This novel is in the epistolary form, meaning the form of letters, I.e letters from the narrator to his sister. This puts more belief into the story and makes the reader feel involved as if they are receiving the letters. The author chooses this for originality and variety to a basic storyline.
The genre of the novel is gothic horror, shown by certain things that are unique to this genre such as in chapter 5 it states “it was a dark dreary night” in gothic horror stories it is usually night time this sets the gloomy atmosphere relevant to the disturbing storyline. Also gothic horror relies on the building of tension and in chapter 5 Shelley uses describing words and identifies feelings for example “how can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe” also “lustrous black”. Theses words and phrases build up tension for an outcome instead of being all action gore and blood. The narrator telling the story is also relevant to this genre.
The story was popular when it was first published, however it received bad reviews from the critics. It will have been popular because of its spine chilling storyline and original ideas, complemented by the quality of writing and dramatic techniques used. Furthermore, to the audience at that time it will have been new and a big step forward in science, this will be very interesting for the reader and for an outsider hearing about the plot will want to read the whole novel.
I think Mary Shelly’s life influenced the story in a massive way. Firstly her mother was an author and she married a poet, this will have encouraged her to write also in the novel the monster killed a young child named William and in reality Mary had a son named William who died at an early age. In my opinion the biggest influence was the fact that she did not have a Mother figure in her life as she died shortly after Mary was born. This affected her childhood and will have helped her to write from the monster’s point of view as he had no motherly figure.
The story is unusual because the whole novel is told in the first person narrative, due to the fact that each narrator tells his own story. The reader has more sympathy for each character because they express their own points of view and you have their individual thoughts and feelings. An example of this is when Frankenstein says “I was troubled a mist came over my eyes and I felt a faintness seize me” this lets you feel Frankenstein’s thoughts furthermore having more sympathy for him. Before we hear this story we think of the monster as being a foreboding creature that is to be feared and not spoken of , however when we read the extracts of the novels, regarding the monsters feelings we find out that his emotions are quite powerful. Mary Shelley gives him a personality and wants him to be accounted for . We discover that he is similar to normal human beings as he fears the consequences and rejection and wants to be liked This emphasises the sympathy for the monster. In the final speeches Walton feels more sympathy for Frankenstein. “I pitied Frankenstein my pit amounted to horror” he feels that it is unfair that Frankenstein dies as a result of trying to create good. This affects the readers sympathy for Frankenstein.
In this novel I think Frankenstein is a victim because he created a monster that has caused havoc to mankind. When he set about this challenge he did not predict that this would happen, however he should have thought about the consequences. This must increase sympathy for Frankenstein. He says he created this monster to work on cures and medicines for the people, however I think it was for him to boast about and up his status. I think he feels he is a hero and the public will love him for his achievements. This dream only backfired on him as the life form he created lead to his downfall. His creation did not accept him as a father “between you and me we are enemies begone, or let us try our strength in a fight in which one must fall”, it is hard to nurture him when no positive bond has been created.
The attributes of a good father would be to be supportive, kind and loving, caring for them until they leave home and helping them to achieve to the best of their ability and teaching the child to be a good member of society. However, Frankenstein is not a typical father, in a way he has abused his child and left him to fend for himself, if he had more support and help from other people he may have coped better. He has had to do the work of parenting alone and in fact it is a very difficult job. If the monster had a mother figure from the onset of his life the pain and hurt he caused may never have happened.
In my opinion the creature is just a child in a vile adult’s body. The monster confirms this by saying “remember thou hast made me more powerful than thyself; my height is superior to thine; my joints more supple”. He experiences his senses, thoughts, and feelings for the first time. His lack of knowledge, yet powerful body have turned him into the fearful creature he is. Frankenstein says “Devil” I exclaimed “do you dare approach me” forcing his feelings on to the creature. If he had time to learn and an upbringing like any normal child I do not think he would have turned out the way he did. Furthermore, if he had started out life in a child’s body he would have had time to learn before using the power he has.
I believe that the creature was brought to life a horrible monster simply because of the way he looked. Frankenstein called him a “vile insect”. If, we the audience were to see him in real life we would assume that he is to be feared unsure of him and what he might do. Before he has ever done any wrong the public would brand him as being evil. This point increases the sympathy for the creature and lowers sympathy for Frankenstein because Frankenstein made the creature to look this way and straight away this lowers its chances of being accepted in society. It has not the creatures fault he is being tormented it is tormented it is Frankenstein’s.
Obviously the creature was very different from his father, who was gifted with knowledge and was very powerful. He had an ambition of doing what no other person had achieved to create life. The monster on the other hand was born into society without an ounce of knowledge and as a so called ‘ugly creature’. This was a huge setback for the creature, he was never given a chance to be accepted and never had love. These facts drove him to insanity, his life would have been very different if he had a proper father figure. He is just like a baby being let alone and having to learn for himself. A father has a huge influence in a persons life and we tend to aspire to him and follow in footsteps. The monster however has no one so how does he know right from wrong.
If you had only heard brief information about the monster the reader would think he was evil however knowing about what he has had to put up with and putting yourself in his shoes he does not know what evil is .
In conclusion, his actions were justified due to his suffering and lack of knowledge he says “have I not suffered enough that you seek to increase my misery” - how can you be considered to be evil if you were unaware of what evil actually is. He was incapable of knowing the difference between good and evil at such an early stage of development.
I think as a reader we have the most sympathy for the creature because he is only a child wrapped up in a disgusting body. He has a great lack of knowledge stepping into a world and left alone so soon . He did not have a proper family or upbringing and had no real identify nor even having a name treated just like a wild animal. This is shown in Chapter 10 when Frankenstein says “Abhorred monster fiend that thou art”, he is showing his dislike for the creature to which he has given no name. All these points leave the reader having more sympathy for the monster than Frankenstein. Frankenstein created his own turmoil and had status to redeem himself, the creature was a victim straight away and a victim before he could justify anything. Furthermore he does not have the knowledge to turn his misfortune, or a mother for a proper upbringing. The creature did not start out his life with a proper family and was left alone, this would be an impossible test for any being complied with his lack of understanding I think he did well to even stay alive.
