What I Learned This Week

The most interesting thing that I learned this week was the different types of literary criticism.  I had not previously known that there were so many different ways to look at and think critically about the same work of literature.  I thought it was very interesting to learn about all of these and how they can be applied to Frankenstein.  I also enjoyed reading the article about biographical criticism and hearing about what everyone else read.  I was very interested to learn that there were so many different viewpoints and how they could be used to expand upon what we have learned in class. 

I also enjoyed watching Young Frankenstein in class this week.  I thought it was very interesting to see how both Frankenstein and the creature are portrayed in film and pop culture and how these differ from their characteristics in the book.  I think it is interesting how the creature is portrayed as slow and unintelligent in movies when he is actually very fast and intelligent in the book.  Frankenstein also treated the creature very differently in this movie.  He did not run away when the creature was brought to life and instead stayed with him and tried to help him stand and walk.

Allusions in Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein contains many allusions to other well-known stories.  These allusions help to enhance the story and to add to its overall effect on the reader through their connections to other works.  One allusion in this story is that of God’s creation of Adam and Eve in the Bible.  In Frankenstein, the creature wants to be treated in the same way that Adam was when he was first created by God.  Frankenstein, however, is disgusted by his creation and wants nothing to do with him.  The creature says “Oh Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel (121-122).”  After Adam’s creation, God was kind to him and made him happy and comfortable, but Frankenstein has no such wish for his creation. The creature pleads to Frankenstein that “…no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone.  I remembered Adam's supplication to his Creator.  But where was mine?" (159-160).   The creature wishes for his creator to give him a female companion just as Adam did in the Bible.

 The story of Frankenstein also alludes to the Greek myth of Prometheus.  Frankenstein was interested by the secret of life while Prometheus was intrigued by fire.  Both were fascinated by something that they should never have known.  In the end, both Frankenstein and Prometheus were tormented.  The creature vowed revenge on Frankenstein and killed everyone that he loved while Prometheus had to endure eternal torment through an eagle eating his liver after it grew back each night.

Creating New Relationships

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, many new relationships are created.  The creature, however, usually only manages to create bad ones with the people around him.  When the creature meets the blind father of the DeLacy family, he is initially treated kindly.  Once he meets Felix, Safie, and Agatha, however, this new relationship is quickly ruined.  The creature says that Felix “…darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father… in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground, and struck me violently with a stick (94).”  All of the creature’s opportunities to create new relationships are ruined by his frightening appearance. 

                The creature’s relationship with Victor Frankenstein was also ruined by his appearance.  Victor described the creature as having “…yellow skin [that] scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath...” and luxuriously beautiful teeth and hair that “…only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion, and straight black lips (35).”  When Victor saw the creature that he created he said that “…breathless horror and disgust filled my heart (36).”  Frankenstein was horrified at the creature he had created solely because of his appearance.  He was unable to see past this in order to truly understand the creature.  Due to this reaction, the relationship that was created between Victor Frankenstein and the creature also turned out to be a very bad one.  

Relationships with Strangers

Our theme for this week was relationships with strangers.  We read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and David Sedaris’ “Jesus Shaves.”  The narrators of these two stories both treat the strangers they meet very differently.  In Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” the people living in the town treat the winged man very badly.  They throw old food scraps and fruit peels at him and someone even pokes him with a hot brand.  The people in this story do not seem to care very much that this man may be an angel or a person that they should respect.  Instead, they treat him like an animal or a piece of property.  In Sedaris’ “Jesus Shaves,” however, the narrator interacts peacefully with the strangers he meets in his French class.  The students in the class have many different ideas and traditions from one another, but they are not cruel to each other about it.  Instead, they just disagree civilly and must accept that their traditions and culture may seem very strange to some people from other backgrounds.  Despite how different these stories are, I really enjoyed reading both of them and learning more about how and why some people act the way they do around strangers.