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Frankenstein"

Week 1:

January 16, 2018

            Well im not sure how many people who have seen the different adaptations of Frankenstein, but im one of the few who have not.  I have only gotten myself into one of the books because we had to in class when I was in high school.  With this, I feel like my take on reading this book was different. 

            After saying that, I have forgotten most of what I have read from reading the book back then, giving me a new take on it now.  I genuinely enjoyed the book and what it had to offer to me.  I guess having my memory issues since I was little and my dyslexia doesn’t help me much. I noticed that Mary Shelley focuses on the moral dilemma that he created for himself, as well as how the movie shows the thunder and the lightning and the traditional “scary gothic vibe”.

            Before reading this, I had no idea on what a big part Victor’s family plays in the story, as well as what I pictured him to be. As some would not feel bad for Victor, I on the other hand did. I have OCD so I can relate with him on fixating myself on a task and not being able to do anything else until something is done the way that I need it to be or want it.  I share Victors pain.  With the mental picture I originally had for Victor, I planned on him being some old guy locked up in a castle, not expecting him to be a younger guy.  Mary Shelley wrote Victor not to be the typical crazy scientist we all think of and imagine when we think of “mad scientist”.  This separates him from the norm of crazy scientists, even though he is building a “monster”.   

            When I read this, I did have some trouble with some of the language, being dyslexic and all, but I did find it to be very interesting to read again.  One part I particularly liked was, Chapter 10, page 83, “All men hate the wretched; how then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, they creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us.”  I thought that the language in this specific part was very intriguing. It took me a while to understand fully what was going on in the text, but it shows a gentler side of the creature.

            The typical name of a “monster” is to be scary, big and mean. Marry Shelley paints a good picture when creating Frankenstein. The creature is put into isolation and it represents the negative behaviors that we expect that monsters have because he is locked away and wasn’t taught better. 

            One of my favorite quotes is from chapter 24, page 200, “Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries.” 

Escerpts from: Mary Shelly “Frankenstein