MM Sept 20

Frankenstein 9/20/10- Mark Christiansen

Today in Class we talked about the appearance of Frankenstein’s monster. We began class with a writing assignment that led to a class discussion. We talked about how the appearance of Frankenstein’s creature makes it monstrous. We found that Victor uses certain words such as “Filthy daemon”, and calling his creature inhuman to describe his creation. We then related this to whether or not the monstrosity was in it physical appearance, or whether it was his demeanor. We discussed the fact that although the creatures physical appearance adds to the monstrous side, it’s actions in killing Victor’s little brother William cause the creature to be a monster on a much deeper level. We then classified the creature as being human or inhuman. The class found that his actions in killing the child cause the monster to be much more inhuman. However we also discussed how his actions mimic that of a child.

Next we had group discussions on Victor’s actions when confronted with his creation. We talked whether or not Victor’s remorse transformed him into a more sympathetic figure in the story. The class came to a consensus that we do not feel more sympathetic for Victor for numerous reasons. First off, Victor let Justine die innocently by not admitting his involvement with the monster. Related to this, we talked about his actions towards his monster. The monster tries to befriend Victor but Victor just calls it a horrid creature and denies his involvement the creature entirely. This then led to the question of whether or not Victor can be redeemed in his future actions. We came to a general understanding that Victor’s current state of despair would inhibit his ability to be redeemed in the future.

The next topic for discussion we had was on whether the monster’s actions were due to being a flawed character, or if it was his uprising. As a class we discovered that his uprising was more to blame for his actions rather than having a flawed character. The way the monster was created then abandoned by Victor are the main reasons for his actions. Victor’s creature is very childlike in his actions, which proves how his uprising could really be the cause for its actions. Another reasons is how isolated the monster has been from human interaction and society. Next we discussed whether or not Victor’s actions were because of flawed character or his uprising. Much of the class agreed that Victor was spoiled throughout his childhood which leads him to believe that his isn’t responsible for any of his actions.

Lastly we discussed the message that Mary Shelley is trying to convey about human nature. This section of Frankenstein really shows us how judgmental people about physical appearance. Also how quickly human are in condemning the guilty or presumed guilty in society.