Sympathy and Fire

"Fear not that I shall be the instrument of future mischief. My work is nearly complete. Neither yours nor any man's death is needed to consummate the series of my being, and accomplish that which must be done; but it requires my own" (Frankenstein, 165-66).

Even though the creature brings about quite a few deaths, I still feel sympathy for him ("No sympathy may I ever find," he says on page 164). He wants "pardon" from Frankenstein who is, of course, dead because of his own creation, and he points out that "[his] agony was superior to [Victor's]" (166). I think it's fair to say that the creature is a sympathetic character torn apart by mankind, "wrenched by misery to vice and hatred" (164). I just wanted to present my case for the creature as a sympathetic character. He definitely seems hypocritical when he comes back for pardon; however, I really think that a quarter of the novel was dedicated to the creature's story so that we could see his thought process and realize that he's not intrinsically evil.

Speaking of the creature's thought process, I'm going to revive chapter eleven where the creature begins to explain his learning curve:

"One day, when I was oppressed by cold, I found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth I experienced from it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain" (72).

This scene was brought to mind as I read about the creature's plan to kill himself -- to "consume to ashes this miserable frame," to set himself on fire (166). The creature says that his sorrow only increases with knowledge. It makes complete sense to me, then, that the creature's last action should contradict one of the first pieces of knowledge he acquires. Once the creature ignores the knowledge he has required by subjecting himself to fire, his sorrow will dissipate, and he will finally find rest.

I Can't Believe it's Not Butter

"I like to use 'I Can't Believe it's Not Butter' on my toast in the morning, because sometimes when I eat breakfast, I like to be incredulous" (Demitri Martin).

Wait, does my quote have to be from the novel?

"He had heard my story with that half kind of belief that is given to a tale of spirits and supernatural events" (Frankenstein, 148).

This moment in the novel is significant because it's the first time Victor relates his story to anyone. He intended to tell Elizabeth, but that didn't really work out for him, so this is when we get to see what people actually think of his story.

Back during Justine's trial, Victor worried that he would "proclaim [himself] a madman" if he related his story (60). The magistrate actually doesn't take Victor to be crazy -- and if he does, he understates the matter, because he just calls Victor "mistaken" (148). The magistrate listens to the story as if it's half true and half fictional, and almost like it's a fairy tale. Victor responds in a very manly ways by calling the magistrate "ignorant" and running away angrily (149).

I think this interchange puts a whole new meaning on cleaning -- I mean, a whole new meaning on isolation. Both Victor and the creature experience extreme loneliness and rejection over the course of the novel. Here, Victor expresses his story to a magistrate who has the power to search for the creature, but the magistrate decides not to put his whole force behind Victor because he can't believe it's not butter. In other words, the magistrate doesn't really believe Victor, so Victor feels even more isolated, and the only person he really has left is Ernest, and he's, like, not even a real character.

Double Facepalm

"In the mean time I took every precaution to defend my person, in case the fiend should openly attack me. I carried pistols and a dagger constantly about me, and was ever on the watch to prevent artifice; and by these means gained a greater degree of tranquility" (Frankenstein, 142).

But that tranquility was short lived, wasn't it?

Victor reflects upon the creature's haunting words, "I shall be with you on your wedding-night." And now that I see the quote right in front of my face, I realize I could have included it with my foreshadowing examples, but this example doesn't take much analysis to discover.

He believes that the creature will kill him, which he is surprisingly okay with -- "the prospect did not move me to fear" (123). Maybe it's not all that surprising if we consider Victor's wretched life. But he really worries about how Elizabeth would react, so he takes some precautions to make sure she'll be physically and emotionally safe. On Victor's wedding night, "I earnestly intreated her to retire," and he looked around for the creature. He wasn't anywhere to be found until the "shrill and dreadful scream" (144).

My small group decided today that this was an instance of situational irony. Victor expects the creature to murder him, and he expects that telling Elizabeth to leave him will help her, but in reality, the creature ends up going straight for Elizabeth. The creature doesn't want to injure or kill Victor; he wants to wound him emotionally, because that's where Victor is most vulnerable. (I predicted this last week, right? It might have been obvious, but I'm still going to glorify myself for that one!)

Can anyone tell me what foreshadowing is?

"Pardon this gush of sorrow; these ineffectual words are but a slight tribute to the unexampled worth of Henry, but they soothe my heart, overflowing with the anguish which his remembrance creates" (Frankenstein, 114).

Monday night, I read about how Clerval's presence in England affects Victor. Perhaps Frankenstein would rather be alone in England, but Henry could act as a shield "between [Victor] and the intrusion of [his] foe," which is always handy (111). Also, compared to Victor's gloominess, Henry is always "joyful," and Victor appreciates his "devoted and wondrous friendship" (113). So when I first read the quote above, I was confused why Victor felt sorrowful and didn't realize until later that it was foreshadowing!

Sure enough, Victor finds Clerval "strangled" by the creature, just like William was strangled (128).

Wait, I have one more! "Those were the last moments of my life during which I enjoyed the feeling of happiness," says Victor right after his wedding (142). Since the audience know that Victor survives and ends up on Walton's ship, we know that he can't be referring to his future death; the one that would make the most sense would be Elizabeth's death. And looking ahead two pages, "She was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down, and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair" (144).

These instances of foreshadowing in the novel build suspense, and they help the reader realize that even though what happened to Victor in the past was horrible, he's still got a ton of crap to go through later on.

Nature vs. Nurture

"Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property" (Frankenstein, 85).

Thematic blog!

I already mentioned last week that the creature believes he is good by nature and evil by nurture. Chapters thirteen and fifteen deal with a lot of that nurture, and I think the creature makes a convincing argument.

The quote above is vital to understanding the creature's characterization. His countenance is nothing to brag about, but he reveals more here about what's going on internally. From everything Felix teaches Safie, the creature learns that men value "high and unsullied descent united with riches" (85), and that assessment doesn't make me proud to be a man. The creature has nothing that humans value -- no good looks, no powerful family, no vast wealth, and accordingly, no friends. Later, the creature attributes his behavior to his rejection and isolation, and unlike some of my classmates (Maximilian Browning), I feel sorry for him.

Later, the creature learns about "death and suicide" from Sorrows of Werter, "ancient republics" from Lives, and "Adam" and "Satan" from Paradise Lost (91-92). He notes that "sorrows only increased with knowledge" (85), which seems like an important theme of the novel. Also increasing with knowledge was the creature's nefariousness; William and Justine become his first victims, and he blames his actions on what he learned from mankind (103).

I don't necessarily believe that the creature can justify his actions -- I don't care how "nurtured" he was. No amount of ugliness and loneliness can justify murdering a handful of people. However, I do believe that the creature makes an interesting comment on the history of mankind. If we really value goodness and benevolence, our history certainly does a horrible job of living up to those values.

Predictions: The Second Half of Frankenstein (in your pants)

"'If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends'" (Frankenstein, 68).

No amount of humor or eloquence can abolish my opinion that this creature is evil. I'm not blaming it on him, but you can't expect to say the phrase "satiated with the blood of your remaining friends" and evoke any pity.

Traditionally*, I make predictions at the halfway point of a novel and then see how did after I finish the entire story. There's analysis to back up most of these predictions! I'm basing these mostly on the fact that I think the creature has very human qualities (sympathy, humor, eloquence, etc.) but somehow definitely winds up evil. Let's go!

• The creature murdered William; somehow, he acquired the knowledge that some of Victor's friends are dead, and he was totally at the crime scene a few weeks later.
• Victor will not be open to the creature's story; there's this natural revulsion that Victor feels toward the creature, and I don't think anything will sway him to feel bad for the creature.
• The creature will kill Elizabeth; my only real support for this prediction is that if Elizabeth dies, Victor will be twenty times the hot mess he is now, and that would make for a great plot twist.
• The creature's intelligence will surpass that of Frankenstein (if it hasn't already); we need some sort of explanation for why the creature ends up being pulled by dogs to the North Pole, and his working vocabulary is already massive.

*Traditionally: I did it for Brave New World (in your pants) and Never Let Me Go (from your pants).

I ought to be thy Adam!

"My heart, which was before sorrowful, now swelled with something like joy; I exclaimed -- 'Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander, and do not rest in  your narrow beds, allow me this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the joys of life.'

As I said this, I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing towards me with superhuman speed" (Frankenstein, 67-8).

The timing here is just hysterical.

This quote goes along with the idea of destiny throughout the story. No matter how much Victor tries to escape, fate has a monopoly on his life. I noticed this earlier when Victor temporarily abandons his scientific studies -- he says, "Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction" (23). Now, in chapter ten, Frankenstein might as well say, "Fates, if you really hate me this much, take away my happiness right . . . now!" So they did.

Victor believes that his only destiny is to be unhappy, which makes perfect sense considering the hell he's been through. He puts down the science books for a while, he returns to his family in Geneva, and he takes a little trip through the mountains after Justine's death, but his only happiness is ever temporary. We discussed in class how "nature vs. nurture" applies to the creature, that Victor believes the creature is evil by nature but the creature believes he is evil by nurture. I think we can apply the same idea to Victor. His natural qualities of curiosity and work ethic help elicit his "remorse" and "guilt" by this point in the story (61). Frankenstein presents a theme that I don't necessarily agree with, that destiny is unavoidable.

By the by, I haven't quite decided if the creature's eloquent rhetoric is a reversal of expectations or not. Perhaps there's no situational irony. Before Victor agrees to hear the creature's story, he calls him "vile insect," "abhorred monster," and "wretched devil" (68), but he has yet to say something like, "Hast thou seriously acquired thine mastery of language from the likes of three destitute neighbors? And as thou knowest all by means of observation, whence did you learn how to pee?" (Thanks to Louise for that thought-provoking notion.)

Remorse, Horror, Despair, and Serial Commas

"'I truly thank him. In these last moments I feel the sincerest gratitude towards those who think of me with kindness. How sweet is the affection of others to such a wretch as I am! It removes more than half my misfortune; and I feel as if I could die in peace, now that my innocence is acknowledged by you, dear lady, and your cousin'" (Frankenstein, 59).

As if I'm not already queasy at the notion of the deaths of two innocent characters, this quote hits me right in the groin. Metaphorically. Also, it's an example of dramatic irony.

In her letter to Victor, Elizabeth describes Justine's character as "clever" and "gentle" (42). In her testimony during the trial, Elizabeth describes her further as "amiable and benevolent" (56). Justine is so good natured and innocent that her ironic quote above kindles ghastly anguish in Victor.

Victor feels partly -- scratch that, entirely -- responsible for the deaths of William and Justine. He knows that "the filthy daemon to whom [he] had given life," not Justine, is William's murderer (50). Only he and the audience have this information; Justine merely knows that she is innocent and will never know that Victor's creature is guilty.

Therefore, when she expresses her gratitude toward Victor (who believes wholeheartedly in Justine's innocence), from her perspective, it's just another example of her benevolence. However, Victor and the audience know that the only reason he knows of Justine's innocence is that Victor knows his own creation murdered William. The discrepancy between Justine's perception and Victor's reality invigorates the "remorse, horror, and despair" he feels. (See how Victor uses the serial comma? Good man.)

Also, William and Justine are "the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts" (60)? "Good God," indeed.

Miscontextualizing Quotes

"Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose -- a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye" (Frankenstein, 2).

Bear with me in this post! Ideally, I'm making a good point.

I feel that this is the kind of quote that can get someone into trouble. Lots of people like to yank a quote out of a book and put it on their refrigerators and Tweet it and whatnot, even when the quote is at odds with the real thematic message of the novel -- here's an example of what I mean:

"The line is, 'What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable?' Which I'll admit I did write in this book, but as anyone who's read it knows, I was kidding. That's something Colin Singleton, the main character in the book who's kind of a child prodigy, says at the beginning of the book, and he must spend the entire book learning it's bull" (John Green on people Tweeting and miscontextualizing a quote from his novel An Abundance of Katherines). Full video:

(By the way, if anyone wants to find and buy Holden Caulfield's hat for me, I wouldn't mind at all.)

Back to Frankenstein. Initially, I read that quote about having a "steady purpose" at the beginning of the novel, proceeded to salivate, and wrote it down on my note-taking guide because I thought it was a great quote. Don't get me wrong -- I still think it's a great quote if we understand what Shelley means by a "steady purpose" -- but taken out of context, it's a horrible reflection of the novel. This is what Victor says later on:

"A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility. I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule" (34).

Victor sheds a completely new light on the theme of tranquility through his anecdotal account of reanimating a corpse. Walton says that purpose tranquilizes the mind, but Victor expands on that idea by saying that too heavy a passion can actually disturb one's tranquility.

If you want to Tweet Walton's quote about having a steady purpose, by all means, go ahead. But don't blame me if you wake up to a giant creature grinning at you and reaching out to you in your bedroom.

Thus!

"I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection. I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me; whose eyes would reply to mine" (Frankenstein, 4).

Aww.

Robert Walton, the author of the four letters, directly characterizes himself. He describes himself as "cool, preserving, and prudent," not humbly but rather candidly (7). That makes sense, as he's writing to his sister Margaret Saville, with whom he evidently has a healthy and trusting relationship. However, Walton's problem is that beyond his sister in London, he has no true friends; in the above quote, he directly characterizes himself as lonely by saying he desires "the company of a man" (4). He is also passionate and strong in will; "success shall crown my endeavors" (7).

What do you know? This exhausted European guy (almost reluctantly) comes aboard Walton's ship and reveals he has the same loneliness and the same passion as Walton. Actually, their characters coalesce perfectly. Walton calls the stranger -- let's call him, say, Victor -- "the brother of my heart" (11). He finds a friend, signalling that no matter how isolated someone may feel, he should never abandon the idea that his loneliness may be solved via a complete stranger who comes aboard his ship and feel just as isolated as he does. Metaphorically, of course.

Then, at the end of the fourth letter, Walton commences the frame story structure of the novel. Walton resolves to record "what he has related during the day," so the story shifts from Walton's point of view to Victor's point of view. We can infer that Victor's tale will be one of caution: "I imagine that you may deduce an apt moral from my tale; one that may direct you if you succeed in your undertaking, and console you in case of failure" (13).

"Water, water, everywhere" but not a "drop to drink"

"'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings; / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' / Nothing beside remains" ("Ozymandias," 10-12).

This is irony of the situational variety. King Ozymandias is "mighty," "cold," and "wrinkled"; those conceptions of him have survived for centuries since he ruled Ancient Egypt. Simultaneously, the words on the pedestal recall Ozymandias's "mighty works"; those works are nowhere to be seen. We expect Ozymandias's mighty works to remain because of his aforementioned power and might, but instead, the sand around his crumbled statue is "boundless and bare" (13).

In Ozymandias's case, people remembered the "despair" of his cruel tyranny longer than his "mighty works" lasted. It's a nice reminder that though our attitudes are not exactly immortal, our material accomplishments are certainly more mortal.

So, I was reading the introduction to situational irony, and I came across the example "water, water, everywhere" but not a "drop to drink." Like what happened with Ozymandias, this is the opposite of what we would expect to happen. I felt pretty cool because I knew exactly where this reference originated -- in Hank Green's song "This is Not Harry Potter."

(There was some verbal irony in that last sentence.)