Frankenstein

Synopsis

"Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart . . . "

Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley near Byron's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity.

Loved

• The creepiness. Since it's October, it was high time for some spookiness, and this definitely gave me the eerie vibes I was craving. This story feels much more like a drama and commentary than a horror story, but there are definitely some spooky moments to shock you and some delicious creepiness to make you shudder. The whole idea of the "wretch" (as the monster is called) following Victor everywhere he goes and knowing he's always watching is super creepy, not to mention the monster's thirst for the blood of everyone Victor loves. Honestly, I wish there was a little more creepiness- a few more moments where we find the monster stalking and watching, or a little more suspense before he kills his victims. But I don't do well with a lot of gore or horror, so this was a good level for me.

• The deep themes. As I said before, this feels more like a dramatic commentary than a horror novel because most of the book focuses on Frankenstein's ambition, regret, and decision to sacrifice his happiness for the sake of his species. There are many thought-provoking themes in this story: revenge, unchecked ambition, thirst for glory, benevolence vs. malice, and the value we humans often place on the beauty of a creature rather than its nature. These themes explore profound issues, and I found myself pondering them even when I wasn't reading the book. Clearly Mary Shelley had opinions of human nature that she wanted to convey and warn against in this book, which makes the story all the more haunting in its oftentimes accurate perception of human vices.

• The "wretch." Frankenstein as we know it has become a classic symbol of Halloween- a green monster with a bone through his neck, stitches all over his face, and unable to do more than make unintelligible sounds and groans. However, Frankenstein's monster, "the wretch" or "the demon" as he is called, is a complex, dark creature with many layers, passions and emotions. I think this is one of the most fascinating characters in classic literature because he begins life as a mild, submissive, and generous creature, but becomes malicious and wicked from not being accepted and loved because of his otherworldly ugliness. Similar to Phantom of the Opera, this is an interesting and haunting analysis of the value we place on the appearance of a creature rather than examining the character of its nature and intentions. Monsters created by society are many times the most haunting because we are responsible for their wretchedness by not preventing their naturally mild and submissive natures from becoming evil, malignant, and destructive.

• The writing. Mary Shelley's writing is chilling and stunning in its persuasiveness, flow, and intensity. I frequently found myself amazed at her eloquence and how descriptive and poignant are the persuasive conversations, the lamentations and realizations which take place in Victor's mind, and the analysis of profound themes woven throughout a dramatic plot.

• Frankenstein's "friends." I thought it was funny that Frankenstein frequently refers to his family members as his "friends," instead of his family (however, this does include Clerval, who is technically not family and indeed a friend). I kept feeling pleasantly surprised at Elizabeth, Clerval, Earnest, and Victor's father. They were all so supportive and loving to Victor, even though he was distant, guarded, and clearly held a devastating secret which they never discovered. Each of these characters devoted so much time to nursing Victor during his infirmities and ravings of his mind, and their benevolence created even more tragedy and devastation at the end of the story.

Didn't Love

• The main emotion I had while reading this story was frustration. I became so restless and frustrated at Victor and seeing all the ways he could have changed things for himself or prevented such tragedies. I like Victor and respect him for trying to be selfless, but there were many times in the story when I felt he made unwise decisions and could have done more to prevent the tragedies that contributed to his misery.

• I also found the story to be a little slow at times. Much of the novel is spent in Victor's mind as he is consumed with remorse, rage, and grief, each of which only increases as the story progresses. So much time is spent understanding Victor's thought process and misery that I became a little restless and wished for more action and less contemplation at times.

Content

• Language: 
• Lord's name is taken in a vain a few times.

• Sexual content: 
• No sexual content.

• Violence:
• Three people are murdered via strangling, and one of them is a child. Bodies are briefly described as having purple/black marks of hands on their necks. One description of a body being thrown and the draped across a bed.
• Much talk of dying, killing the monster, and threatening innocent people.

Overall Thoughts

So I started a tradition for myself where I read a classic spooky novel every October. Last year I read Dracula, and this year I decided to reread Frankenstein since I hadn't read it since a humanities class I took my freshman year of college. I appreciated the dark and soul-stirring themes in this story, admired the gorgeous writing, loved being haunted by the sinister themes and events, and enjoyed the book for its sake as a classic, and even more for being a classic horror novel. However, I found myself frustrated throughout this story- sometimes in a delicious, suspenseful way, and other times wanting to shake Victor for being blinded first by ambition and then by rage. The book felt a little slow at times since we spend so much time in Victor's thoughts as he processes his rage, remorse, and grief throughout the story. Overall I think everyone should read this to understand the real Frankenstein story and know that Frankenstein is a not a green Halloween icon. Rather, Frankenstein is a chilling story filled with deep themes and a haunting examination of the shallow and sometimes over-zealous nature of humankind.