Frankenstein Doubling

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein uses the technique of doubling throughout the novel. The doubling relates three characters to each other. At the beginning of the story, we see the similarities between Walton and Frankenstein. We see how each of them have close sister like relationships, and each has a curiosity into how the natural world works. Frankenstein wants to know the secret of life, while Walton wants to know the secret of magnetism. More doubling takes place in the second half of the book between Frankenstein and his creation. Victor abandons his creature, leaving him alone by himself. Throughout the story, the creature makes Victor try to feel it feels. The creature lives without a friend in the world, and the creature makes that the life of Victor as well. He kills all of Victor's closest friends and family members. Frankenstein says :Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed" (Shelley 97). The monster hates himself so much, just as Frankenstein does after creating the creature. The two characters parallel throughout the story, showing how Victor and the creature he loathes so much are not all that different, and are actually the same.

Frankenstein Overall Impression of the Book

Overall, Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" was a well written book that contains many depths and complexities. The story has many characters that bring up a wealth of emotions. The brilliance of the story to me, is that Shelley was able to make a ugly disgusting monster that is so easily related to. It is pure brilliance to make something that is so easy to hate so easy to love. The monster's "Yellow skin scarcely covered his work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of pearly witness  but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his water eyes..."(Shelley, 35). Even though the monster kills people and has disgusting yellow skin, Shelley is able to make the reader pity the creature. The reader feels sorry for the events that have happened to the creature. All the creature wanted was love, and when that was not given back to him, he was forced to make it for himself. While the monster shouldn't have killed so many people, I cannot blame it because of how he was treated by humanity. This story shows that there is a consequence to actions, and because of the rejection of the creature, he lashed out onto humanity.

Frankenstein Opionion of the Monster

While many people hate the monster in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," for the many deaths he caused, I do not. Rather, I feel sorry for the monster. His life has not been easy, and the acts he commits directly relate to the difficulty of his life. Humankind has never treated the creature well. The creature is condemned just because of his very existence. While some may feel sorry for Victor because of the loss he has endured, I believe Victor deserved every thing that came to him. Victor had no pity for his creation that he abandoned. He treated his creature with nothing but anger, and his creation gave him several chances to find the creature a companion. Victor brought the mess upon himself and his family by abandoning his beast. Victor becomes a slave to his creature, because how how he treated the new born monster. The monster says"You are my creator, but I am your master:--, obey! (Shelley, 122)." The monster has had to force a role reversal in order to get himself some sort of companionship.

Frankenstein Nature v. Nurture

In Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", the concept of nature versus nurture plays a pivotal role in the development of the creature. It is often debated whether the monster was created as evil, or if he became that way through his experiences. Some believe the monster was evil from its creation. I contend however, that it was made evil. Initially, the monster was like a newborn. It did not know what to do with itself, and was abandoned. Just as children who are abandoned often end up living hard lives and are more likely to enter into a life of crime, so was the monster. The monster is like an abandoned child. The tough times that met him, were what caused him to act the way he did. He was not inherently evil, as some might claim, rather his nurture, or lack there of is what caused him to murder. The creature says to Victor "If you consent, neither you nor any other human being shall ever see us again..."(Shelley, 105). This shows the monster does not want to kill, he simply wants a companion.  He had no one to teach him, and to help him become a well adjusted member of society. He was forced to be an outcast, hiding in the shadows, because no one would accept him.

Frankenstein Alienation

Alienation is a key thematic topic in Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein". From the time Victor first creates his creature he suffers from alienation. His creator, his father, abandons him. The creature spends the duration of its life searching for something to give it a sense of affection. At the beginning of the story, the creature seeks affection from his creator who responds by abandoning him. Next, the creature seeks affection from the DeLaceys. He speaks to the old man and receives his one and only bit of acceptance. The man listens to him for a bit, but then Felix comes in and attacks the creature, giving just another dose of alienation. The monster is rejected time after time, creating a deep anger and hatred to society. The creature says"The agony of my feelings allowed me now respite: no incident occurred from which my rage and misery could not extract its food..." (Shelley, 100).The monster's alienation makes it go the killing spree of Victor's family so he too can feel the isolation the monster feels. The alienation of the monster creates the situation Victor is in. Alienation is the key factor that makes the story so tragic.

Frankenstein Thoughts

Reading "Frankenstein", by Mary Shelly, I am over all enjoying the story. I find it pretty interesting. While I am sometimes confused by the story, I have enjoyed it. The story is not what I was expecting at all. It is much deeper a story than I had expected. The story has a lot of things going on in it, and that gives it more meaning to me. Shelly has used multiple complex literary techniques and blended them together. This makes the story more unique, and helps the story to stick out from other stories. The creation of the creature, and the reaction Frankenstein has to the beast was rather interesting to me. Rather than celebrating his achievement, immediately Frankenstein realizes that he should not have created his creature. He says"His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!--God God! (35). This shows how Frankenstein hates his beast. He despises the creature, which I found rather surprising. I am finding the story interesting, and am excited to learn more.

Frankenstein Book versus Folklore

Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" is a much different story than I had originally expected. I thought the story would begin with Doctor Frankenstein, and had no idea of a ship captain. I assumed the peak of the story would be the creation of the monster, though it obviously is not. The book does not place much emphasis on the creation of the monster, saying only "I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet" (P. 34). To me, this seemed rather anticlimactic, There was no massive bolt of lightning sent through the inanimate body, simply a spark. The author spent so little time on the creation of the monster that it left me wanting for more. I wanted some details on how the creature was made, but sadly in this category it is lacking. Frankenstein is no where near what I had expected the story to be. While in some cases it has underwhelmed me, in most places it's a pretty good story. While the details don't exactly match up with what I thought would happen, they are still interesting and tell a very good story.

Frankenstein Flashback

The novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, is told almost entirely through flashback. All of the story Frankenstein tells to Walton is told looking back. For instance, towards the beginning of Frankenstein's flash back, he says""I, their oldest child, was born at Naples, and as an infant accompanied them in their rambles" (16). Frankenstein tells his story at the very beginning, his own birth. Frankenstein sometimes goes into a bit too much depth, but he makes up for it in his extreme detail. The way the story is told as a flashback, makes the story a first hand story. Frankenstein is directly relating his experiences with Walton. The way that the story is told from the past, makes the story more entertaining, but also makes the story feel more authentic. The flashback helps with making the story feel as if it is real, along with helping to keep the story interesting.

Frankenstein Frame Story

Mary Shelly tells her story "Frankenstein" in the format of a frame story. While I'm not yet sure the purpose of the frame story, I am sure it will have significant impact on the story. Two separate stories are told, that of a ship navigator, and that of a scientist. They each share similar characteristics. Frankenstein is a scientist who wants to create new life. His goal is to bring from death new life. Likewise, Walton hopes to be the first to find a path to the North Pole. He also hopes that he can discover how magnetism works at the pole. Both of these people have different careers, yet both have similar goals. They both want to achieve what has not yet been achieved. The frame makes the story interesting, because both of the stories within the frame are interesting. The story with in the story begins with "Strange and harrowing must be his story frightful the storm which embraced the gallant vessel on its course and wrecked it--thus! (14). The frame story makes the story interesting, and makes the reader wonder how the frame will relate to the story.

Frankenstein Direct Characterization

Throughout Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, direct characterization is used to describe the characters. Shelly goes on  throughout the story talking about the characters, directly telling their stories. Shelly goes on for multiple pages describing each character as they are introduced. This is key in how Shelly characterizes her characters. Talking about each character, including simply Frankenstein's parents requires a considerable amount of space in order for Shelly to tell about her characters. One thing I noticed regarding this is that while minor characters received rather lengthy characterizations, the creature Doctor Frankenstein creates receives significantly less space. Shelly is able to put the creature's characterization into a short amount of space yet still vividly describes the monster. She writes "His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was a lustrous black and flowing; his teeth of pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contract with his watery eyes..." (35). Shelly uses direct characterization in order to further her story, and give the readers a better image in their head.

Bartelby, the Scrivener

"Bartelby, the Scrivener" is an interesting story by Herman Melville. It tells the story of multiple odd personalities. A lawyer who refuses to make his employees follow his orders, a copier who can't write in the morning, a copier who can't write in the afternoon, and another copier who flat out refuses to copy any thing. Bartelby is the latter of the four. He is hired by the lawyer, and at first does very well. Later on however, Bartelby completely stops doing work. He begins as a great hard worker, but over time transitions into simply saying "I would rather not". He refuses to do anything the lawyer asks, and sustains himself on ginger nuts .Bartelby is such an odd character that I am not sure I have ever read of a character quite like him. I wish Melville would've given further insight into what was wrong with Bartelby. The lawyer as well is equally odd. When Bartelby  stops working, the Lawyer simply moves offices rather than firing Bartelby. This seemed extremely odd for an employer to be so afraid of firing his employee. This story was interesting due to the quirks of the characters. I am curious as to what Melville's intent was for Bartelby and why he acts the way  he does.

Miss Brill

"Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield does a great job of characterization. While Mansfield does not directly characterize Brill, she does indirectly characterize Miss Brill through the actions of others. In the poem Miss Brill thinks of herself as an actress in a stage show. Mansfield writes "Even she had a part had a part and came every Sunday" (185). Miss Brill has a very high sense of herself. She often thinks of how old a person is, or how bad it would be to be a certain person. What's funny though, is that is exactly how she is. While earlier in the story she thinks of other people as "old," at the end, a couple of kids call her the old one. This is a great example of situational irony. The audience doesn't expect Miss Brill to be in fact a lonely old woman, we think instead she is simply listening to a band. Mansfield does a good job writing about Miss Brill and her peculiarities  Brill's fur coat is brought up throughout the story, and it shows how out of touch with reality she is. While the story was interesting, I thought it was also very sad. I found myself feeling sorry for Miss Brill at the end.

Much Madness is divinest Sense

While first reading Emily Dickinson's,"Much Madness is divinest Sense" I had absolutely no idea what was going on. When I went back through and tried to analyze it, I realized that she is saying madness is actually sanity. It's kind of crazy to think about, but at the same time kind of makes sense. She is saying that those that many who are deemed insane, are actually fully sane people who simply go against popular thought. It seems as if she is saying those who disagree with the majority are not insane. She is saying they simply have different opinions. She seems to want to stop the opinion that those who go against what most think are insane. She wants more diverse thought. I believe she wants people to think more freely without having to worry on the repercussions. Dickinson writes "And handled with a chain..." (7). This says that those who are deemed insane are forced to stay way from others. They are punished for their ideas.  I wonder if the story relates to Dickinson. Overall I thought this was a thought provoking poem that brought up good points.

APO 96225

While reading "APO 96225" by Larry Rottman, the first thing I noticed was the irony. The situational irony in this story gives it emotion. The irony brings feelings of sadness, but also brings humor. It is sad that the soldier's parents aren't willing to accept his actions in war, but humorous  because the reaction is different than what is expected. The reader expects the parents to console the son, for his actions, but rather he is told "Please don't write such depressing letters. You're upsetting your mother (14-15). In such a short story, Rottman is able to encapsulate many things into 20 lines. He shows the public opinion of the Vietnam War. He also relates the many emotions that were swirling around. He shows the sadness, and bad that it brought. The thing that stuck out to me was how the parents were against the son even though he was simply doing his job. The way his parents disown his actions seemed terrible because the soldier was simply doing his job.

I Felt a Funeral in My Brain

"I Felt a Funeral in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson is a great example of imagery. Many of Dickinson words relate to the senses, and bring vivid images. For example, Dickinson writes "A service like a drum--kept beating--beating--till I thought my mind was going numb..." (5-8). This quote brings to mind the sound of drums beating. The repetitive sounds are instantly recognizable. The poem continues with imagery with each line containing amazing imagery. It makes the poem more easily read, because one can more easily imagine what is being described. While I didn't completely understand the meaning of the poem, I appreciated the imagery used by Dickinson. She did a great job creating her words in the mind of the reader.