Frankenstein

This past week we completed the dreaded and time consuming Books on File assignment in AP Lit. Although it did take a bit too much work, especially for a person in the second semester of senior year, it did bring back memories of a novel that I had begun to forget in a way that I did not want. The novel I did was Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and was the best novel I have likely ever read in a class in high school. Normally the novels we read, at least in years past, have been of great literary value but extremely boring in terms of subject matter and the tone of the novels. Frankenstein provided a rare deviation from this trend as it was very interesting to read and actually held my interest, a feat few novels manage to do. For this reason, I did not wish to forget the novel as it is special to me in an extremely obscure way. Besides what’s not to love about a novel about a man creating life in the form of a monster that returns to haunt the creators very being until the creator dies. Ina cruel twist of irony, the creator and master becomes the slave as every action of the creator is dictated by what the monster wants or doesn’t want. Aside from the content matter and the story line of the novel, there were many aspects that have stuck with me, especially the theme of doubles in the novel. If not for the themes worksheet that Ms. Clinch gave us, I would never have thought of Victor and the monster being doubles, but once the idea was in my head, I began to notice the theme everywhere…well not really everywhere but in a lot of places. This all pretty much centered around the alternate title, The Modern Prometheus, and the effect of nature on the two main characters.
In a way, this is kind of reiterating the final exam essay, but that does not diminish how interesting it is. Prometheus was a titan who stole the secret of fire from the gods and was punished because of this. In creating life without the presence of a woman or god, Victor was essentially stealing the secret of life and was punished because of this. His punishment was basically the presence of the monster. By creating the monster, Victor was forced to endure constant suffering because of the appearance of the monster as well as the actions of the monster as it killed much of Victor’s family and friends. The monster also had a few connections to Prometheus, as it also endured suffering because of its abnormal appearance in relation to other men. Much fire was present in the story the monster told in the novel.
In terms of the natural aspect of the double present, whenever the two characters were happy, they were able to appreciate the beauty of nature. Whenever the two characters were distressed or depressed, the two were unable to see anything beautiful about the world around them. I could go into more depth, but I have already exceeded 500 words so I guess I will save that for another day.

The Modern Prometheus

I must say that Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a very good novel that not only kept my interest from chapter 1-10, a period in which I did not put the book down, but also gave me much food for thought and exceeded any prior expectations for the novel. Then I again I wasn't expecting much mostly because of the debauchery made of the novel in the form of a terrible movie that was nothing like the actual book. I still remember watching the movie years ago when a disgusting looking creature was brought to life by some lighting and the doctor who made the actual living thing said "Its alive!!!" The monster was of course called Frankenstein and frankly this is the sort of thing I expected from the novel being the inexperience reader I am. I figured I knew the story before even picking up the book, as the monster kills somebody but feels remorse and then runs up into a tower and is burned to death. This, fortunately, is nothing like the book which is much deeper and more philosophical than the terrible movie. The monster can actually talk in such a way that we can understand, again unlike the movie. I guess it goes to show that reading the book is always better than watching the movie.
Another thing worth mentioning about the novel is the actual title of the novel, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. The first part of the title is self-explanatory as the main character of the novel is Victor Frankenstein, a scientist that discovers the cause of life and uses it to create a horrific monster. The second part of the title is the one that actually interests me. For the seminar we had in class regarding the novel and the many themes it presents, I researched the Greek titan Prometheus who is famous for bringing fire to mankind. He is also the titan who was tied to a rock where an eagle came to eat his liver everyday and due to his immortality, he would grow a new liver and never die. One major thing that he is also said to have done is that he created man in a god-like image from clay. This can be connected to Victor Frankenstein as he created life through the monster he birthed, the only difference being that the monster is horrific in appearance when the image that Prometheus created was beautiful and godlike. Although this is a connection between the title and Victor, there is the glaring difference of appearance of the two and this led me to believe that there must have been another reason for the title. During the discussion in class today, the answer dawned on me after listening to the statements made by one of my classmates. Fire has long been held synonymous to life as the heat inside of us is what keeps us alive. This fire that Prometheus brought to man gave us life and a way to survive in the cold world. Victor essentially does the same thing when bringing life to the inanimate, thus discovering the secret of life, a secret that was previously the fire the Prometheus gave to man.