what happens to society at large when individuals fail in their duties as parents.