Chloe, Megan, Jenna, Mike, Emily, Maria, Logan

4/2/08 -

• The main character, Victor Frankenstein, is fixed on the idea of defying and becoming a man of glory and honor. "...if I could banish disease from the given frame, and rendor man invulnerable to any but a violent !" (32)  The s that have happened around him and all of the people that have disappeared from his life makes him want to defy .  He is torn between being the gentle Victor his family had seen in him before he went to college and being the Victor who is isolated and alone, whose only goal is to defy nature.
• Victor has expierenced a ranged of emotions while being away from his family at school. He feels obligated to finish his creature and put his family and life on hold. He wants to achieve the satifisaction he has imagined instead of going to see his aging father, his brothers, Clerval, and his dear Elizabeth. He is isolated from the real world. After creating his monster, his dream of satifaction disappears. His dream of glory and honor goes away and is replaced with him scared and confused. He wants to get away from his monster and he cannot remember why he bothered creating it. He feels disgusted that he defied and making the monster actually worked.  

"I, not in deed, but in effect, was the true murderer." (77)

This connects to the theme of responsability. When Victor created his monster, he was disgusted with it, so he abandonded it.One day, Victor finds out that his younger brother has died, so Victor heads back home. Once he gets their, he instantly realizes it was the monster who killed his brother. In a way, it is like Victor killed his brother because he is responsable for the monster's actions. Victor just abandoned his monster and because he created the monster, he is responsable for its actions. What ever the monster does, be it good or bad, Victor is responsable. When Victor created his monster, he didn't think about the responsability or the consequences that would come with it. He only thought about the glory and honor and recognition that would come with it. Also, after he created his monster, he was very sick and unstable, so he was not fit to look after the monster,but nobody else knew about his creation, so no one could have helped him. Even though Victor hated his monster, he has to take responsability for it. (Megan)

"Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?" (101)

This was said by the monster while he was telling Frankenstein about what he has been through. He said this about the leaders and countries he was reading about, but it really connects to Victor and the monster. Victor was intelligent and talented when he made the monster. Victor became magnificent and wanted to receive glory for his creation. However, he quickly turned into a cruel man. He cut off communication from his famiy and isolated himself. The monster is similar to Victor in this way. The monster seems so genuine and gentle while telling his life story to his creator. The monster was generous to people, especially the villagers when he would gather their wood and do other acts of kindness, and also viewed life in a positive. Despite all of these actions, he still managed to become evil and violent when he killed Victor's brother. People are unpredictable and even though they seem to be good, they are capable of doing bad things. Both Victor and the monster have this attrubute and it is hard to see what they are truly like. (Maria)

"I shuned the face of man; all sound of joy or complacency was to me; solitude was my only consolation--deep, dark, like solitude." (75)

Victor says this after he creates the monster, and his brother dies.  he is overwhelmed by his mistakes and misfortunes and goes into state of depresion.  This is an example of isolation and allienation.  Victor feels like he cant confront people anymore because of all the disgusting and shamefull things thats he's done.  He feels giulty for the of his brother and the creation of a monster and he hardly wants to be alive.  He feels like the monster that he had created because it was really his fault that his brother was .  If he didnt create the monster and then let it escape his brother would have never died.  he feels like if he disapears the burden of his brothers with dissapear and he wont have to deal with the responsability anymore.  Victor is also worried that the moster might kill again but perhaps if he, victor, pretends to be the horrible nightmare of the monster might die aswell.  Victor isnt takinf responsability for his mistake and all he is doing is avoiding the problem. (Mike)

"Of what a strange nature is knowledge!  It clings to the mind, when it has once siezed on it, like a lichen on the rock.  I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling; but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was - a state which I feared yet did not understand" (102).

The monster is beginning to come in touch with reality.  He is starting to understand his place in the world and just what other people think of him.  He is also understanding the concept  of life and , and all of this new information is confusing and maybe even a little bit disturbing to him.  The monster thinks about what his life might have been like if he had never come in contact with any of these realities; if he had stayed isolated in the woods without the chance to gain any knowledge.  By watching the family, he realizes that he will never be able to be part of such an environment, and that realization makes him feel even more alone than before.  Once he knows exactly what he is missing, he will be even more upset when that void is not filled.  Once he gains knowledge, it will always be with him. (Emily)

"Cursed, Cursed Creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark exsistance which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. " (117)

The monster expresses how he is feeling to a stunned Victor. Victor thought such a wretched creature was not capable of thinking this way and knew how he felt about it. The monster is lost in despair of society because he is so lonely and it is building up. The way society isolates and alienates makes the monster extremely distraught. His anger is being built up and leading to his destruction. When a person is so d and despised, taking out anger is the easiest option. The monster realizes that and now is very remorseful. He wished he had killed himself or taken himself out of the picture as soon as he was created; it would have saved all this trouble in the future. This quote creates a lot of foreshadowing for what is to come in the novel. He says despair has not overcome him or has felt rage or revenge. But, this is also saying he eventually does experience these feelings and it leads to trouble. The isolation and alienation builds up because he so self loathing and rage and revenge generally accompaine this. All in all, this quote is an important, foreshadowing quote. (Jenna)

"How strange, I thought,  that the same cause should produce such opposite effects!" (88)

I believe this relates to Victor's and the monster's relationship in a symbolic manner. Victor always saw his creation as terrible, a er, and was to ruin his life as he knew it. That is how we are implied to think while reading the story before we actually meet the monster. We know of his and his slyness. But, once the story lets the monster finally explain his life and his troubles, we see a whole new side. The monster begins his story and how he became the "monster" we know. However, he is not bad or evil at all really. He is a man who yearns for companionship and to learn and be accpepted in society. He wants to be a part of a family and have memories and have someone to share his pain or joy with. However, he is rejected by his society thus, filling him with rage and anguish. He uses his rage to er William and to hurt mankind. All of this relates to the quote because it is the same creature but has two effects: a monster who aspires to be good and a monster who swears revenge on mankind. Just like the fire, he notices it can be good or bad; it can help make food or hurt you as well. This is the exact same thing with the monster's existance. The outcome of how it uses its power will be either beneficial or hurtful. (Jenna)

"Who can follow an animal which can traverse the sea of ice and inhabit caves and dens where no man would venture to intrude." (169). I" belive this passage shows a different type of isolation and alienation, the passage "Who can follow an animal" is realy what has caught my attention and shows that the monster has insted of being isolated by public thoughts he insted isolates and alienates himself from the world as he choses. the monster allthought wanting to be isolated is very desperate for a companion like himself and the only way to do that without haveing to find a blind man or woman he has to go to Victor Frankenstine to get his wish for he was created by Victor for his own personal use and now he wishes for Victor to do the same for him. All in true the monster is isolated by nature and not just public or choice for the book only specifies one monster like Victors creation and there for he is the only one of his kind and is all alone either way, publicly and choice. (Logan)

"You are my creator, but I am your master;-obey!" (143) Even though Victor created the monster, he wasn't his master. Victor didn't take any responsability for his monster, so he wasn't really his master, even though he made the monster. Also, after Victor created his monster, he didn't want it, so he abandoned it.  When the monster came back, Victor was frightened by his monster, so it gave him power over Victor. With the power the monster had, he was able to make Victor do what he wanted, or at least almost do what he wanted.  What the monster meant by this was that even though Victor created him, he was not able to control him or have responsability over him. (Megan )

"Seek happiness in tranquility and aviod ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries. Yet why do I say this? I have myself been blasted in these hopes, yet another may succeed." (182)

Victor had said this to Walton in his last moments. Victor and Walton shared similar attitudes toward life. They both wanted the praise and glory for their accomplishments and to be recognized for their work. Victor had sacrificed his entire family and life for his selfishness and wants. Unfortunately by the time he realized what he was doing, it was too late. He changed his ways, but the monster that he had created was already on the loose. Victor suffered many losses and was trying to warn Walton of the consequences of his determination. Luckily, Walton had time to move on, and put his selfishness behind him and ended his journey. Walton learned from the mistakes that Victor had made in his life and took the oppurtunity to make things right. (Maria)

"Some years ago, when the images which this world affords first opened upon me, when I felt the cheering warmth of summer, and heard the rustling of the leaves and the warbling of the birds, and these were all to me, I should have wept to die; now it is my only consolation.  Polluted by crimes, and torn by the bitterest remorse, where can I find rest but in death?" (185).

These were some of the monster's last words to Walton.  he explains why he feels as if he needs to die and tells Walton that without Victor, his creator, his life means nothing and he is not happy.  It is very sad how he describes his transformation and to realize how drastically his outlook on the world around him has changed.  He is ashamed of the things that he has done, and he thinks that if even his creator will not accept him for the person he is inside, then no one will ever be his friend.  The monster has given up, and it just goes to show how this one decsion that Victor made has affected so many people in so many ways. (Emily)

" My reing is not yet over" (173)I would say this is a statement from the monster that shows his dominace over victor of whom created him. It shows that the monster who has had a shorter life has lived through so much and has endured more than that of Victor. The pain that Victor has been inflicted is too little than that of the monster. the monsters one chance for happieness was ruined by Victor whom destroyed the monsters companion. Victor has suffered the loss of his wife, brother, good freind, and his father by the cause of the monster, in short Victor can find more happiness by being with his own kind, while the monster is left all alone. this has made the monster stronger and more fearful to victor and puts his dominance above Victors.(Logan)

"But busy ininterested joyus faces brought back dispair to my heart.  I saw an insurmountable barrier placed between me and my fellow men; this barrier was sealed with the blood of william and justine; and to reflecton the events connected with those names filled my soul with anguish." (135)  Now that Victor feels like a murderer for the death of hiss brother and servant, he doesnt feel like a human.  He feels as if he's a terrible creature like the monster and he doesnt want to be seen by society.  He wants to be allienated from normal people so he doesn't feel guilty for murder.  He also probably feels like he could cause another death if he is exposed to people.  Victor can't connect to other people's feelings and conversations because he can never be normal like them again.  He doesn't want to see the faces of innocence after all the terrible things that he's seen.  He feels his mind is currupted and he doesnt want to expose himself to normal society. (Mike k)

Lightning Presentation

Frankenstein.pptx