Frankenstein: Tradegy

"Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung; in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick." pg. 129

This novel is so much of a tragedy that Shakespeare could have written it! I think that this scene is the saddest in the whole novel. The monster spends months helping the De Lacey family, watching them, learning from them and loving them and the moment he tries to make contact, they reject him like every other person has. The poor monster has never had the human contact he craved and that has to be the most tragic of all. The novel doesn't stop there though. Of course the monster has to kill a little boy and frame a young woman out of fury and of course he has to kill Henry, Elizabeth, and the father. The tragic moments keep piling up until then end when Frankenstein dies and the monster stands over him and asks the body for forgiveness. The definition of a tragedy is when the heroic character dies, but in this novel, not only does the heroic character die, but almost everyone else does too. It is a depressing novel, but it also clearly show some truths about the human race.

Frankenstein: Simile

"Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me." pg. 124

Throughout this novel, the monster is compared to Satan. Like Satan, he was created by his creator (duh!), and he fell from his grace. Satan fell because he tried to be like God, but the monster was not alive to even feel the good of Frankenstein. Frankenstein like the monster until be breathed and then he immediately hated him. However, since God is all powerful and good, he would have never hated his creation just because he lived, so that is a bothersome inconsistency. Anyway, moving on, the simile of the monster to Satan is carried out throughout this novel. It is a good comparison because it demonstrates how much the monster was abhorred. Satan was cast out of heaven to hell and the monster lived in his "hell" on earth for his whole life. Since the moment that he was cast out by Victor, he did not have a moment of rest until he died at the end.

Frankenstein: Dynamic Characters

"That is also my victim. Oh, Frankenstein! Generous and self-devoted being! What does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me?" pg. 207

The creation has to be one of the most dynamic characters that I have read about and I think that it has to do with the fact that the reader follows him from birth to death. We first see him as a helpless "newborn" who doesn't understand anything and who has a good heart, but is rejected. He then moves to learning and growing, but he still has a very pure heart because he had not had it broken irreparably yet. Then he changes when he is rejected by the De Lacey family and still more when Frankenstein refuses to create a wife for him. Then, finally at the end, he comes around full circle and repents for the pain he has caused and asks a dead Frankenstein for forgiveness. I cannot help but feel sorry for him, even when he murders multiple innocent people, because it was never in his nature to do so. I don't think that the monster, if cared for once in his life, would have caused the pain that he did and I saw that when he is upset over his creator's death. It is really sad actually, that someone who has gone through as much as the monster had, could still feel some affection toward the man who created him and caused his pain to a point.

Frankenstein: Double Standards

"Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all humankind sinned against me? " pg. 210

This passage really hit me because of the truth that it tells about human nature. There are so many double standards in life, but the moment that an outsider makes a mistake or causes a problem, the whole world is against him. This passage also reminds me of a scene in The Kite Runner where Amir's wife is upset because people won't forget the mistake she made as a teenager when she ran away with a boy. She says that if men make mistakes or make their girlfriends pregnant, then they are just being young men, but the moment a woman makes a mistake, she is shunned. Now, Soraya didn't make a mistake and kill a little boy like the creation did, but she made an egregious error according the community and she was shunned for it. The creation did kill the boy and I am having a hard time actually deciding whether he wanted to or whether it was a mistake, but the truth still holds the same. Frankenstein could not forgive or even bear to look at the monster, but he didn't stand up to save Justine which is on his hands. So, all the monster wanted was to be accepted and now he is seen as the most abhorred of criminals while others as pardoned.

Frankenstein: A Role Reversal

"Slave, I before reasoned with you, but you have proven yourself unworthy of my condescension. Remember that I have power..." pg. 160

This passage interested me because it shows a trade of roles between Frankenstein and his creation. Before, the reader has seen Frankenstein in the role of power since he is the one who created life, but now the roles are reversed. The creation has been through so much in his short life that he is no longer the helpless creature that reached out to his creator. Instead, the creation is calling his creator a slave and lets him know how much power he actually possesses. I think that the creation was not born inherently evil, as we saw by his first moment of life, but I think that humans made him the way he is now. Whether it is him consistently being repudiated or whether the revenge comes from reading about humans in the books he picked up, the creation is very much in a place of power right now with Frankenstein. Victor has been through a lot in the years that he created the monster, but he has had moments of happiness. The creation was only ever happy watching the De Lacey family and that ended in ruins. I think the reason that the monster holds so much power is that he is obviously more superior in frame because that is how Frankenstein made him. Also, even more than physical superiority, I believe the monster is in a state of power because he has nothing in this world to lose, and Victor has everything to lose.

Frankenstein: Sister, Cousin, Fiance?

"My children, my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of your union." So, the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth really bothers me. It might be just the time period and the style of writing, but I find the whole relationship really weird. First, the mother adopts a little girl, but teaches her son to call her cousin. Also, from the first moment she adopts her, she had the intentions of an "arranged marriage" between the two. The children grow up together as friends and playmates, but always with that undertone that there was always meant to be something more. As Victor grows older and goes to university, he still has that relationship with Elizabeth. The conversations and letters between the two have an intimate nature, but the letters and conversations between other characters also have that undertone, so the whole thing confuses me. I wonder what will happen between Victor and Elizabeth because we already know that Victor almost died chasing Jim (the monster- I named him) in the Arctic Circle and that he and Elizabeth were mourning the loss of William, but we do not know what happened in between.

Frankenstein: No Name?!

"Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art!" pg. 95 I can't help but feel really sorry for the monster in this novel. Not only has he been rejected by every human he has met and has had to learn everything for himself, but he also has no name. A name is a person's identity and without one, the monster is just that... a monster. I think I am going to name him Jim because he really needs a name. Moving on, in the first twelve chapters of this novel, Frankenstein never called him a name. I think this led to the unidentifiable nature of the "monster." Frankenstein never thought to talk to him or even stay long enough to get a good look at him, so how could he even name him? Frankenstein doesn't seem to care much about the humanity of the monster and he never gives him a chance. It makes me wonder what caused Mary Shelley to create the monster and Frankenstein in this way. The introduction said it is a ghost story, which I understood to be a scary story, but this one is just sad because it says something about humans and those who are different.

Frankenstein: Theme

"Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room..." pg. 56 I think a major theme of this novel is creation and then alienation. On page 56, Frankenstein creates the monster who is supposed to be beautiful and wonderful, and then he rejects him. Frankenstein cannot stand the sight of his own creation who he labored over for two years, and runs away. This causes the monster to be alienated and left alone in the world. As the novel progresses, the monster narrates his life so far and the reader feels the alienation the monster felt by Frankenstein and everyone he comes into contact with. He is first left alone to fend for himself in the forest without knowing how to build a fire or keep warm and when he first encounters another human, the old man shrieks and runs away. The monster did not understand why until he entered a small village and the people either fled or attacked him. Throughout this story, the monster did not feel welcome once so far. I think that this theme shows what alienation can do to inherently good people and the effect it can have on a person.

Frankenstein: Motivation

"My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement." pg. 53 Frankenstein's motivation in this story is to become a master of science and to understand everything. He wants to discover and invent so much that he actually makes himself sick and does not seem to care. I think this motivation or obsession really, propels the book along. From the very beginning the author experiences motivation from Walton and then an extreme kind from Frankenstein. I think that the author intended for the readers to understand what motivation can do to a person and what motivation without morality or constraints can cause. In the novel, Frankenstein's motivation to create life from an inanimate object creates multiple moral and albeit scientific inquiries from the reader. However, if the motivation was substandard or not as expressed as it is, I think the whole meaning of the novel would be thrown off. Motivation or obsession, in Frankenstein's case, without moderation can cause serious problems and motivation without morality can cause an effect that might be amazing and groundbreaking, but might be the demise of a race.

Frankenstein: Foils

"Meanwhile Clerval occupied himself, so to speak, with the moral relations of things. His hope and his dream was to become one among whose names are recorded in story as the gallant and adventurous benefactors of our species." pg. 37 I think that Henry Clerval and Victor Frankenstein are foils in many regards. They both have a desire to learn, but in very different ways. Victor wants to become the master of science and has no use for morals, which Clerval focuses on. Also, Victor has an obsession with knowing and learning science that ultimately leads to physical illness. Clerval, on the other hand, is motivated to become one of the moral benefactors of the human race, but when his father does not allow him to go to university he does not become ill. Also, I wonder if it was Clerval who was desiring to make the monster, whether he would ponder the morality of his actions. Also, if Frankenstein was a little more like Clerval and instead of thinking "Can I do this?," he thinks "Should I do this?" I think that because he is a foil to Clerval and because he is so driven by discovery that the thought never crossed his mind and would have never crossed his mind. The foils bring out the characteristics of Frankenstein and show his progression as the story moves on.

Like Father, Like Son

"The slingshot made a thwiiiit sound when Sohrab released the cup. Then Assef was screaming." pg. 291 This quote describes a situation where Amir is being mutilated by Assef and Sohrab, a little abused boy, step in to save his life. This situation is almost exactly the same as when Hassan stepped in to save Amir and himself from Assef twenty years earlier. A change, however, was that this time Amir fought and didn't leave it all to Hassan or in this case Sohrab. I think it shows a lot about Hassan when his little boy steps in to save a man he never knew. It also shows a lot about Sohrab and his little fighting spirit. I think it is interesting the line of father-son traits that are in this book. Firstly, Baba finds himself more in Hassan and Sohrab is definitely Hassan's child. I think that these lines are very important to the novel as a whole and that the situation with Assef was almost identical and the Hassan and Sohrab acted the same way showed a lot about their character and their upbringing, as well as the familial ties.

Always Thinking of You

"Hassan had so many questions about you." pg. 207 I think that this quote and the letters that came after it really shows the bond between Amir and Hassan. Even though Amir made a terrible mistake and let Hassan down in the worst possible way, they never stopped thinking about each other. Did they marry? Did they have kids? Were they happy? These were things that seeped into Amir's thoughts everyday and every special occasion that he attended, but always with grief and regret. We don't know what Hassan thought when he thought about these things except for what he said in his letters, but I think that he never stopped loving Amir or wanting the best for him. The bond that lasted years and generations was strong and had been tested in the most terrible and life-altering ways, but they never forgot. Eventually, I think Hassan forgave Amir and Amir was able to move on and realize the bond they has without grief and anger and with more love and respect.

Vernacular: Farsi Language

"By then, Khala Jamila's initially subtle hints had become overt, as in 'Kho dega! So! When am I going to sing alahoo for my little nawasa?' " I was interested by the insertions of the Farsi language into this novel while the rest of the book is written in English. I think that these words show how important country, family, and tradition is to the Afghan people. The words that are in the vernacular are usually very important to the novel as a whole, but also to the Afghan people. Nawasa refers to the grandchildren that Jamila is asking about and alahoo is songs that she had been forbidden to sing by her husband except to her grandchildren. Also, the title Khala is always added before he name, so familial titles, not just Aunt, Uncle, Grandma, or Grandpa is English were sufficient in these cases, the author had to show how the Afgahns think and what they respect and believe. Earlier in the novel, the author also uses naang and namoos, his honor, because that is what an Afghan person is defined by and honor does not cut it. It had to be in the vernacular because it is so ingrained in these people that it is Afghan itself almost. The vernacular makes the reader think about what those words are and what they mean because they are changed from English to Farsi for a reason.

Foils: Soraya and Amir

"Then I did something I hadn't done in fifteen years of marriage: I told my wife everything." pg. 325 I have always thought of foil characters as one good and one bad, or the hero and the goofy sidekick, but I think in this case Soraya and Amir are foils to each other in at least one area. They are foil characters because to a similar situation, they each responded in a way totally different. Earlier in the novel when Amir asked for her hand in marriage from her father, Soraya had the honor, guts, and courage to do the right thing and tell Amir her story. Even though she had run away, been with a guy, and was shunned by most of the Afghan community, she knew that the honorable thing to do was to tell Amir of what she did before they got married. She knew that he could shun her like the other men, but she still told him. However, Amir did not tell Soraya his story until fifteen years later after he was bashed by Assef and told Hassan's story. Instead of telling Soraya what he did and his past failures when she told him, he opted out and let Soraya take the whole weight upon her shoulders. He did not have the courage to tell her and did not have the courage to let her judge him as a suitable husband as he had judged her. He did redeem himself when he told her the whole story, so it took courage to tell her after fifteen years and to also take on the extra burden of her realizing he had kept things.

Symbol: The Kite

" 'Do you want me to run that kite for you?' His Adam's apple rose and fell as he swallowed. The wind lifted his hair. I thought I saw him nod. 'For you, a thousand times over.' " pg. 371 I think that the kite is a symbol for redemption. Throughout the story the kite shows up, especially in connection with Hassan and the past. It also shows up in connection with Amir and Baba frequently. It is a symbol for redemption firstly because it was the one thing that Amir and Baba had in common and the one thing that Baba could be proud of his son for. Amir wanted that kite so badly because he felt like it was the only way he could redeem himself in his father's eyes, however, that drive led to a different need for redemption. Secondly, it is a symbol for redemption in the last few pages of the novel too where Amir needs to make amends with Sohrab and in doing so redeems himself for what he did to Hassan as kids. The last kite and the flying experience with Sohrab started to heal the void in between them. I saw the redemption come from the quote and it showed that Amir had done for Sohrab what Hassan never stopped doing for him.