lotsa thoughts on Frank

[blah]

I beleive that the creature is spoiled with power, to answer your last question. It is like a "4-year-old" but with ten times the strenght of man.

[Jess]

The problem with judging this book, and judging the monster, is that he is exactly that. He is not human, yet we judge his personality and shortcomings as if he were. Perhaps that is justified in the fact that he was designed to be better than humans, however, Dr. Frankenstein never thought about the possibility of his creature having a soul in his mad attempt at benefitting science and though he denies it, likely fortune as well. Josh and Chris claim the monster is, well, a monster, but not only in the physical. Yet again and again the poor creature regretts his sins. Perhaps Josh and Chris are not human either, and therefore have never made mistakes they've regretted, and though murder by strangulation takes about fifteen minutes and is therefore a very thought through "mistake", it is much better understood if the monster is closly compared, as he compared himself, with Satan. They both were spurned by their creators because of evil. Satan outwardly committing it, and Shelley's monster being what at the time would be considered the outward embodiement of it. They both once posed a possible threat to man kind, at least in the eyes of Victor. The main difference is this: While Satan and the monster both committed various crimes, the monster repented of his, asked only for forgiveness and one small act of kindness, and offered to behave for the rest of his life, whereas angels, fallen or not, do not have the ability or privilege of repentence. If Satan had had more power he would have been happy, if the monster had been accepted by any human being, the same would be true. But both scenarios are impossible since Satan, just as Victor, wanted to be another god, and the monster being accepted by the human race would be like a pirana being accepted earth worms. They are two different species with irreconcilable differences and could never live in harmony. Perhaps he did know he was damned, and I think he did think so. But I think he thought so from the begining, and was therefore determined to take down what made him so with him. The monster in Shelley's book can also be compared with the human monster in Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera, and not only in appearance. They both would have been good people, or rather, beings, and very beneficial to society, not to mention, as the monster showed by helping the De Lacey's, willing to be a help. Yet both are spurned and tortured, physically and mentally, by the very thing they want to help and be accepted into. They both commit murder, and both repent, they both seek love, for a time seem as though they will have it, then are spurned once more. Shelley's monster gets a lot less sympathy however. I would like to know why. As for Emma's idea that he wants the attention of being followed, I agree, after all, isn't it the only way his creator shows any kind of feeling for the being itself and not for the scientific advances it represents? And as for the idea that mankind could influence the monster to have faith, that is impossible. He saw mankind at the time like an outsider looking into the display case at a museum, and every time he reached in to touch it, he got a very severe hand-slap, or in his case, actual beatings, rock peltings, etc. He saw all the different religions and how they all thrived. He saw they destructive side of everything as well, religious and human, and took it at face value. He had to teach himself everything, a hard task. Think of it a bit as Shelley's first readers may have: it's a bit like someone being born already a grown man, with no one to teach him anything, and his first encounter with humans was cold, like a baby being born and reaching out its arms to be held and fed but the mother turns away, leaving it to starve. How can you expect even a normal man to be good when frustrated in such a way? I consider it surprising what a beautiful image he saw the world as when leaving Frankenstein's. Yet note, his first, and kindest, experience of beauty was of nature not including mankind. That's it for me for now. But before I go, a little note to Chris, the monster may be the equivalent of a four-year-old, but how on this wretched earth (as humans made it to be for him) is he spoiled?

[monemoore]

I agree with you when you say it would be irksome to be born a grown man and have no one to teach you the ways of life. I can't help but find myself empathizing with Frankenstein's unnamed creature-child. He was so confused when he was born, and upon seeking out his creator, he was only met with disgust and terror. While the creature's strength and stature are incredible, it is his intellect that has astounded me the most. He speaks to eloquently and expresses himself in a way that is almost poetic.