Key+passages

**"Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination?" (86).**
====In this passage the creature speaks to Victor Frankenstein and describes what has transpired throughout the creature's life. At first Victor refuses to listen to the creature's tale, but after some convincing Victor listens. This passage shows the creature's need for an adult figure in its life in order to know right from wrong and the orientation of life. The creature is looking to know its place in the world and it does not have a role model to look up to. The creature's lack of a parent or advisor makes him feel alone and for a portion of his life he lives in solitude. The creature has self taught himself and for this reason he is able to reflect on the past, present and future. Mary Shelley implies through the creature's reflection that without the guidance of a wise adult and being will be alone and forced to reflect on the possibilities of life. (Stephanie). ====

Spoken to: Self
====The creature constantly is escaping to new places thinking there is hope for him, only to find rejection awaiting him. There have been multiple instances where the creature has been abused and discarded by humans. Victor abandons him from the very beginning not thinking about the consequences that will occur later on. When walking through town, without reason, the creature is attacked by the townspeople. After finding an escape route, the creature studies the DeLacey family, calling them his neighbors and friends. But just as the creature thinks there is hope, he is again rejected and beaten by Felix and Agatha. Leaving the DeLacey family, once again trying to find an escape, the creature ends up saving a girl from drowning. What is his reward for doing this kind deed? A little boy comes up to him and shoots him. The creature questions himself asking why is this happening to him? The creature knows he has done nothing wrong, so why is he being treated this way? Shelley demonstrates that all of the rejection that the creature received ultimately changed his view of the humans and turned him into the monster people perceive him as. Rejection is never a good feeling, especially if there is no reason behind it. ====

====“The **tortures** of the accused did not equal mine; she was **sustained by innocence**, but the **fangs of remorse** tore my bosom, and would not forego their hold” (54). ====

====Victor is a selfish coward who has every right to feel the utmost guilt for his irrational actions. The consequences of abandoning an alien species for two years are severe. Thus, Victor’s scattered personality and rash choices to construct and deprive his creature led to the death of his youngest brother William. Consequently, Justine Moritz, an underprivileged girl living with Elizabeth, is blamed and executed for the murder of William. Although the tragedy that Victor causes by constructing his creature is unintentional, he holds full blame for everything the creature destroys. ====

====Victor does not realize that by making light of the situation, he only hurts himself. His mind has become filled with destruction and chimeras because of the secret he has kept. Shelley shows the severity of his illness with this short, but substantial statement that consistently runs through Victor’s head. Key lines such as //tortures of the accused// and //fangs of remorse// exemplify how at fault and responsible Victor is for William’s death. Not only does Victor take advantage of an unfortunate girl and deprive his own creature for years, but also he is too much of a coward to understand the influence his actions have in society. Mary Shelley shows that in the end, by being impulsive, self-consumed and irresponsible, Victor will cause his own disastrous fall. (Allison Bornstein) ====

====**“A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility. I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule. If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind.” (33)** ====

====When reflecting on his past, Victor Frankenstein remarks on the pursuit of knowledge that has tempted man from the beginning of time. Instead of being a source of peace and production, extensive knowledge has always led to destruction. Starting with the story of creation, we see the first human creatures of Adam and Eve thirsting for an abundant knowledge that leads to their future toils. Throughout history, dictators and emperors strive to be the most powerful by using knowledge that leads to the destruction and downfall of other peoples. In //Frankenstein,// by Mary Shelley, Victor has always wanted to succeed and his passion and drive for success has always led to an unhealthy obsession that stems from his desire for excessive knowledge. ====

====From an early age, Victor Frankenstein has always shown a hunger for knowledge. This all began at the age of thirteen when he read his first book by Cornelius Agrippa. He then acquired all books by this author and others like him. Such great fascination with these wild philosophies is what possessed him to search for the answer to immortality. It wasn’t until Victor’s years in college that he completely submerged himself in this idea. He spent day after day examining the human anatomy in search of the cause of life. He was eventually successful and went on trying to generate his own creature. Victor is spending all of his time on this project; he hasn’t even visited his friends and family in Geneva. Later, Victor himself remarks that his behavior was ‘not befitting the human mind.’ Through his reflection, Mary Shelley is suggesting that any obsession, whether it be in the sciences or in discoveries, is unhealthy and will gradually destroy the self. ====

**“He saw a wildness in my eyes for which he could not account; and my loud, unrestrained, heartless laughter, frightened and astonished him” (37). (Jacqueline Thomas)**

**Emotions, Passions & Friendships**
 * Speaker: Victor Frankenstein
 * Spoken to: Himself
 * Victor comments on his wild mental and emotional state after being so greatly influenced and affected by his pursuit. It is his laughter that frightens and astonishes Henry Clerval, his best friend.

====In //Frankenstein// by Mary Shelley, the protagonist’s passion and enthusiasm affects him negatively. As demonstrated in this passage, Victor Frankenstein is socially awkward when he is unable to conduct himself normally upon his best friend’s arrival. Victor is overcome by his pursuit of bringing an inanimate object to life especially shown with his wildness and inability to restrain himself. By creating such a monster and enemy, Victor has nervous fevers and becomes very ill. As a result, this brilliant scientist is unable to prevail. But, how can someone avoid being overwhelmed and driven past his or her mental and emotional limits? ====

====It is with the help of true friends that someone can thrive on the road to recovery. With the assistance of Henry Clerval, he is able to do so. Shelley suggests the importance of strong friendships and even when someone is going through a dark time, friends are the ones who help them to see the light. Friends keep each other grounded and seek their health & best interest like Henry Clerval and Victor Frankenstein. Therefore, I believe Henry is one of the most crucial characters in this text. Due to his stability, he still has an evident interest in studying languages and is passionate about exploring the world. But he also restores Victor’s state of mind by allowing him to slowly recover from his troubled feelings in regards to his creature. Therefore, Shelley suggests and makes the reader question if they are being a good friend to someone struggling or if they are in need of desperate help whether it be during the 19th or 21st century. ====

-Spoken to: Victor Frankenstein
====While it can be said that the creature’s use of the word “yours” can be referring to man’s image in general, it can also be said that he is talking about Victor specifically, and his own origin. The creature is implying that he got his monstrous tendencies from Victor himself. This continues the thought that maybe Victor is the monster, and not the creature, and that the creature is this way because of Victor. This is supported by the similarities between the life of both the creator and the created. Both Victor and the creature were abandoned by a parent in some way during their childhood. Both became obsessed with learning after the loss of their respective parents, which helped fill the gap of sorrow that they were left with. They both spent years in solitude as well, which could have changed the way they looked at the world. Because of these similarities, and more that might develop later in the novel, the creature believes that his monstrosity came from Victor himself. (PC) ====

====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**“This was then the reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, and as a recompense, I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound, which shattered the flesh and bone.” (Shelley 96).** ====

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Spoken to: Victor
====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From the beginning of the text, we are thought to believe that the creature Victor has created is a nasty, unfriendly, horrid being who destroys Victor and his family, but once we are able to hear the creature’s side of the story, the perception about the creature has changed. The creature tries so hard to interact with the human beings, but he is only rejected and looked at with disgust. When speaking to the blind old man, the creature feels as if there is hope for him. The creature feels that there is chance the blind man will accept him because he is not able to see what he looks like. But the minute Felix and Agatha arrive; he is attacked by Felix and is rejected again. It is no surprise that the creature starts to feel hatred towards the humans. If I were treated differently because of the way I looked, I would not have respect for anyone anymore. Here, the creature has just saved a girl from drowning and the creature is shot because he does not seem “normal” to them. The creature suprisingly has great composure to the humans. After he is attacked and shot, he can very easily kill those people, but he composes himself. Victor and his family are an exception because the creature did not ask to be created. Because of Victor, the creature is left alone in the wilderness, isolated from everyone else, forced to learn the basics of human culture. (CC) ====

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Spoken to: Victor
====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The creature originally threatened Victor with this message, and Victor replayed it several times in his mind between his meeting with the creature on the small island and his wedding night. It becomes evident that because the creature has not gotten what he wanted, he has finally become a monster and will begin to murder more frequently. Victor takes this message as his own death threat, that on his wedding night the creature will seek him out and strangle him. It is for this reason that he becomes so obsessed over these words, haunted by the prediction of his death. It is all that he thinks about, through the arrangement of his wedding and the boat ride to the little inn. However, he misinterprets the creature's words, and therefore the death of Elizabeth is completely unexpected. Through the repetition of these words, Shelley both shows the new monstrous side of the creature, his desire to make Victor miserable, and Victor's obsession with trying to evade his creature. (Tara Hammonds) ====

Speaker: Robert Walton
 * “I called on him to stay” (152) **

Spoken to: Creature

Mary Shelley included Robert Walton in this text to portray the value of communication and acceptance. Walton is the only character in the text that accepts the creature. Even when the closest person he has to a best friend, Victor has told him to kill this monster. All of the other characters that the creature has encountered have never looked past his appearance. Through Walton’s communication, the creature’s emotions and thoughts are shown through his monologue. Mary Shelley portrays Walton to be a hero like figure, especially for the creature, due to his acceptance to the rejected and his ability to communicate.