Student+-+Healey,+W

FRANKENSTEIN - Reading Blog

__**Letters:**__ 1) Robert Walton is going to the North Pole on an expedition. He has chosen to take his journey because he has an "ardent curiousity with the sight of a part of the world never visited before". It was his favourite dream of early years to travel the North Pole, although his father did not allow it. His goal is to explore the North Pole and "tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man"

2) Walton is enthusiastic and ambitious to discover something which will benefit mankind. His character serves the purpose of showing similarities and differences between him and Frankenstein to highlight each others positive and negative qualities.

3) Frankenstein believes Waltons's ambition is similar to his "you seek for knowledge and wisdom as i once did"

__**Ch 1-5**__ 4) Frankensteins values/motivations/moral standards are:
 * Ambitious
 * Determined
 * Wants fame and recognition from personal exploits
 * Enjoys solitude "company was irksome to me... I abhorred society"
 * He lacks moral integrity because he is unable to think about the implications of him creating a monster

5) Elizabeth is virtuous, highly principled and honourable as well as loyal whilst Victor could be impulsive, self centred and irresponsible

6) Henry is caring, loyal and selfless whereas Victor can be selfish and self absorbed. henry and Elizabeth are similar because they are both caring, loyal and supportive. Elizabeth affects these two because they admire her.

7) These chapters give the reader an insight into his relationships with his family and friend. It also shows that he had a loving, caring environment as a child and he had a wealthy background which allowed him to get an excellent education.

8) He described the life principle by saying "I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life... I became myself, bestowing animation upon lifeless matter". He is surprised that he is the first scientist to discover the secret of restoring life so he decides to create a human being.

9) The creature has:
 * Yellow skin
 * Visible arteries and muscles
 * Black hair
 * White teeth
 * Watery eyes
 * Shrivelled complexion
 * Straight black lips

10) The focus is on his reaction to what the creature looks like. His feelings of revoltion and disgust result in him fleeing from the creature.

__**Ch 6-17**__ 11) Victor meets his creature on the summit of Montanvert in the alps which is an isolated place but Victor seems to find it calming "the effect of solemnizing my mind causes me to forget the passing cares of life". The setting is important because it contrasts the beauty of nature with the imperfection of a man made creature. The creature accuses Victor of abandoning him and leaving him with no companion to communicate with.

12) The creatures natural instinct is to be accepted by mankind, but when he is rejected he becomes resentful and seeks revenge. The beast gets pleasure from watching the interaction of an ordinary family and values their love and respect for each other. The creature learns about human nature and family relationships from observing the family. He learns geography and the French language from watching Felix teach Safie and reading books he found.

13) Human beings initially judge others on their outward appearance and gestures. Unfortunately the creatures appearance is so horrific that people are to afraid to get to know him. Human beings naturally feel afraid of something that appears abnormal to them, this is why the community reacts negatively to the creature.

14) The creature asks Victor to make him a female companion who he can share his feelings with. If Victor does this he promises to live in exile in the wilds of South America and not bother human beings again. I believe this is reasonable because Victor was responsible for creating him and therefore has some responsibility in making the creature happy.

__**Ch 18-23**__ 15) Frankenstein is in denial for creating the beast and does not want his family to blame him for the deaths of Henry, William and Julian.

__**Ch 24**__ 17) Both Victor and the creature are similar in that they are consumed with revenge. Both characters portray good and evil. As Victor withdraws from mankind he becomes lonely and develops sadness like the creature.

19) Frankenstein and the creature are both obsessed with revenge. Frankenstein wishes to kill the creature so that he can avenge the death of his friends and family, whilst the monster is obsessed because Frankenstein will not create a companion for him which will cease his loneliness. They are ultimately both stripped of what they want. They are both in similar situations by the end, but Frankenstein still seeks vengeance where as the creature has decided to stop his slaughter.

20) Walton does not kill the beast because he mourns for him and feels sorry for him. The creature explains to Walton the pain he has suffered and also tells Walton that he will take his own life.

21) Walton unlike Victor recognises that he has a responsibility towards getting his crew safely back home and therefore is able to put off his own personal desire to explore. Walton already possessed this quality and id not gain it by listening to Frankensteins story.

22) I prefer Harold Blooms opinion. That the sympathy lies with the creature.

23) It was not wrong for Frankenstein to pursue science and create the creature but it was wrong for him to accept no responsibility for his creation. He should of thought of the consequences and ramifications of creating a monster.

24) The creature is named a monster because of his appearance and he performs monstrous acts.

25) The monster is truthful about what his actions will be. The reader believes what the monster says. For example the reader believes that the monster will take his life at the end of the story when he says " I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly and exult in the agony of the torchering flames".