1) Over the course of this week, please read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Chapters IX - XV (Pages 61-97).
2) Please complete a detailed, comprehensive, blog response, by selecting TWO of the questions below AND direct evidence from the text in your responses. You need not attend to every nuance in each question, but create a response that covers the reading selection and be thinking about what is meaningful about these plot points.
Study Questions:
Ch. IX-XII
1. What does the creature ask of Victor? What does the creature say to Victor? Does his language remind you of another literary work? How good is Victor at performing the role of creator for his creature?
2. Why has the creature caused the deaths of William and Justine? Is he as inherently evil and bloodthirsty as Victor has assumed? What will cause the creature to change? Keep in mind his statement "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous". What sort of psychological understanding is Shelley showing here?
3. What happens during his first encounters with people? What does he learn about the people who live in the cottage? How does he feel toward them? How does the creature continue to learn about the family he is watching? How might a modern anthropologist or sociologist respond to the creature's methods? What is the condition of the family? How does the creature manage to help them?
4. What things bother the creature when he thinks of discovering himself to the family? How does he respond to his own appearance when he sees it? How does the creature hope to win over the family? How does he respond to the coming of spring?
Chs. XIII-XV
5. What book does Felix use to teach Safie? What does the creature learn from this book? How much of a monster can someone be who can say "but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased, and I turned away with disgust and loathing”?
6. What happens when the creature begins to think about himself? How does he compare with the humans described in the book? What questions does he ask himself? How does his knowledge make him feel?
7. What does he learn about human relationships, and how does this make him feel? How did the De Lacey family come to be living in the cottage? How did Safie come to find and join them? What does the creature hope will happen when he talks to De Lacey? What actually happens?
(4) One thing that bothers the creature the most is that the creature is very scared that the de Laceys will be terrified of his appearance, he does good deeds to them and hopes that they will not look at his horrible outward appearance but rather the goodness in him. When he sees his own appearance in the pond he notices how ugly his outward appearance is and thinks to himself how beautiful the humans are. The creature hopes to win over the family by performing good deeds such as getting them wood and doing repairs around the house, he also hopes to win over the family by learning how to speak French. The coming of Spring fills the creature with joy and happiness as he says “... My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy.”
ReplyDelete(5) The book that Felix uses to teach Safie is the “Ruins of Empires”. The creature learns about all the wars that the world under went through this book, it also learned about the history of all the civilizations. I don’t think the word monster can be much suited for the creature because at heart he is a very kind and gentle being it is just that his outward appearance is demented because of the many body parts from different humans that have been sewed on.
1. In chapters 9-12, we finally get to witness what the monster that Victor Frankenstein has created. Victor has spent the last tormenting himself over the death of Justine, whos death he could’ve prevented if he had spoken out of the creation of the monster. The creatures convinces Victor to follow him to a cave made of ice, saying “Listen to my tale: when you have heard that, abandon or commiserate me, as you shall judge that I deserve. But hear me.” The creation doesn’t want anything from Victor Frankenstein but for him to listen to his story, and what he’s been up to since he fled from his apartment. Victor is terrible at performing the role of creator for his creation. Victor is horrified by the creature, calling him “devil” at his first encounter with him. This shows that despite the fact Victor creating him to be better than humankind, he has no respect for him because he represents Victor’s misery and isolation from lack of communication with his friends and family. He got so wrapped in science and creating the creature that when he turned out to be extremely hideous, he was appalled and haunted by nightmares of Elizabeth and the corpse of his mother. What shocked Victor and the readers was how the creature wasn’t this vengeful monster who was out to kill Frankenstein and everybody he loved, but that all he asked for was to speak to Victor and have him hear him out, asking him “not to spare me: listen to me.” He tells his story, explaining how when he went into towns, the people were terrified of him, and how he notices how attractive his neighbors are, and how unattractive he is. He explains how he learned to speak by observing his neighbors, who he creepily watched. Despite this, his story makes the audience empathize for him, because all the monster wanted was to be accepted by society.
ReplyDelete7. In the subplot within the subplot of the book, we are introduced to the De Lacey family, who Frankenstein’s creature had been observing. We learn that they were once an affluent family in Paris, but were exiled from France and moved into a cottage in Germany. In chapter 12, the creature “was inquisitive to know why Felix appeared so miserable and Agatha so sad.” We learned that it was being Felix, the son fell in love Safie, who’s father, a Turk was falsely accused of a crime. They had a plan to break Safie’s father out of prison but were discovered and exiled. In chapter 14 it is revealed that “by some papers of her father which fell into her hands she heard of the exile of her lover and learnt the name of the spot where he then resided.” The creature come to the conclusion that because De Lacey is blind, he can talk with him without judging his exterior, and convince the others that he’s not what his exterior portrays him to be. It was a good plan, and he manage execute it, nervously beginning to tell his story to De Lacey, however before he could continue, the others return and Felix “tore me from his father...dashed me to the ground, and struck me violently with a stick.”
2) Though the creature has not yet explicitly stated why he caused the deaths of William and Justine, there are hints as to why he would do so. Upon their first encounter with one another, neither Victor nor his creation are happy to see each other. As the creature approaches Frankenstein, “his countenance bespoke bitter anguish, combined with disdain and malignity…”(68). It is quite clear that they despise one another. With this in mind, since William and Justine were connected to his family, it is reasonable to infer that the creature murdered them out of hatred for Victor. As the story progresses, the creature expresses his loneliness and the maltreatment he received by humans. He asks Victor, “I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone?...What hope can I gather from your fellow creatures...they spurn and hate me”(69). Unlike what Victor believed, the creature is not described as inherently evil. His experiences while living in the hovel reveal that the creature shares the same emotions that all humans have. However, his appearance alienated him from society and made him bitter. This is an example of nurture versus nature. Shelly is making a point of how influential someone’s upbringing can be on their character.
ReplyDelete3) While the creature speaks with Victor, he tells Frankenstein of his first encounters with humans. The creature discovers a village, and upon entering, “The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked [him], until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, [he] escaped…”(74). The creature takes refuge in a hovel connected to a cottage. This violent experience with humans would leave a lasting impression on the creature, making him too shy and afraid to meet others. While living in the hovel, the creature notices a small hole in the wall that peers into his neighbor’s abode. As he observes them, Victor’s creation notices that the family is not entirely happy. Eventually he learns “one of the causes of the uneasiness of this amiable family: it was poverty, and they suffered that evil in a very distressing degree”(77). The creature is deeply affected by their troubles and sympathizes with them. He decides to help his neighbors by cutting firewood for them and stops pillaging their food supply. The creature learns more about humans and ideas by observing his neighbor's activities. The family in the cottage act as a teacher to the creature.
1.) When the creature speaks with Victor; he asks him to comply with his conditions, saying "If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends." (68). The creature wants Frankenstein to listen to his tale of discovering life. The way the creature talks somewhat resembles Shakespearean language. He has the correct vocabulary, and uses beautiful imagery to describe things; for example, he says "The sun is yet high in the heavens; before it descends to hide itself beyond yon snowy precipices, and illuminate another world." (70). At first Victor doesn't take the role of being the creator of his creation too well. He abhors his own creature, but he then switches gears and tries to take on the duties of what a creator should do, saying "I felt the duties of a creator towards his creature were, and I ought to render him happy before I complained of his wickedness." (70).
ReplyDelete3.) The creature first interacts with a person when he enters into a small hut in search for food. He says "An old man sat in it (the hut), near a fire, over which he was preparing his breakfast. He turned on hearing a noise; and perceiving me, shrieked loudly, and quitting the hut, ran across the fields with a speed of which his debilitated form hardly appeared capable." The creature had the same reaction towards him when he came across a village, and entered into someones cottage. "I had hardly place my foot within the door before the children shrieked, and one woman fainted. The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel." (74). Although the book is fictional, this scene does connect well with the real world in the way that people will rally against someone, or a group of people negatively if they have some sort of difference, belief, way of living, etc. The creature believes that people are barbaric, and rightfully so from the way they treated him.
2) The creature kills William because he is related to Victor and he wants to hurt Victor for neglecting him. He indirectly kills Justine by framing her, resulting in her execution. He frames her because the creature thinks that the beauty of people like Justine are the reason why people are afraid of him. The monster is not inherently evil, the creature is emotional, sensitive and like a real human being. Compassion and love will change the creature for the better and hatred and disgust will drive the creature further down this path of anger. The creature’s emotions dictate what he does. Shelly is saying that humanity’s goodness is a result of the compassion towards other. If you are nice to one person, they will be nice to another person and it will start a chain reaction.
ReplyDelete4) The creature is fearful that the family will reject him based on his looks. “I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers—their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions; but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool!” He sees his reflection is water a sees how ugly he is compared to humans because he believes that humans are beautiful. The creature hopes that he can learn to speak. He then approaches De Lacey because he is blind so the creature will not be judged on appearance. Spring gives him hope and joy.
3. The creatures first interactions with humans don't go over very well. He goes into a hut looking for food and there is an old man there who runs in fear when he sees him. This same thing happens when he goes to another village and is met with fear and hostility from the people living there. After these experiences with the people he views them as cold-hearted and barbaric.
ReplyDelete7. The creature has been watching the De Lacey family who were a wealthy family that lived in Paris but they were exiled. They were exiled because Felix was planning to break out his lover's father out of jail and he was caught. The creature realizes that De Lacey is blind after watching them for a while. The creature's plan is to go up and talk to De Lacey because he can't judge him off of his horrific exterior and only off of his voice. The creature is nervous when he actually starts talking to him and he begins his story but Felix and the others return and attack the creature with sticks.
Evan Arhelger
4) Though The monster doesn't appreciate that Victor hates him due to his lack of attractiveness, for he is very unappealing, he accepts this, and for this reason, he doesn't want to scare anyone else. He thinks this way not out of anger as he does for victor, but out of decency to spare others from seeing his unwanted appearance, for he is a genuine person who cares about how others feel. He simply doesn't want to scare the family, and make them run away from him as Victor did. In reference to his appearance, after seeing it for himself in the water, he states that "I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification. Alas! I did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity." The monster wanted to become friends with the family, but wanted to spare them his monstrous looks. His plan to befriend them however was rooted with his kind nature, not hindered by his looks- he had to show them his looks and hopefully they could adapt and forget with time and appreciate what was truly him, not just his looks. He explains,"I imagined that they would be disgusted, until, by my gentle demeanour and conciliating words, I should first win their favour and afterwards their love."
ReplyDelete7)After gaining knowledge on the situation with Felix, and Safie, the monster becomes humbled, as he realizes that he is not the only one in the world with societal restrictions. Especially in reference to both the christian, and Muslim ideologies present in Safie's split parental paths, the monster finds it all, as he says "interesting and wonderful to one so utterly inexperienced as I was." The Monster learns to love the story of dedication of Felix and Safies return, and the mystery being the papers Safie's father had on Felix's location. Due to himself growing with the family for the past season and a half or so, the monster soon acts on trying to befriend them personally. his plan is to talk to De Lacey alone and build up their relationship before the other three children could quickly judge him based on his looks. He beleives the blind and judgemental De Lacey could calm the childrens reactions with time and through the monsters good character. This doesn't happen however; the children come into the hut much sooner than expected, and quickly mess up the monster plan of building rapport. The monster describes what occurs after they see him by stating" Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me? Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father."
I chose question 1, “What does the creature ask of Victor? What does the creature say to Victor? Does his language remind you of another literary work? How good is Victor at performing the role of creator for his creature? To start with the first part of this question when victor meets with the creature, they relate what has happened to him since his beginning. After this, he demands that Victor create a companion for him. The way the creature speaks of himself reminds me of Adam from the bible victor in this case is god and his first creation is the creature and like the bible Adam/the creature goes against god's/Victor’s will and is banished basically from the world “I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed." now hes starting to compare himself to the devil a fallen angel from heaven, but something that is different between Adam and the Devil with the creature with Adam and the Devil they were banished but they were not sinned against but all of society wants the creature dead and the creature now takes vengeance on society. Victor is not a very good creator, Victor should have been calm and patient with the creature but instead treated like it was a person who has lived a full life but the creature hasn't, imagine you were talking to a new born baby that could kill you within seconds as well as understand everything you were saying to it and you were emotionally harassing it a new born baby doesn't have any control over its emotions yet. I also wanted to answer question 2 “Why has the creature caused the deaths of William and Justine? Is he as inherently evil and bloodthirsty as Victor has assumed? What will cause the creature to change? Keep in mind his statement "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous". What sort of psychological understanding is Shelley showing here?” and the most simple answer is revenge is so blinded by his rage at victor that he wants to see him suffer. The creature has no control over his emotions and will do anything he thinks will cause victor to be angered but is blind to the cost. Brodie
ReplyDeleteWhen we finally meet the creation, he asks victor to "Listen to (his) tale" and then when he is done to have Victor judge him based on the story. Victor is horrified and extremely uneasy being alone with the creation, (after being lead into an ice cave with him). But since there is really nothing else to do and nowhere else to go he has to listen to him. In doing this Victor is terrible at playing the role of the creator to his creation. He refers to his creation as the devil and is frightened of him and hates him because he is not beautiful. The monster explains he watched a family of people through a spy hole and picked up on mannerisms and language etc. and that he also hates himself because he is so ugly. In doing so sympathy is created for the monster from the audience.
ReplyDelete^question 1 and 6
Delete(2) Why has the creature caused the deaths of William and Justine? Is he as inherently evil and bloodthirsty as Victor has assumed? What will cause the creature to change? Keep in mind his statement "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous". What sort of psychological understanding is Shelley showing here? The base reasoning of what would push the creature to cause the deaths of William and Justine boils down to his treatment at the hands of others. He is simply desires to be accepted and based on his actions, he certainly is not treated with acceptance and respect that is the original cause of his change of action; this in turn shatters the conception that the monster is inherently evil and bloodthirsty (as Victor assumed). Shelley’s understanding demonstrates the dangers of society when “they” define what it means to be a “normal being" of society (and anything else that cannot conform is deemed as peculiar or odd). This stems from The Romantic Movement which espoused the idea that man is born good, but it is society and other pressures that create an evil man. It is Victor who comments that of the Creature, "I ought to render him happy before I complained of his wickedness."
ReplyDelete(6) What happens when the creature begins to think about himself? How does he compare with the humans described in the book? What questions does he ask himself? How does his knowledge make him feel? The Creature asks himself, "Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?”, comparing his “unknown feelings” to the humans’ feelings of sheer joy, hope, sadness, (etc) he witnesses with his own. Having this “knowledge” of sorts, he questions that, “I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery.” (16.1).
5. The book that Felix uses to teach Safie their language is Constantin Francois de Volney's Ruins of Empires. The creature also learned how to speak from this book, and also learned some history. We also learned that the creature does have a rational mind, when he says "but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased, and I turned away with disgust and loathing.” This reminds me of when you try to explain bad things that happen in the world and they just don't understand.
ReplyDelete7. In these chapters we are introduced to the De Lacey family that the creature lives near. He listens on to their conversations and learned a lot about their life. They were once citizens of Paris, but they were exiled. Safie, a family member, moved into their cottage with the De Laceys. Her father was falsely accused of a crime and was sent to prison and was sentenced to death, but the family was determined to break him out. Their plans leaked and people found out that they were planning on breaking him out so they were all sent to exile and so they moved to a cottage in Germany.
question 1: In chapters 9-12 Victor reconnects with his creation. The creation demands Victor to follow him to a cave and listen to his story of what has happened to him in the months since fleeing his creator's home. He says that victor owes it to him as creator to hear what he has to say. Victor is still disgusted by the monster because he reminds him of his own guilt over the deaths of William and Justine, but he follows him anyway. The monster says, "All men hate the wretched; how then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us."
ReplyDeletequestion 3: The creation's first interactions with people didn't go well at all. The man in the hut as well as the villagers screamed and ran away from him in fear and disgust because of his appearance. Because of these experiences he loses confidence and loses his faith is people. He watches the family through a crack in the wall and learns that they are very unhappy because they lost all their money and were exiled from their home in France. From his observations he learns a lot about language and the nature of people.
1) When Victor first reconnects with his creation the monster asks Victor to make him a companion. When Victor calms down the monster is able to tell Victor the story of the villagers and how he learned his sophisticated mannerisms. Even though all the characters use old language, when the monster begins to speak I was reminded of Shakespeare. I do not think Victor is very good at playing the role of creator. Going back to when the monster was first made, none of this would have happened if Victor hadn't been afraid and let the monster wander alone.
ReplyDelete5) The book Felix uses to teach Safie is "Ruins of Empire" by C. F. Volney. From his hovel, the creature learns about the governments, religions, and mannerisms of humans. He also learns of the awful things humans can do to each other, and is disgusted by the knowledge of mans obsession with wealth and power. From seeing this side of the 'monster' I no longer believe he is one. Victor created a brand new mind with the strength of an advanced grown man. When he was able to get the proper educating, which Victor failed to provide, the creatures mind was able to catch up with his physical abilities and he was able to teach himself how to use those abilities. I don't think it is the creatures fault he committed murder and Victor allowed him to escape when he knew the creature was in a destructive state.
5.) Felix teaches Safie with Ruins of Empires by Constantin Francois de Volney. While both listening to the people and learning from the teachings of the book the creature understands their language and writing better. The book mainly taught him about the history and how governments and nations work. It basically taught him the fundamentals of human society. “Through this work I obtained a cursory knowledge of history… it gave me an insight into the manners, governments, and religions of the different nations of the earth.”. I don’t believe the creation was a monster when he began listening to the book but rather the book is part of what showed him the brutality of man and therefore planted the seeds of his disgust of man. I don’t even think the creation is a monster now, he is rather a man who has heard and seen the worst parts of mankind which has separated him even more from them.
ReplyDelete2.) The creature initially didn’t want to hurt William but when William told the creation who his father was, Alphonse Frankenstein, the creation freaks out and strangles William because of his hatred towards Frankenstein. The creature had also reached a point of exhaustiveness with humans at this point after a man had previously shot him when he tried to do the right thing. Justine was just the creatures scapegoat and his disdain of humanity at this point caused him to not think too much about it. The monster was never inherently evil or murderous he instead became murderous and cruel as humans treated him horribly and destroyed the good in him as they instantly condemned him when they saw him. The creation believes a mate will bring out the good in him by making him happy, as the quote says. He thinks a companion like him will satisfy him and bring back his humanity. Shelley’s recognizing that humans are not inherently evil but rather certain human and creatures are treated horrendously by others and therefore develop a tough skin that begins to harden their heart and therefore make them ‘evil’.
4) He fears that the family will be horrified by him. The creature thinks that they’re luxury and has everything when in reality, they are very poor. “half-frightened as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate” the creature feels fearful of being alone so he cleans the snow from their sidewalk and leaves bunches of wood for the family to get on their good side
ReplyDelete7)The creature realizes that he’s the only one like him. He starts to feel misery and questions “who and what am I?”. After a while the creature learns about the families and their love for each other. He wishes for companionship and feels terrible. “.. but which all terminated in additional love and reverence for my protectors” The monster finds himself feeling safe and protected in the cottage which is ironic because didn’t his protectors try to kill him when they met?
Sarah
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. The creature asks Victor to listen to him and says that misery has made him a beast/fiend. Victor isn't doing great at performing his role as the creator because of how ready and willing he is to abandon his creation and never have him be apart of his life again.
6. The creature realizes he is the only one in existence like himself, he is monstrously ugly and he is utterly alone. He asks "What am I?" and "Who am I?" He feels absolute misery.
1. I feel like Victor is a lot like god, and even adopted his response to being a creator. When you play god you must expect to have his same surprise. Victor created what he thought to be a monster, he was disappointed with his work and, much like god, afraid of it so he chooses to abandon it. If Victor had taken more time to teach and raise the creation he would have realized that the creation is intelligent and deserving of love. However, Victor's neglect of the creation has made him think and feel the miserable way that he does, like any child neglected by a parent, and the creation is smart enough to understand that his behavior is beastly, but is unable to be happy enough to control it.
ReplyDelete6. After watching the DeLacey family through a peep hole for quite some time he learns their mannerisms and social cues. He at first feels alone in the world because other people have someone to love and someone who loves them back so he feels completely alone in a world where he doesn't fit in. He asks Victor to make him a companion so that someone else may share his isolation with him, not out of cruelty, but out of want for a mutual connection with another creature. This is comparable to many people who feel like outcasts and, as humans do, clique together and feel together. He just wants someone to understand his life with him.
When the monster first encounters the people in the village, he sees that they are very unhappy and is confused by it. He soon learns, though, that the people are poor and that he is contributing to their unhappiness because he is stealing their food. The monster does have feelings for this family. He feels bad for them and does not like to see them so upset. On a more positive note, the monster learns how to speak through watching the family. He also recognizes that the family loves each other very much. Lastly, the monster starts to secretly help the family with their chores, which leads the family to become happier. I think the monster wants to be part of something, but due to his image, he can’t really engage the world. He is an outsider, a
ReplyDeleteloner,(or other) who has similar emotions and feelings as the people in the village, but he can’t express himself the same way because of who he is. Spring is significant to the monster because it represents the opportunity for life and newness. The monster really wants to be part of life, but due to his looks, he cannot. He takes delight in the spring blooms because it is the only way he can bridge his lonely life with the rest of the world.