The Damned Thing Literary Devices

The idea of what a monster is and how it pertains to modern day society has fascinated readers and writers for decades. Before taking this class, I was aware of what a monster is and the function it served in today’s society. Furthermore, after taking this class, I am now aware of what a monster truly is, and what really separates a monster from a regular person. The piece of text that I mainly chose to focus on and elaborate closely to demonstrate the aspects of a monster is appropriately named, Monster, by Walter Dean Myers. The reason I chose this piece of literature is because, Monster thoroughly elaborates what a monster is in todays society and how it functions in the modern day world. In this essay I will elaborate on

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has several literary devices- such as structure, imagery, and many intricate details. She perfectly places words and puts them in such a way that the passage has a dual tone. Shelley begins with establishing the monster’s nature as being peaceful, because he wanted to reason with Victor. Him wanting to reason shows the importance of his decision to meet with Victor and shows that even though he has been through a great deal, he is still respectable to others. The audience gets to see the creature’s humble nature and makes the audience feel sympathetic towards him. This creates a peaceful tone to the passage. The monster wants to be loved by “any being and if they showed benevolence to me, I would return them hundred an hundred fold” (Shelley 148). The creature’s begging makes it sound like Victor will answer his plea. Using a broad term like “being”, demonstrates the monster’s need to be loved, putting him in a position with the audience again feeling empathetic towards him. Eventually, Victor’s compassion begins to fluctuate. The desperation the creature has looks like the desperation a human might have. This only gives the readers another reason to relate to him which leads to the other tone, impossible. Victor’s unreasonableness heightens this shared discontent as not only has the build up of the creature’s wistful nature made him an utmost identifiable character, but our views are adjusted in such as way that Frankenstein is seen

Monsters are challenges that the human race must overcome. In Jeffrey Cohen’s essay “Monster Culture,” Cohen reasserts the presence of the monstrous within society, and its relation to different cultures in a specific time period. All of Cohen’s seven thesis makes sensible arguments that gives the audience a glimpse on what his purpose is. Each thesis are presented differently, but Cohen correlates his ideas to explain the monster’s true existence. The convergence of intellectualism makes a strong connection between Cohen’s appeal to pathos. Cohen utilizes emotion in his writing to mainly appeal to his audience, and give them an idea on what goes on behind the monster’s identity. The final thesis “The Monster Stands at the Threshold of Becoming”

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Similarly, if a being is never provoked by man, will it become a monster? The latter is a question that is put into focus throughout Gardner’s Grendel and Shelley’s Frankenstein. The reader learns of Grendel, and of Frankenstein’s creation, and must determine if they are truly monsters or merely a product of the world they live in. It is very easy to take one glance at the seemingly heinous crimes committed by Grendel and Frankenstein’s creation, and based off of this, deem them to be monsters. However, it is the actions and words of man that transform both Grendel, and Frankenstein’s creation into monsters.

In Walker Percy’s essay titled “The Loss of the Creature,” Percy repeatedly attempts to instill the philosophy of realism in the mind of the reader. However, the manner in which he chooses to approach this goal is fairly peculiar, and uncommon among essayists. The essay is one of examples, mostly describing the pitfalls of expectation, and leaving much room for interpretation. It is felicitous that just as Percy desires to ingrain the value of the principle of discovery in the reader’s approach, the reader himself must discover the actual meaning of the essay. By looking through the examples, the reader soon picks out a

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the narrator, Dr. Frankenstein, enhances an atmosphere of horror through diction and imagery, which creates escalating a tone of darkness. Frankenstein had been working on this experiment for months, and on a late, fall night it finally presents itself. The narrator is extremely anxious, and images of a lack of light, his “candle… nearly burnt out,” promotes a tone of fear and disquietness. Frankenstein means to contrast the living and the dead by reviving a “lifeless thing,” but ends up locating the peak of dread.

The allusion to Walton’s pure shock while setting up to describe the unbelievable event which has occulted is supported by his assertion of being “dizzy with the remembrance of it.” When Walton describes the meet with the monster as a “final and wonderful catastrophe,” his word choice lends to the understatement of the total catastrophe that the monster’s life has been. Accustomed to death, resentment, and loneliness, the monster’s bitterness towards his creator fuels his horrific actions and makes his life incomparable to that of a catastrophe, being more so analogous to that of a complete tragedy. Although the term ‘catastrophe’ is surrounded by negative connotation, the destructive chaos left in the wake of the astounding and uncategorized being is not fully extended by its employment. Walton’s highlight of the inclusion of this final encounter as being vital to the account of which he has communicated also presents an understatement as he views the completion of the ‘tale’ as

Authors use literary as devices such irony, foreshadowing,or flashbacks to help develop the theme of a story. Novels such as Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, use these literary devices to elaborate on and support one common theme. Even short stories such as “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury use literary devices to make their stories and plots more interesting and to develop their themes. Literary devices are an important part of writing and an essential part of any plot, story, or theme.

“It’s ALIVE!” This is what one may think of when hearing the name “Frankenstein.” Along with this exclamation, one may think of Frankenstein as a grotesque, green-hued creature created by a scientist. Society often thinks of the character Frankenstein as the monster in a horror story. However, this common thought is completely false. Frankenstein is actually the main character who creates the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Regardless of the novel Frankenstein’s misconceptions, a multitude of people from all corners of the globe recognize the name of Shelley’s famous book. The novel is used in countless classrooms to teach about the various themes the book contains. One of those themes is obsession and how it

The most frightening horror story can only be called such if it is believable. Nothing is so unnerving as lying awake at night with very real fears. No monster can harm you, unless the monster was genetically engineered by a mad scientist. The theme of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - scientific investigation without consideration of morality and responsibility - is a very relevant topic in today's world. This theme, along with the less obvious themes of revenge, prejudice against deviation from the norm, and fate all make Frankenstein one of the most unique and terrifying horror novels ever.

Nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley didn’t know when she began it that her “ghost story” would become an enduring part of classic literature. Frankenstein is an admirable work simply for its captivating plot. To the careful reader, however, Shelley’s tale offers complex insights into human experience. The reader identifies with all of the major characters and is left to heed or ignore the cautions that their situations provide. Shelley uses the second person narrative style, allusions both to Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and the legend of Prometheus, and the symbols of both light and fire to warn against the destructive thirst for forbidden knowledge.

In The Damned Thing by Ambrose Bierce the horror he tries to display is that people will try to put logic to something illogical. Bierce not only makes the characters think this way but also makes the reader themselves think about it. Throughout the story we never see “The Damned thing”, we barely have any descriptions of “The Damned Thing”, the Author doesn't let us have any information of it, letting our minds wander to the most logical explanation. When I first read the story and was put into the place of William Harker, I didn't jump to the conclusion that it was an invisible beast, I went to the next most logical answer which was a wild animal. After William Harker sees Hugh Morgan, his hunter friend, become startled by a noise he says,

For as long as man has learned to fear, whopping frights have existed. Some of these were entirely born from fables, others based upon biased knowledge of the world. Legends of many ancient beasts survive for a multitude of generations. Of course we realize these humongous horrors are as real as fairy tales, but they serve a greater purpose than to ignite terror in people- they mean to educate. While mere folktales, such as the bogeyman, keep toddlers in bed at night, authors for mature audiences use hellions to teach more valuable lessons. From astronomic leviathans, such as Ishirō Honda 's Godzilla who educate about great responsibility, or the plesiosaurus of Ray Bradbury, who give windows into the minds of the lonely, to the horrors of the subconscious, exemplified by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Mr. Hyde, horrors have deeper concepts to them that educate in an allegoric fashion. Human nature has always presented a natural love for fantastic stories, and many elders use these parables to disarm listeners and scare the message into them.

Although there are many subgenres of horror fiction, including bizarro, fantasy, surrealism, and magic realism, there are certain aspects that a story must encompass to be considered, “weird.” Magic realism is a branch of fiction that is often mistaken to be a work of the, “weird.” What differentiates the two genres explicitly include the authors concentration on setting and overall atmosphere, and the embodiment of themes that disrupt the readers perception of time, space, and their natural world. “The Werewolf,” by Angela Carter exhibits strong characteristics of magic realism, while H.F. Arnold’s, “The Night Wire,” is a genuine work of, “weird,” fiction.

It explores the uses of internal horror. It also sets the scene, which is one of disgust and anguish. A rhetorical question is used in the first paragraph; it is used to make the reader build a picture of just how hideous the monster is.