Creating a Monster

With the reanimation of lifeless limbs into a coherent, eloquent being, Mary Shelley gave birth to a literary classic. Written based on a personal nightmare, a simple story of creator and creation has become much more than she may have dreamed.

Shelley's first and most famous novel, Frankenstein, is considered to be one of the very first science-fiction novels and centers on two strong main characters: Dr. Frankenstein and his unnamed monster. Gifted in many ways, young Dr. Frankenstein decides to combine stolen limbs from corpses to create a new, living body and soon becomes fanatical about the idea. Months upon months of his life are devoted solely to the success of his experimental creation, causing him to overlook his own declining health. At last, on a dreary November night (as all scary stories seem to begin), his creation begins to move. Frightened beyond words at the hideous face that searches his own, the doctor runs from that which he has created. Thus begins a tense and lengthy game of cat-and-mouse between the doctor and his experiment.

Shelley does an excellent job at illustrating the hardships that both Dr. Frankenstein and his monster endure on their search for one another. Dr. Frankenstein's misery is suffered primarily through a combination of grief, anger, and guilt. Frankenstein's monster, however, lives in misery because he cannot find the two things that he truly seeks: love and acceptance.

Abandoned by his creator in a world that he does not know, Frankenstein's monster searches vainly for friendship and acceptance by a society that sees him only as a hideous abomination. Granted, the monster knows that he is hideous and wretched, but he hopes to woo people to overlook his appearance with his charm, eloquence, and beautiful words. He nearly finds success with this approach in a blind man, but the man's son sees the monster and wrenches his father away. With the removal of such a receptive individual, all of his hopes for love and companionship evaporate. Frustrated with both his inability to be accepted and society's inability to accept him, Frankenstein's monster vows revenge for his birth and plans to wreak his revenge on the man who caused his misery and his very life: his creator, Dr. Frankenstein. The monster carries out his revenge on the doctor by killing all whom he loves, therefore causing the doctor as much grief and misery as he feels himself.

It is hard to determine which of the two main characters in the novel is the "bad guy" or villain. Some would say that the villain is Dr. Frankenstein for creating a living being and then turning his back on it. Others might say that the monster is the worse of the two evils for killing so many innocent people in order to put pain upon another. Both of these characters obviously have numerous vices and issues, but they each are good people at the core; one is essentially the other.

Since Dr. Frankenstein and his creation are, at the end of the day, one and the same, it is fitting that the title is simply Frankenstein. Anything other than this simple name may have put an entirely different spin on the story or may have put more emphasis on one character than on the other. This way, the reader is allowed to consider both characters as the primary focus of the novel.

This novel has several cliched themes that could be applied such as "accept the person, not the appearance", "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", or "do not judge a book by its cover". One of the most important ideas expressed in the story is that the most basic thing that any being on the planet needs to survive is simply love. If Frankenstien's monster had only been accepted and shown genuine love and caring, Dr. Frankenstien would not have lost his entire family to the beast and would most likely have lived and died a fairly happy man. The monster may have lived to become accepted by society as a whole, therefore changing society into an accepting and all-encompassing mass. Yet, such things are too good to be true, and much too pleasant to be the subject of a classic Gothic novel.

For other reviews of this classic, please visit the following:
Challenging Destiny
My Hideous Progeny
Amazon Editorial Reviews

Shedding Light on the "Heart of Darkness"

Anybody bring a flashlight? We're going to need one, because today we are plumbing the depths of Joseph Conrad's classic novella "Heart of Darkness". (Yes, it's just as upbeat as the title promises. Buckle up, kids!)

Loosely based on his own experience in Africa, Conrad's best-known story revolves around a seafaring man named Marlowe who is sent by an ivory company into the depths of the Congo to retrieve one of the company's top agents. The agent in question is a Mr. Kurtz and the company feels that he has gone mad in the jungle. Marlowe experiences numerous setbacks throughout his trip, and his anticipation of meeting the legendary Mr. Kurtz seems to be heightened with every delay. As evidenced by the human skull-topped fence posts surrounding Kurtz's property, Marlowe is not to be disappointed. Upon their meeting, we find that Kurtz is revered as a bit of a god among the native tribes and he reminded me very much of a sort of human Gollum. (Those of you who have read the book, imagine Kurtz looming over his hordes of ivory and hissing, "My precccciousssss..." Eerily fitting, I think.)

There are many themes to be explored, even in this short novella, but the largest of these are the contrast between light and dark (which is much more complex in this story than simply "good and evil"), the representation of women in the 1890s, the complexities of African colonization, and the inclination toward madness in each of us.

The story begins slowly but, before I knew it, I had been sucked into the jungle along with Marlowe and Kurtz, fighting for my own sanity in the wilderness. The language is, at times, admittedly dense, but the story itself and the introspection it provides are well worth the effort. Just don't forget your imaginary machete!

Welcome!

Well, hello there!

Most of you who will be reading this realize it is part of an assignment for ENGL 251: Editing & Publishing. Those of you who happen to stumble across this place through other means: pull up a chair!

I have been blogging for a little over 4 years now, but my previous blogging has never had much of a theme or an underlying purpose. So, when given this assignment, I had a hard time coming up with a topic. I turned to my boyfriend for help and he said, "Well, what are you interested in?"

After some reflection, I decided to write about my first true love: books! I have been a bookworm since I first learned to read (to the point that I was often grounded from my bookshelf and sent outside to play as a punishment during my childhood) and it is a passion that has never left me. In this blog, I hope to share my thoughts on some of the favorite books of my past and some of the books I am currently reading (both for school and for leisure).

If you have not read some of these works previously, I hope to provide enough information to inspire you to pick the book up for yourself and explore the world within. If you have read some of these already, feel free to leave a comment with your own thoughts and opinions on the work. I like to think that a story is best enjoyed when in discussion among friends. :o)