0 o o 0 o 0 0 0 00 00 o 0, rsh Intensive Eng I 12 Period 4 Mrs. lallatin June 5, 2009
Frankenstein Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print. Table of Contents Page 3 Advice Column Page 5 Character Reaction Page 7 Summary Page 8 Transporting a Character Page 9 Who Should Read This Book? (Closing Log)
Advice Column Dear Amanda, I have found that people are horrified by the appearance I bear. My appearance does not reflect the type of human' really am or would like to be. No one will give me a chance to show them my better nature. I have been judged by many people and even shot at even after saving a little girl because of the way that I look. These problems are all results of my creation by a man named Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein created me and then left me to fend for myself. I learned alii could from a family that lived in a cottage. I never got to directly learn from them, but 'listened from afar. When I finally tried to make contact, I was chased away. They moved, and out of anger I burned down their land. I want revenge on Victor Frankenstein, but' also need help to find a way to stop people from running away in horror when they see my face. I hope that you can give me advice on ways to help me make friends and even hopefully meet a woman. I am very lonely and angry. What do you think I should do about my appearance and also about Victor? Misunderstood Wretch
Dear Misunderstood Wretch, First, I would like to encourage you to forget about Victor. Although he neglected you, you cannot take action to get back at him. This will only make you seem more evil. Instead I believe you should buy yourself some good Maybelline makeup and cover up that yellow skin you were given. Go to Barney's and get yourself a nice suit so you look very professional. It also would benefit you to move to America where people are much more accepting due to the variety of people that live here. It will be hard to get some people to accept you, but you cannot give up. At some time you will run across someone that will see you as an educated person instead of a hideous monster. Try not to turn into a monster and kill people. All that will do is further crush your image and chances of being accepted. Good luck making these changesand finding people to call your friends. Don't forget to get the good makeup. You will need it. Amanda
Character Reaction I really disliked the character of Victor Frankenstein because I feel that he was very selfish throughout the entire book. Victor created his creature for reasons that were selfish, left the monster for selfish reasons, and then further neglected him. I dislike very much the type of character Victor was, and his actions in this book. The reason he created the monster was very selfish. Victor implies how he wants to be a creator and master of another human being. He is not trying to create a man because he wants so help science or because he wants to be a father, but instead because he wants to have control. This in itself is a very selfish act. Creating a person who will be so extremely different and may have problems because of the way they were created, is not fair at all. Victor does not think about the consequences of his actions. Not only the consequences he will face, but also that the monster will face. Frankenstein then leaves the monster because he is afraid of him."1 beheld the wretch-the miserable monster whom I had created" (pp37). Victor leaps from his bed and runs as far as he can to get away from the monster that has not done a thing to harm him. Victor thinks that the monster is ugly and scary, and for these reasons only, leaves him by himself to figure out where he came from and who he is. When returning to his apartment, Victor is more than pleased to see that his "...hideous guest" (pp38) is no longer there, but maintained a feeling of nervous fear that continued to haunt him. If Victor wasn't so selfish he would have talked to the monster and realized that he did not intend on hurting Victor at all. Victor further neglected the monster later in the book when the creature came to find him. The creature spends a lot of time explaining what has happened to him to Frankenstein, even explaining the way he has been mistreated. Victor has no sympathy for the monster and still refuses to help him. His creature did not try to hurt him or even plan on doing so, but that later changed because of Victor's
ignorance. Frankenstein brought all of the bad fortune he experienced onto himself because he chose to be a selfish man and create something he had no intention of taking care of. He didn't think of all of the things he would have to teach his creation. Instead, he was more concerned with being called a master.
Summary Victor Frankenstein tells us about himself in the very beginning of the book. He explains where he is from and where he is going. Frankenstein is very interested in science and is wrapped up in a desire to create a creature he can call his own. He introduces us to his family and loved ones through letters written between them. Victor narrates the story. By the end we find out this is because he is in reality telling the story to Walton who finds Victor floating on a piece of ice in the North Pole. After Victor creates the monster, he is completely horrified by him. He abandons the creature, who then tries to being a life for himself. The creature is seeking acceptance, which he soon realizes he will not be able to find. Anger and rage drive him in a new direction, searching for revenge on Victor Frankenstein, and vowing to make his life dreadful. The monster is now starting to kill everyone that Victor loves. The creature goes back to Victor in hopes of forcing him to make a female creature to keep the monster company in his lonely life. Victor first agrees and then later changes his mind, in fear that the new creature will not want to abide by the rules the present creature tries to set. Frankenstein ends up being accused of the death of Clerval, which was actually the work of the creature. When Victor finds out that both Clerval and Elizabeth are dead, he pursues the creature through Europe and then into the Arctic. This is where we are introduced completely to Walton, who has been listening to his whole story. The creature appears on the ship making sure that Victor Frankenstein is dead, and then ends his own life, "...soon borne by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance."(pp166)
Transporting a Character In our school Victor Frankenstein would be like one of our crazy science teachers. He is of course a scientist and loves science, but he also reminds me of a lot of the science teachers in our school. All of the science teachers like to do things their own way. They have weird grading and assignments, like terms with Mr. Broder. Some like to do odd things in class, like "wresting moves Monday" with Mr. Chamberlain. Victor is also like that. Although no one thought it could be done, he attempted creating his creature anyway. He did what he wanted how he wanted to do it. Victor is also a little crazy. He would like telling his whacky ideas to interested high school students. Frankenstein's love for morbid science would make lab days very interesting. Although, Victor may take his science too seriously, and that might turn students off to his know it all attitude. For example, in the beginning of the book, Victor explains how he doesn't like some of his professors because he does not believe they know what they are really talking about. He believes that the scientists they are studying from are crazy and do not deserve being read. Frankenstein would still fit in well with the Taconic science teachers. They could all decide on their own crazy assignments and lab days. Ithink it would be very interesting to transport Victor into our school.
Who should read this book?- Closing log My friend Steve should read this book. Steve is very interested in death. He works in a funeral home and wants to pursue a career preparing the dead before their funerals. I think this book would draw in his attention because Victor creates life. It is kind of a science fiction twist on the job Steve wants to have. He is a little eccentric like Victor too. I think it would be fun for Steve to put himself in Victor's shoes and imagine the story with himself in it. He could question what he would do in that situation. Being around dead people so much, he would probably be more comfortable with seeing a hideous creature, and then not abandon his creation. Steve should read this book because it could be very fun for him to get himself lost in the events of the book. He is also very close with his family, so it would be interesting to know what he would do if a creature in search of revenge was harming the members of his family. He would have to decide if he would travel around like Victor or take responsibility of the creature and prevent any more bad events from happening. Steve should definitely read Frankenstein.