significance of chapter 5- frankeinstein

Chapter 5 links what happens later on in the story. This is shown by the setting, language, character behaviour and the gothic ideas. Shelly uses descriptive words to create imagery and atmosphere in the setting as well as the character behaviour.  Applying words such as "dreary", "dismal", "horrid", "disgust", "miserable", and "wretched" to a sentence immediately paints an image of gothic atmosphere.  A dramatic example is when Shelly describes Victor Frankenstein holding "the corpse of (his) dead mother...a shroud enveloped her form...the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel"(2). Further on in the chapter happiness is shown when Clerval arrives. The joy of Frankenstein is emphasized to show the contrast of the previous scene. Shelley used words such as ''unable to contain myself'', helping to set the happy and joyous atmosphere. Shelley also quickly changed the atmosphere all of a sudden; changing it from Frankenstein being worried to being relieved. ''I remained with my eyes fixed on the coach and perceived Clerval and nothing could equal my delight’’ (3); this illustrated that Frankenstein was scared but when Clerval appeared he was joyful.  

Shelly uses varied types of language to describe the behaviour of characters. As Victor was in his home town of Geneva, the monster visited him explaining how he wanted another female creation and by doing this the ‘monster’ will stop the heartless killings of his friends and family. When Victor Frankenstein agrees, it shows how Shelley has suddenly changed the audiences thought towards him. By making Victor agree on devoting two years of his life to creating a hideous monster, so that people can live in peace, and nobody getting hurt by the Monster again demonstrates that Victor is a decent man; but also making the creation seem even more heartless. The language used in the novel can also be related to the way the society acts towards Victor and the creation. People were deeply religious; and also the suggestion that man can posses the same powers as God was shocking and immoral to the church. Victor Frankenstein had stolen dead bodies from a graveyard, and the church thought this was disrespectful. Although the ‘monster’ was created by human parts; society judged him because he was different. They judged him from what they saw on the outside rather that the inside appearance.  In the gothic era, people who did not follow the code of being standard where immediately hated by the crowd and banned for the reason of being different. When the creation was deserted he wondered in to town, but he "had hardly placed [his] foot within the door before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted”(4). From that moment on he realized that people did not like his appearance and hated him because of it. Society had rejected him.

The novel as a whole was linked to the everyday life of Mary Shelly and what happened in society around her. She came up with the idea of ‘Frankenstein’ in a time of wonder. Shelly- after losing her babies, wondered whether you could bring the dead back to life or rather create a new being. She also had a neighbour named Vultair who was experimenting on bringing frogs back to life using electricity. With in a year Shelly was living in Switzerland with her future husband Percy Bysshe. One night she had her friends come over and decided to have a competition to see who could write the best ghost story. Everyone began to write except Shelly, who was unable to think of a storyline. Desperate for inspiration, that night she had a dream; of a scientist who creates life and is horrified by the thing he has made.

Historical influences in the book where brought upon the fact that Victor took on the role of being God. When Victor creates the monster it is seen as a biblical quotation. "It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs" (5). At this moment in time the monster is playing Adam, and Victor, his creator, God. Victor creates the monster as an innocent without sin. The monster is not born evil, and his corruption is not his fault. The monster becomes a violent creature after he learns from the human society. The monster was shunned, beaten and offended. His reward for saving a girl was being shot. He was like Adam. Adam was also born innocent through God, until he tasted the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, from then on he was cast from the heavenly paradise of innocence. In the gothic era science was feared because people were not ready for change. As a result of living in the dark ages; there was no great change made in sciences.  When Victor made the creation using science it brought great fear to the society. People feared of how the monster looked like and what it was able to do.

The novel as a hole is linked to chapter 5 because the theme of playing God is still present in the novel. When God created Adam, Adam felt lonely. Similar to how the creation felt lonely; and asked Victor to create a female companionship. However unlike God Victor did not create the female because the idea of the harm the ‘monsters’ would bring towards the ones he loved was too painful. When God created Eve she sinned against him by not obeying him and eating the forbidden fruit. Fearing what the ‘monster’ was capable on its own only enhanced Victors fear of what it would be capable of when another was created.

In conclusion chapter 5 is very significant to the novel as whole. It is basically the turning point of the novel; where the creation is made. The writer’s use of language is relevant to how the characters behave and how the writer sets up the atmosphere of the novel’s setting. Reading the novel is educational and teaches alot, similar to how the 19th century life was different from the life we live in now. This brings up the question ‘would the creature be treated differently if it had been created now?’  The whole novel is based on a ‘what if’ bases and is also important for considering when it was written and the ethics behind it. This is revealed by the way Shelly uses language for contrast. The characters in the novel are more on the tow dimensional type of characters. These characters are built around a single idea or quality and are not described in a great detail. Their main role is usually to contrast or support the main characters. In ‘Frankenstein’, the only three dimensional characters are victor and his creation. These are the characters that are described in great dept. chapter 5 raises the questions that are later on answered in the novel and the story of ‘Frankenstein’ explains how different Mary Shelly’s time was from ours.