The End

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

In the end of Frankenstein, although Victor's mournful struggle for life ends and his entire family has been decimated, he is still able to die with some form of peace. In his dreams and as he comes closer to death, he relishes in the fact that he will soon be with his family, in which he even believed that their spirits had been watching over him the entire time. Oddly enough, Victor dies not discontent that the creature still lives and even feels no remorse for his decision to reject the monster's companion. He speaks of how he fulfilled a far more important that his duty to his creature, his duty towards mankind. By his actions he inhibited the creation of a new race that, with preconceived hatred of mankind, could rout destruction to his fellow man. Seeing Victor's sure resolve and peaceful passing at least give the reader some sense of contentment.

Walton is greatly disturbed by the lose of his friend. He describes Victor's passing as, "the untimely extinction of this glorious spirit?" (Shelley 162). He remorses the fact that he had meat such a fine gentleman only at the brink of his death. Such feelings truly display Victor's loneliness. Such an affliction may seem simply ascribed to his current position, stuck out at sea with a crew of strangers, however, his sadness seems to be deeply rooted in a much more internal loneliness. Almost as if even back home, Walton did not have many friends to rely on. The fact that he is sending his letters to his sister and not some close friend or significant other only stresses this even more. Another, point of Walton at the end of the book is the parallelism with his final choices and victors. There comes a point when Victor shamefully and disappointedly admits the end of the voyage, for he does not want to risk the lives around him by his own ambition. Such a statement only reminds one of Victor, and how his own ambitions affected the lives of those around him. He must relinquish his hopes and return to England as a sorrowful failure, but an alive failure.

Finally, the creature ends this book with a sudden show of sympathy. As Frankenstein's monster speaks to Walton, one receives a brief look back unto before the creature was a heinous demon. During times when his hopes of being received and loved were extinguished by mankind. He states, "Why do you not hate Felix, who drove his friend from the door with contumely?...Why do you not execrate the rustic who sought to destroy the savior of his child?" (Shelley 165). On seeing Victor's cold, dead form he finally relinquishes his hatred for his actions, admitting to being a slave to passion. However, it would only have taken till the total destruction of his enemy that he would come to regret them. In the end, the creature resolves to enter the deepest depths of the arctic where he ends his wretched life. Throughout this story, the lives of Victor and the creature were juxtaposed so similarly, that one could only get a Harry Potter v. Lord Voldemort vibe. In the end, it is only fitting that if one would die, so would the other, in turn, die.

Victor's marriage

Frankenstein by Marry Shelley

During the last couple pages containing Elizabeth, one can truly see what an anchor she is to poor, wretched Victor. She loves him so much that she endeavors through his unexplained pain with him and sympathizes for him. However, the true sadness comes from the great despair and darkness that envelopes Victor in times when he should seem happy. With knowledge of the vengeful wretch waiting to tear the world around him, Victor looks with sadness upon the love of his family, knowing that it all may be taken away. In one instance, after reading of Elizabeth's pronouncement of love for him and hope for their union in a letter, instead of feeling great love and happy eagerness to return home, he immediately thinks of the monster's threat, "I will be with you on your wedding-night". This remark Victor woefully mis-interperets and it brings up one of the greatest ironies of the book. Although many would right away assume that this threat reference's the death of Victor's soon to be bride, Victor admits that something blinded him from that truth, for he believed that it was intended for his death. On that night after the wedding as Victor and Elizabeth stayed in the inn, Victor foolishly left his wife alone, in order to save her from witnessing his battle with the creature. Ironically, he does not save her from anything as she ends up being the next victim of the fiend.

Victor's mistake

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

When Victor is put between a rock and a hard place with the creature, one would say that a major role reversal has thus taken place. Victor is left with the task of recommitting himself to a task that he loathes physically disgusted of when he must make a mate for the creature. He feels this obligation towards the creature not for the creature's happiness as much as for the safety of those he loves. By this threat the creature has control over Frankenstein. With Victor having everything to lose and the monster having nothing, Victor does not have much of a choice then to fulfill the monster's wishes. This advantage that the monster has over his master gives him a sense of dominance as he says, "You are my creator, but I am your master, obey!" (Shelley 122).

In this very same scene when the creature asserts his power over Victor, Victor is given to his emotions and makes a grave mistake. His dismantling of the body and refusal towards the creature's wishes all come from an impulse of disgust and discontent with his work. His mind begins to create rationales to the discontinuation of his work such as the implications of letting lose two of the maniacal race to breed more wretches. One would think that a man who feels as tenderly than anyone for his family would make any sort of sacrifice and move heaven and earth for them would abide by the creature's wishes to secure safety for them. Although the sacrifice he makes by indirectly extinguishing the creature's race from the planet in the end would seem noble, Victor makes this decision more out of an impulse than a calculated risk. Because of his hatred of his wretched work, his makes the choice that will eventually put his loved ones in the ground. Good job family man...

The Creature's nature

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

One topic that was brought up by my small group in discussion was the creature's nature vs. nurture. Now, although the notion that because the creature was created in a laboratory by a scientists, he would not have a precomposed genial make-up meaning his initial nature would be impossible may sound logical, this is a science fiction book and such thoughts are to be thrown out the window. By staying in line with the imagination of the book, it would be conceivable to say that the creature does contain some precomposed tendencies. Although the many miserable encounters that the creature had with humanity and his scholarly learning formed him into the evil wretch he is by the end of the book, the creature does seem to posses some traits that may have been alive in him from his very conception. One obvious trait of the creature's initial nature is his heightened intelligence. When speaking to Frankenstein of his past he admits this by saying, "I may boast that I improved more rapidly than the Arabian" (Shelley 84). This does show that he can learn at a much faster rate than the average human. This trait of a nature plays a part in who he is because it is what enables him to learn about and contemplate the human world and his creator and deep, philosophical questions. These lessons only help him more in the destruction of his master. However, one trait that appears to lie in the monster that is less obvious is his very quick and unrelenting anger. Yes, the events that take place during his short life term him into a miserable wretch, however, the quickness in which the monster resorts to violence is unnerving. Just as the cottagers leave their dwelling, the creature goes mad and burns the cabin down while howling through the night. This is not normal. Another, instance in which the creature is quickly wrapped in his anger is when he takes his first victim. Here one can truly see his deviousness. After destroying the young boys life, the boy he had moments before wished to take as a companion, he feels no remorse what so ever. 

The Creature's Turning

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Throughout the creature's development, one common theme that seems visibly apparent goes along with the saying, "ignorance is bliss". One can find this when reading of the creature's accumulation of knowledge and his resulting demeanor. There is a great resemblance between the creature and one of his many learning materials, Paradise Lost. He speaks of the book and its plot of people rebelling and waring against God. He finds similarity in this to his own life immediately however many differences ensue, such as: God is a perfect being, Victor is not; God would not abandon his creation, Victor did; and lastly, what is most easily noted by the creature, Adam had a companion, he does not. All of this knew information that the creature learns from Paradise Lost, Sorrows of Werner, and Safie's history lessons, he relates all back towards himself. They fill his mind with numbing questions such as, "Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination?" (Shelley 91). Not only in his lessons does the creature feel more wretched, but also in the lessons he receives though real life. Before, while he was still ignorant of the cruelness of the world and the pain it could inflict, he was happy and hopeful in his small universe spent stalking the cottagers he cared for. However, when he finally attempts to reach out and fails when his "protector" attacks him with a stick, he learns that he is truly hopeful and incapable of any companionship. He also learns of the injustice of the world first hand, when he is attacked by a man after he saved the man's daughter. In this lessons, the creature is filled with grief and much hatred towards the human race.

Frankenstein 5

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Victor, out of his extreme guilt and self-loathing decides to take a trip up the mountains where he can escape his issues. However, he ends up enduring quite the contrary when he crosses paths with the monster up atop one of the highest mountain peeks. For their first encounter inside Victor's dorm room, Victor was filled with intense fear and regret and quickly fled the scene, however, in this setting, Victor has been through a emotional wreck and such worries of being dispatched by his monster leave him as he curses and berates the creature for the destruction of his youngest brother and Justine. However, the oddest and most unexpected thing happens when the creature talks back. This I was not expecting. Of my limited knowledge of Frankenstein stories, I had never known that the monster in the original novel could speak. This is another great difference between popular culture's Frankenstein and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The creature speaks with great meaning and vocabulary as he tries to gain his masters sympathy through the retelling of his two years of living. He explains the odd experience of being alive for the first time, in which he, "saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time", not knowing how to distinguish each scent (Shelley 70). His retelling of his journey sounds displays his progress of learning and how, like a baby, he learns to eat, drink, sleep, and get warm when he needs to. He learns of the pleasantness of the world, the savory-cooked meals, and the sweet songs of the birds. He also learns of real human emotions that deepen past simple urges to either eat or drink. Living next to the family, he learns about pain and suffering of the poor, and about the happiness of a family. All this time, one can only gain sympathy for the wretched creature.

Frankenstein 4

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

After gaining news of his youngest brother's death, Victor quickly travels back home to his native town of Geneva. There is he met with bad weather on a dark night, the perfect setting for another horror scene. Out of some odd impulse, Frankenstein, instead of visiting his mourning family, decides first to visit the murder sight of his little brother. There within the temporal flashes of lightning, he witnesses his wretched creature. Although, I am merely reading these descriptions from the confines of a book, I note that Shelley, through her diction and imaging, does well in creating a spooky and suspenseful atmosphere when writing of Frankenstein's sighting of the creature. For example, she writes, "A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity..." (Shelley 50). Such a scene truly shocks and terrifies me. So with this odd and random appearance of the monster at the murder sight, Victor can only conceive that his brother's death was the monster's doing. This realization ultimately fills Victor with guilt, for he it was not of his own doing, yet he still caused the outcome. However, this guilt is none the same as when he finds that Justine Moritz is wrongfully accused of the murder. Out of the pain and humiliation of the whole trial, Justine cannot endure any longer and falsely admits to the crimes brought upon her. What I find quite strange is if Justine really was not the murderer (which she was not) how did the picture that had originally been with William come to her possession. Perhaps the monster is smarter than previously thought. Also, Victor admits that the first victims of the monster were William and Justine, meaning more are to come.

Frankenstein 3

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Within the dismal and disgusting charnel-houses, Frankenstein receives "a light so brilliant and wondrous" that sets his mind in motion (Shelley 31). He explains that there, among the decomposing forms of men, a light went on. Within the chamber Frankenstein inexplicably realized the amazingly simple way to animate inanimate objects. Frankenstein, however, refuses to reveal this information, as if the singularly educated Robert Walton were to understand any bit of Frankenstein's probably extremely complicated method of creating his own 8 feet tall, yellow monster. If you cannot tell from the sarcasm, i indicate that one can clearly see around Shelley's strategy of covering up the omission of Frankenstein's methods by simply stating that Frankenstein does not wish to tell. Although it is quite obvious, it is very smart of her not to try her hand at theorizing such an incredibly impossible and complex possibility, for when one does that with little scientific background, many can gain sights around it. That, in turn, leads to bad science fiction. She omits the specifics of the finding, because, honestly, it is not very important and then she continues on with the real story.

Having little background on this story, other than what pop culture has taught me, I was very astonished by the true creation story. I was very much expecting the gigantic foreboding mansion/castle in which Frankenstein and his hunchbacked accomplice Igor crank the green monster to the top of the building thus ensuing the great lighting bolt followed by the maniacal laugh and trademark, "It's Alive!". However, the real creation is much more subtle. In fact, if one were simply skimming the pages with his or her eyes and not fully digesting the information, they could altogether skip the infamous scene. For it only takes up a few lines and ends with Frankenstein growing cold-feet and running away. How's that for a mad scientist?

Frankenstein 2

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

As Frankenstein describes his upbringing, he gives the impression that no life could have been any better. His life was so good when he was a child that this might as well be true. He was the sole focus of his very loving, and understanding parents for years until the adopted his beautiful and radiant "more than sister" Elizabeth Lavenza (Shelley 18). He states that from the moment he met her, he meant to cherish and protect her till the day he died. These words that greatly resemble wedding vows, display the relationship between Victor and Elizabeth and foreshadow how that relationship grows with their own maturity. The foreshadowing of Victor's imminent doom begins with the death of his mother. He states that, "the first misfortune of my life occurred- an omen, as it were, of my future misery" (Shelley 23). His mother dies from the same fever that Elizabeth had contracted. This tragedy throws the family into shock. Victor leaves shortly after this horrible incident. It comes to effect him greatly, later down the road, as it is part of his motive for the reanimation of the dead. However, his path his filled with many other great foreshadows. He speaks of the time his father chastised him for reading Agrippa which only peeked his interest even more. There is also the time, when his professor enlightens and motivates him by telling him of how the modern science's can bring about powerful miracles. This theme of impeding doom seems very common throughout Frankenstein.

Frankenstein 1

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, as you know, begins with the correspondence between Robert Walton and his sister, although the latter does not or send any letters back nor if she does, they are never shown. Right away, one can sense a peculiar connection between Robert and his sister, from the way in which he writes to her, "Farewell, my dear, excellent Margaret. Heaven shower down blessings on you, and save me, that I may again and again testify my gratitude for all your love and kindness" (Shelley 3). This interaction may just be in accordance with the time period, however, if not, he displays incredibly intense emotions towards his sister. Part of this may be subject to his lonliness. He writes her so desperately as if she is the only one he knows in the world, maybe perhaps because he currently is alone in the world. He is currently shut aboard a vessel bound for the North Pole, where he intends to make great expedition history and to find a quicker route across the globe as well. On the vessel, many of his officers and higher ups he greatly respects, however, as the captain of the ship and also having a different nationality from the rest of his crew, Robert feels greatly detached and lonely from the rest. He writes how he greatly wishes for a friend aboard his vessel. However, he soon receives that through the encounter of the mysterious man who turns out to be Victor Frankenstein. Due to their many similarities, they gain an incredibly strong bond. This bond and kinship thus is the reason why Frankenstein feels comfortable and obligated to tell Robert his story.

APO 96225

APO 96225 by Larry Rottman

Larry Rottman directly imposes irony in his very straightforward and easy to read poem. There is not much to this poem other than its overall meaning. With the examples of "napalm" and "funny monkeys" I assume that the war this young man is fighting in is the Vietnam War. One message of the poem would be not to send depressing letters to your mother, however, the true message is that, sometimes, omitting the truth is the best way to protect our loved ones. That is how the son tries to approach writing his mom at first. He realizes the horrors he has seen and does not wish to shock his mom with the same stories. He writes about the weather, monkeys, sunsets, but never about what he was actually sent to do. It is not until his mom sends the last letter where she implores him to tell everything that he decides to answer honestly. It is evident that his answer shocks his mother, when his next letter is from his dad and demands he does not send depressing letters. The boy's initial proclivity to protect his mother from the reality of the situation was justified, and after he had told the truth, he felt horribly.

Much Madness is divinest Sense

Much Madness is divinest Sense by Emily Dickinson

Once again, of course Emily Dickinson is writing about madness. In this case, I believe this very confusing poem is talking about the discrepancies between one person's idea of reality and another's. She writes of how madness can be taken as sensible and how very sensible could be taken as "the starkest Madness" (Dickinson 830). It explains that our own madness, can never be ascertained by us or by a single person, but by the majority. For it states that those who agree with you, say you are sane, and those who doubt you, say, "you're straightway dangerous" (Dickinson 830). It is condemning society for our accusative and sure-of-ourselves nature. Who are we to discern whether one is sane or insane. How do we know that we are not the insane ones. The whole basis on one's sanity is just based off of how we differ from the rest of the crowd. Then can we truly call an insane person sane? These are questions that Emily Dickinson raises in this poem. They are truly philosophical.

Funeral- Emily Dickinson

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain by Emily Dickinson

There are many odd patterns throughout this poem. One such pattern, is the capitalization of every noun within the text. The one outlier is the word "Being", that is unnecessarily capitalized (Dickinson 776). Maybe this is possibly irrelevant, but each stanza contains one non-concrete noun that is related to the speaker, "Brain, Mind, Soul, Being, Reason". It is obvious that Dickinson is trying to communicate to us that all of the sights that are being portrayed are unreal images that sprout from her imagination. This poem seems to be describing the eventual death of her brain. Yes, usually when one dies so does their brain, however I mean a slow deterioration of the mental health until it is reduced to a limbo like state. She says that as she is lifted into the whole, "And then a Plank in Reason, broke," like her reasoning is becoming null and void. Then she finishes the poem with an unfinished thought, as though her mental health had deteriorated to the bitter end. That is why she senses mourners in her head. It is how she feels about her dying mental health.

Miss Brill

Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield

Miss Brill is certainly an odd lady. She is a people watcher, not living her own life but immersing herself into others lives for a brief time. I believe this is a tell tale sign of someone who is introverted and lonely. From what I can tell, Miss Brill is a relatively old women. She enjoys her sunday trips to the park so much because she feels as though her and the whole public are putting on a play. She comes to this realization and relishes in it, thinking that she is not just part of the audience, but actually on stage like the rest. This instance away from "her room like a cupboard" is some of the most excitement and satisfaction she gets all week (Mansfield 186). Another part of her routine is her fur. I am still quite lost on what exactly her fur is, but it sounds as though it is a cherished part of her day. It is some sort of treat or fine garment that she reintroduces into the public every sunday, making her feel even more excited and confidant about the day at hand. However, all of her excitement over the people watching and the breaking out of her favorite fur, is all demolished when her part in the play becomes too relevant. She sits at her park bench at the height of euphoria when she sees her hero and heroine enter the stage. However, to her disappointment, these punk, teeny-boppers make only to laugh and make fun of her when they believe she is out of earshot. Just as her perception of the young couple is quickly altered, so is her perception of the day and her overall mood. She comes home, sent rudely back to reality, to her lonely house. The play is over.

Bartelby

Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville

Bartleby is certainly a sick, insane man. That is a key point that I certainly picked up from reading this lengthy "short" story. Its amazing how relative adjectives can deceive someone. So bartleby obviously has something wrong with him, for he seems absolutely oblivious to natural social cues and completely devoid of any manner of emotion. He is an empty shell of a man. However, the one who is completely maddening, is not the worthless, waste of space, Bartleby, but instead the narrator of the story, who remains nameless. The narrator has everything in his power to deal with the oddity that is Bartleby, however he seems neglectful out of either his pity or maybe his confused wonder of Bartleby. Early on in the story, it is quite clear that Bartleby is completely noncompliant. After every single request he answers with a simple and clear, "I would prefer not" (Melville 662). One would think that after a couple of days of this nonsense, any employer with any brains about him would deal with the problem in a simple manner. However, the narrator feeds his interest in seemingly brazen Bartleby by keeping him employed, thats logical. At one point the man is stuck, unwilling to work his job, yet unwilling to leave the premise. Bartleby unwittingly tries to reason to the oblivious man, with the expected result of some random creep still staring blankly at a wall in his office. At this point, any man with any bit of reason would simply call the authorities and have this piece of furniture removed from the premise, however the narrator feels too bad. Well that's too bad, because you still have a vegetable living in your office space. I do not know exactly what is wrong with Bartleby, but I will say this about the narrator; his problem is that he is just too passive. That is why his life is awful.