Hello readers,
In the spirit of Halloween, and because it was Mary Shelley Day a few weeks back, I did a reread of her classic gothic horror novel Frankenstein.
Victor Frankenstein’s story about his Creature is told through the many voices of its side cast; I found that the book felt alive with how deep and well used all the characters were. Frankenstein, at its heart, is a cautionary story about creating life from death as much as it is about creating death from life; it was fascinating reading about how good intentions can cause despair, and how dreadful things can be filled with hope.
Frankenstein's monster sought to enact revenge against the titular family over the horrors that every human they knew--even the youngest of the Frankenstein family--had inflicted on them. The Creature was a result of Victor Frankenstein's hope of metaphysical pursuits in the field of natural philosophy, where his antiquated science studies fueled his sense of discovery, whereby Frankenstein learned how to turn the old and unreal into something real and new.
Frankenstein is framed with stories within stories; the main account occurs in the form of letters between a captain and his sister, the former of whom had listened to Victor relate his and his creation’s tales of misfortune, where we readers get to glimpse into the points of view of other characters via letters and of the monster itself, who shedded light on how they basked in the intellect of other perfected beings like their creator. These related tales take place in French-speaking Switzerland and abroad, where every person is written to be expressional by having their emotions and reactions checked minutely in a style reminiscent of romantics. In Victor’s blunted case, he feared being chased by his Creature and foreshadowed his eventual demise through his own narrative voice.
Frankenstein is in the horror genre, as in being wracked with horrible emotional baggage and fear, where the monster’s threats end up being carried out to highlight the difference between fear and anxiety, horror and thriller. In sharp contrast with the desires of his companions, who wished to lift his spirits, the fear and hatred that Victor expressed through his exposition in “normal” moments had tainted the beauty of nature for himself with his own despair.
I enjoyed the captain’s want of a friend and his finding one in Victor via their shared sympathy toward the wretchedness that their singular focuses had wrought on them both. Appealing to another's sympathetic nature is a key theme here, where Victor's silent resolve could be viewed as being devoid of sympathy and as being the ultimate cause leading to the deaths that his Creature forced Victor into experiencing, the Creature wanting Victor to live and suffer the same trials as they had, rather than outright killing Frankenstein.
Both Frankenstein and his Creature harbour personal inner hells following their high hopes being crushed, having lost what was wanted. However, it is my belief that neither the Creature nor Frankenstein should be sympathized with, as the monster justified framing others for their murderings and Victor felt justified in hiding from revealing his creation.
Victor was afraid of being outcast like his Creature, and they both faced the same guilt over the deaths, but both were concerned for their ego and their public image, doing good to be seen as good instead of just doing good things, such as owning up to mistakes, which led to their shared desperation to be seen as respectable (evidenced by Victor's disgust over his own Creature).
The Monster's justifications had acted like a trap, by sounding agreeable while appealing to a desire for vengeance. Choosing to agree with the Monster's spell was shown to possess Victor with suffering, which was reinforced by his beautiful natural sceneries being perceived as tainted.
To me, the most interesting aspect of Frankenstein is the Creature's own poetic comparisons with God's creations of Adam and Satan. The Creature desired an Eve and to return to their metaphorical Eden of forested nature away from humankind (the very same natural scenery that Victor grew to be unable to witness). The use of the name Prometheus was, in my opinion, for the monster learning from his creator (and from others like their creator), along with Frankenstein stealing life from God or nature and being eternally punished by and for his creation, acting as a parable for something bad enough to be worthy of being punished over. Through his master work, Victor knew he was playing God with creation.
Frankenstein details how one’s unchecked creation affects others and how those effects affect oneself. Frankenstein's monster was a philosophical Daemon, a personified Other, overviewing and passing judgement on humanity while transcending from nature to the civilized as a beast who learned to be human. However, the Creature's eloquence and Victor's aspirations were corrupted, where the products still worked but had spelled wretchedness for their creator.
Thank you for reading.
Allen W. McLean
PS. You can read my previous Frankenstein review here;
https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2020/12/20201214-frankenstein.html
PPS.
Happy Halloween!
Here is a list of spooky reads that I have reviewed:
. Black Cat (2019) : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022/10/20221027-black-cat-2019-comic-book.html
. Frankenstein : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022/10/20221020-frankenstein-book-review.html
. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022/10/20221007-alices-adventures-in.html
. The Legend of Sleepy Hallow : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022/02/20220202-review-legend-of-sleepy-hollow.html
. Howl's Moving Castle : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2021/12/20211229-review-howls-moving-castle.html
The Wendigo : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2021/03/20210319-review-wendigo.html
Bloodborne comics : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022/06/20220614-bloodborne-comic-book-summary.html
Coraline : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2021/12/20211201-review-coraline.html
Beowulf : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2020/12/20201220-beowulf.html
The Island of Doctor Moreau : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2020/12/20201222-island-of-doctor-moreau.html
Check out some stories that I have written for and around Inktober and Halloween:
Sprout : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2021/10/20211031-happy-halloween-nanowrimo.html
Ado the Owl : https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022/10/20221027-ado-owl-official-tell-story.html
Fishing for Caribou : https://read.amazon.ca/kp/embed?asin=B09MDR2JGP
Also, ULTRAVIOLET is available to read on Kindle : https://read.amazon.ca/kp/embed?asin=B0BKYQV5C4
An official announcement will be revealed soon.
Have a safe and happy Halloween!
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