The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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Frankenstein
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Frankenstein - Week 1
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I read this over 20 years ago, in high school. I don’t know which edition I read (reading 1838 now). I thought Victor was further along when he made the monster – a professional, not a student. (I may also be mixing up the book and the movie.) But maybe that was when the "monster" came back.
I remember Elizabeth appearing later in the book and her role in the story, but I don’t remember Henry Clerval’s role or what happened to him.
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I read this over 20 years ago, in hi..."
The quest may be representative of what was going on at the time of writing. There was an expedition to the pole at that time.
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Another thought has also occurred to me. One of her themes is isolation. The frozen pole, even today, is one of the most isolated places on earth
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It was off-putting to me as a teenager, but I enjoyed it this time around.
A moment that struck me in chapter 5 was the moment where Frankenstein accomplishes what he has been working so long to achieve; an accumulation of a lifetime of research and experimentation, the later being two years. However, he seems to describe the achievements fleetingly and then distances himself from it almost immediately.This struck me as a moment of denial. A moment where he no longer understands what he wants (and one quite dissatisfactory to the reader as well, mirroring some sort of experience of Frankenstein’s outcome). He no longer has faith nor is he willing to be strong, but instead he hides himself, his desires, as if ashamed, now recollecting and engaging not only in self pity but other petty distractions (though not all are).
It seems as if he worked so hard to achieve something, but now burrows himself in self-denial, looking into himself, as if the monster is himself and not his creation.
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Great point. I think there’s also a sense of fear in what he has created
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I think that's a huge theme in this book: What is a monster? And are we monsters too?
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The question about "Because we can do a thing, does that mean we should do it?" and the idea of "playing God" are very relevant today with genetic manipulation, cloning, etc. Or even with other disciplines, like the inventors of the atom bomb being horrified by its consequences.
Lori wrote: "What is the narrator’s quest? (Captain Walton 17__) Does he want to be the first person to reach the North Pole, or is he looking for something more specific? ..."In Letter Four, Walton tells Frankenstein (who has yet to introduce himself) that "we were on a voyage of discovery towards the northern pole." Towards, not for.
From Letter One, however, we know that he is in quest of a temperate land mass supposed to exist somewhere in the Polar region, under a perpetual day. He explains that "I will put some trust in preceding navigators," who had reported that it sometimes got warmer, and the sea became more free of ice, as they went north. From our perspective they were encountering local weather, and sea conditions that broke up the ice, but the idea of a warmer region around the pole persisted as a theory into the nineteenth century. (And had a literary aftermath: H.P. Lovecraft incorporated the notion in some of his works.)
Since Walton proposes to proceed to the North Pacific Ocean, he also seems to be in pursuit of the supposed Northeast Passage around Europe and Asia, through these same open waters. This was a counterpart to the equally illusory Northwest Passage around North America, to the same destination. (The search for the latter took many lives, and even whole expeditions -- I'm not sure about serious attempts to find a Northeast passage during the period in question.) I suppose that it is the Northeast Passage because he sets sail from Russia, and does not have to cross the North Atlantic, but I may have missed other clues.
The irony being that we may soon open those passages because we’ve found the way to melt the ice! Talk about monstrous creations.Probably won’t have time to read the book but am thoroughly enjoying the discussion.
To mound Me man? Did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me! - Paradise Lost X. 743-5
R. Walton is headed to the frozen world of the pole when Frankenstein is rescued in poor condition. As he recuperates, Frankenstein begins to tell a story he has told no other. The story of his creation.
From the beginning the reader encounters fire (electricity/life force) and icy tundra. There is so the prevalent theme of loneliness. Walton longs for a friend. Two solitary men traveling on the ice, and the secret Frankenstein dares not share.
We are also told that the pursuit and obsession to acquire certain knowledge is not only dangerous but comes at a cost.
How does Walton and Frankenstein’s experience compare? Contrast?
In Letter IV, “One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of knowledge”. What results would be worth such a sacrifice?
How did the loss of Frankenstein’s mother affect him?
What is the author saying about science? Obsessions? Knowledge?