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Novel Analysis: Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley

Title                 : Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
Author             : Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Published        : United Kingdom, 1st January 1818
Pages              : 280


Have you ever heard of Frankenstein? What comes to your mind when you hear it? Many think that Frankenstein is the name of a monster, a giant green monster with nails on his head. Turns out that Frankenstein is the name of its creator, a scientist... a mad scientist if I may call him so.

The characters
1. Victor Frankenstein, the scientist
2. M. Frankenstein, Victor's father
3. Caroline, Victor's mother
4. Elizabeth Lavenza, Frankensteins' foster child
5. Ernest Frankenstein, Victor's brother
6. William Frankenstein, Victor's younger brother
7. Justine Moritz, William's babysitter
8. Henry Clerval, Victor's best friend
9. Professor Krempe, Victor's professor in University of Ingolstadt
10. Professor M. Waldman, Victor's professor in University of Ingolstadt
11. The monster Victor created (it had no name)
12. Felix, a man living in a cottage inside a wood
13. Agatha, Felix' wife
14. De Lacey, Felix' father
15. Safie, an Arabian woman
16. Captain Walton, the captain of a ship Victor got into

The summary
Victor Frankenstein created a creature which he hoped would be a human, but turned out very ugly. He left the creature and the creature went into the outside world. The creature lived a hard life because humans were frightened of him.
The creature went into a woods and found an abandoned cottage. He then lived in the cottage and learnt how to speak human language and how the society worked from his neighbour, De Lacey's family, secretly.
One day, the creature met William, but he killed him because he was afraid of the creature. The creature went into a barn in where it found Justine Moritz sleeping. It then put Willam's necklace into her pocket. People thought it was Justine Moritz who killed William because they found the necklace in the pocket. She got sentenced to death because of it.
Victor went to a journey to find the murderer of his brother. Then he met the creature. The creature asked him to make another creature like him, but a female one so he would not feel lonely anymore. Victor promised the creature that he would make it.
Victor and Henry Clerval went away to have holiday. In Oakland, Victor was about to finish the female creature, but he decided to dump it in the sea because he was afraid that he might be making another monster.
The creature killed Henry because Victor did not fulfil his promise. Victor got shocked, but he decided to marry Elizabeth so he could protect her. Sadly, the creature killed Elizabeth because he would not let its creator to live a happy life when it was living a miserable one. Victor's father died of sadness because of Elizabeth's death.
Victor was angry for what the creature had done. He went on a journey to kill the creature. In a place around North Pole, Victor was so close to catch the creature but he lost the chance because the ice around him broke. Victor got into Captain Walton's ship and told him everything.
Captain Walton helped him chase the creature, but Victor got ill because he was too exhausted. Victor died in the ship. The creature got into the ship. Captain Walton saw it. The creature told Captain Walton that its existence was pointless because its creature was already dead. The creature drowned itself into the sea.

Review
The author was very good in using words to describe the settings and the actions. I could even imagine I was in the story. The author herself used many middle English terms and I could hardly understand them so I had to check my dictionary, but it was fun to find many new older terms. She used the gay word many times and I understand that it did not refer to homosexual as it does nowadays.
From the cartoons and stories I had watched, read, and listened, the creature was gigantic but it has retarded mind, but the creature described here was really smart it could understand the science of language in a short time.

Moral values
Be responsible to what you have done. It could have turned out differently if Victor Frankenstein did not just leave the creature by itself.
Do not judge a book by its cover. The creature Victor had created was like a baby. It did not understand anything and he should have been protected from the hatred of the people who attacked it because they were afraid of the creature’s ”cover”. I believe that how people react to ourselves in the early stage affected us and shaped us to how we are right now.
Be honest. At least, if Victor had told his beloved ones after the creature left, they could do something before everything was too late.
Get our mind straight. If only the creature could think straight, he would not kill anyone.
 

 Chandraswari S. Respati
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