language features: Chapter 5

Pathetic fallacy "It was a dreary night in November" The use of the word 'Dreary' suggests something dark and sinister is about to happen as the word is usually associated with darkness, this is the case because the monster is brought to life.

Adjective "It was Beautiful, great god!" This is how Victor was describing the figure of the monster before it was brought to life. It is quite Ironic that Victor says "Great god" because the monster is not a creation of god, yet the creation of Victor, meaning Victor is kind of congratulating himself for making a perfect being.

Adjective "By the dim and yellow light of the moon" Shelley uses the color Yellow as an adjective to describe both the moon and the monster. Perhaps what Shelley is trying to do is to compare the moon and the monster. Maybe the monster is acting like a moon, preventing any light to shine onto Victor leaving him in darkness and despair.

Hyperbole "How can I describe my emotions for such a catastrophe" Shelley is kind of exaggerating Victors emotions during the creation of the monster, the use of the word 'catastrophe' makes it sound like something incredibly bad has happened, however some would say that Victor has witnessed a miracle, not a catastrophe

Pathetic Fallacy  “Drenched by the rain which poured from a black and comfortless sky" Through the way Shelley uses the word “       Comfortless” makes not only the weather unstable but also the situation, Victor talks about how he stayed up throughout the night walking round the town, Victor shows how uncomfortable he is which is shown by his actions and also the way the weather is described.

Negative Tone

"How can I describe my emotions for such a catastrophe"

" I nearly sank to the ground with languor and extreme weakness"

"Oh! No mortal could support the horror of countenance"

"I felt the bitterness of disappointment."

"I held the dead corpse of my mother in my arms"

" The miserable monster I had created"

nature vs nurture

NATURE VS NURTURE

NATURE: A persons acts or personality can be defined through his/her genetic material. Nobody is at fault for his/hers actions but themselves.

NURTURE: A person’s acts or personality can be defined through the way they are brought up. For example his/hers actions are imitated by the actions of their parents.

FRANKENSTEIN: The Monster

NATURE: The debate has shown that the monster downfall was because of the nature of it. Shelley may have wanted to show that the monster was always going to be evil because of its genetic material. The monster was abandoned by Victor meaning Victor had no affect on the monsters personality or thoughts, this means that the monster was the only one to have had an effect on its own thoughts, Victor was not of an influence to the monster.

NURTURE: Because Victor is the creator of the monster, the man should of shown responsibility towards the monster and instead of looking after it he decided to abandon it, maybe the monsters decision to kill was through the actions of Victor. Because Victor abandoned it the monster was taught by it’s creator not to care for others and because of Victor selfish actions, the monster decides to be selfish too.

MY OPINION

Although you could say that the monster was of its own independence, I believe that the monster was nurtured wrongly by Victor. Because of Victor’s negligence towards the creature, this had an impact on the way the monster formed it’s thoughts around as it not had to comprehend these thoughts before and instead followed what his creator had done and become selfish and evil. The monster could be seen at fault however I believe that Shelley makes it out as if the monster is like a new born baby, it has not experienced anything before meaning it is easily persuaded, the monster after it’s creation had not yet witnessed what being affectionate looks like however had been shown by Victors action what being neglected which is what I believe the monster picked up on and acted like that, meaning he was nurtured by Victor to kill instead of nature. 

Chapter 15

The monster finds 3 books whilst looking for wood in the forest, the first book is an epic poem written by John Milton called 'Paradise lost'. The poem is about humankind's loss of innocence in the garden of Eden. The monster reflects how is quite similar to the character of Adam in the poem, however also sees himself as Satan because he does not love his creator.

The monster sees himself like Adam because both had disobeyed their creator, however in the monster's case, he did not disobey his creator, instead the creator abandoned him making him seem like Satan because Victor, who could be seen as God, does not want share his presence. 

The monster also reveals that when he fled from Victor's apartment, he took some of Victor's journal notes in which describes the monsters creation process. The monster curses Victor for making something so ugly and letting it out on the society.

This is the monster trying to stick up for himself, instead of Victor cursing the monsters, it's the other way round. The monster backs himself up by making it sound that Victor had created a creature which wouldn't be accepted into society, making it doomed and isolated. 

Going back to the monsters story, one day when Felix, Agatha and Safie are all out, the monster decides to visit the blind old man in the cottage. The monster hopes that the blind man cannot be prejudice about his appearance, they talk for a while until the family return, Felix attacks the monster, Safie runs off and Agatha faints. The monster then runs away.

The blind man represents the few of society which cannot judge the monster by it's appearance, however when the family return and abuse the monster, they represent the rest of society which are quick to judge a person through their appearance, showing that they are prejudice and evil. 

Chapter 14

As the monster continues to watch the family, he understands the family's history and fate. The family's surname is 'De Lacey'. The family was a rich and well respected family, Felix had fell in love with Safie as he had helped her father who was wrongly accused of a crime. Felix helped Safie's father escape from prison, however he was found out to of helped the prison break leaving Felix exiled by the government and losing all of his family's wealth. When Safie was forced to return to Turkey by her father, she escaped to find Felix so they could live with each other.

Shelley plays with different roles and aspects of the characters personalities. Felix who is a well established, wealthy man tries to act as a hero for his wife in order to prevent her father from going to prison which therefore resulted in his family losing their wealth and being exiled. Safie plays the vulnerable victim who's love for Felix is greater than that for her father, even though she made Felix try and get him out of prison. 

Chapter 13

- When an Arabian women named Safie arrives at the cottage, the monster realizes that the people become happier. Through the families introduction to Safie the monster understands the people have names. Safie does not speak their language so Felix, the man, decides to teach her. As Safie learns, so does the monster. The monster also learns from Felix's teachings that the human race can be noble and godlike however can also be evil.

- As the monster understands that the human race can be evil through their knowledge leaves him angry and rejected. However as the monster is learning, Shelley shows that without the monster knowing, he is also gaining knowledge meaning that one day he will become 'evil' like all the other people who had become evil through knowledge. 

Through Felix's teaching to Safie, the monster learns about the world and how society works. The monster feels that it has no place in society as it is a monster. It feels doomed that it may become the reject from society. It wishes it had never learnt about society making it miserable.

Because the monster has learnt he has no place in society, it feels rejected and doomed helping it realize how humans can be so selfish and shallow. It also realizes it's fate in society and that because he is a monster, he will be outcasted from the world. 

Chapter 12

- As the monster watches over the family, it understands that the family are unhappy through showing sympathy to each other and also showing affection. The monster seen realizes that they are unhappy because the old man is blind and the family are poor. Instead of making them more poor by eating there food, the monster decided to help them by collecting wood. The monster also realizes that they communicate through words and sets out to understand and learn the language.

This is the first time the reader understands that the monster is kind and generous. Shelley may have done this to show that a character shouldn't just be judged on what they look like. The way he also wants to learn words shows his development into a normal being. 

- The monster first sees its appearance through a puddle on the floor. It is disheartened by it's appearance however hopes that the family will see through his appearance and get to know him for his personality. Shelley also talks about how spring has arrived and the monster feels a sense of hope for his future.

When the monster sees its own reflection, the monster realizes why people has been so disgraced by him, he understands that human beings judge one another on their appearance instead of their personality. The monster shows that it can overcome his appearance and make people like it through affection and generosity. 

Chapter 11

- Chapter 11 is the start of the monster telling its story to Victor.

- The monster talks about how it was abandoned by Victor and how it ran from Victor's apartment. The monster describes how it felt hunger and discovering new things such as light and darkness, the coldness and fire with it's abilities to both cook and burn.

Shelley describes the development of the monster as almost human-like, with it learning about the basics of life including day and night, the weather and fire. The way Shelley talks about how the monster was intrigued from the fire almost reminds the reader of prehistoric times, showing the reader that the monster is developing into a human. 

Wherever the monster goes it finds out that other humans are shocked and appalled by it's deformity and inhuman-like appearance, therefore causing the monster to be abused by local people. The monster decides it cannot be seen in public and therefore decides to take shelter besides a cottage which housed a man, a women and an elderly man. The monster decides to observe the people to find out more.

The monster shows that he is judged by his appearance and not his personality which confuses him and also results in him becoming scared of humans therefore making him take shelter for his own safety. The monster decides to watch over the family to help with its development, it allows him to understand how people function and how the show affection to one another.