Tyler Wargo - Frankenstein


Passage  Pg. # Comments & Questions

"I confess that neither the structure of languages, nor the code of governments, nor the politics of various states possessed attractions for me. It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn;"

19
Early on, Frankenstein isn't as nearly interested with mainstream discussions as nearly as much as others. Ever since he was young, he's shown a passion for the sciences of life, and this quote marks one of the key moments that highlights this eagerness to learn.
"Some miracle might have produced it, yet the stages of the discovery were distinct and probable. After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter."
31
After studying countless philosophical writings and discussing the topic of life with his colleagues, Frankenstein is finally able to understand how to create life. He touts his discovery as spectacular nonetheless, but will he come to regret having a power shrouded in mystery?
"Write, dearest Victor - one line - one word will be a blessing to us. Ten thousand thanks to Henry for his kindness, his affection, and his many letters: we are sincerely grateful. Adieu! my cousin; take care of yourself; and, I intreat you, write!"
42
I found this quote brief, but fascinating. Elizabeth and Victor's family crave hearing from him whenever they can - so much as to where they must essentially beg him to write even a few words at the least and have Clerval report to them on his stature. I understand he's ill of what he's created, but why doesn't he write to his family? Why must he enclose himself off from the world?
"William is dead! - that sweet child, whose smiles delighted and warmed my heart, who was so gentle, yet so gay! Victor, he is murdered! I will not attempt to console you; but will simply relate the circumstances of the transaction."
46
This also illustrates that there is indeed a certain 'staleness' between the interactions of Victor and the rest of his family. His own father isn't writing to necessarily comfort him, but only inform him and long for a response about the family tragedy that was secretly caused by his own doing inadvertently. Why does he yet again shut himself away from explaining his emotions and feelings to those who need it most?
"From the tortures of my own heart, I turned to contemplate the deep and voiceless grief of Elizabeth. This was also my doing! And my father's woe, and the desolation of that late so smiling home - all was the work of my thrice-accursed hands!"
60
Victor blames himself for the deaths of others because they were killed by his creation. He feels as if he's responsible because he believes he has created a monster that is set solely on destruction, and nothing else, and this will most definitely impact how he views his creation further. He only sees destruction in what he's made with no light in sight.
"By degrees I made a discovery of still greater moment. I found that these people possessed a method of communicating their experience and feelings to one another by articulate sounds. I perceived that the words they spoke sometimes produced pleasure or pain, smiles or sadness, in the minds and countenances of the hearers. This was indeed a godlike science, and I ardently desired to become acquainted with it."
78
Frankenstein's monster is inspired by what good he sees in humanity. He strives to learn compassion and most importantly how to interact with others. To him, he just wants to feel as if he's loved or able to express his own emotions to others that he cannot presently do as a result of the way he looks.
"... I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man. I was more agile than they and could subsist upon coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?"
85
 The monster has nothing in his life. He's forced to hide from view simply because others scream with one glace at his features. As a result of the reactions of others calling him a 'monster', he starts to view himself as one by listing off comparisons between himself and those he simply just wants to interact with. He feels as if he's different in a negative connotation only because society forces him to. In reality, he's doesn't want to be a monster, but he can't understand how to express his emotions towards others because they shun him away.
"But it was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows smiles nor shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam's supplication to his Creator. But where was mine? He abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him."
93-94
Frankenstein's creation aspires to be viewed and cared for like others, and compares his creation and expressions to others in a biblical sense. Ever since his creation, he's felt like society hates him because that's all they've ever shown him. He was abandoned and detests his creator as a result.
"I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all of mankind? You, my creator, would tear me pieces, and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?" 104 The reactions expressed, and the acts committed, were in part by his treatment. He believes he wasn't born as this 'evil' society perceives him to be, but his being was created and molded by the treatment he was surrounded by ever since he can remember. When he confronts Victor with this, he just blows him off and calls him what society already has before. His good cannot be shown because he himself hasn't been shown any.
"I was now about to form another being, of whose dispositions I was alike ignorant; she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness. He had sworn to quit the neighborhood of man, and hide himself in the deserts, but she had not; and she, who in all probability was to become a thinking and reasoning animal, might refuse to comply with a compact made before her creation." 120-121 Victor contemplates creating another being such as his latter. He's formed a prejudice against his potential future creations just because he's only witnessed the destructive nature that his other creation had endued. He obviously cannot predict what this other new being will be like, but it's this prejudice that has formed that ultimately sways him away from going through with his deal he made.
"... the sun and the heavens, who have viewed my operations can bear witness of my truth. I am the assassin of those most innocent victims; they died by my machinations. A thousand times would I have shed my own blood, drop by drop, to have saved their lives; but I could not, my father, indeed I could not sacrifice the whole human race." 137 Victor once again blames himself for his creation. He views 'it' as a non-stop killing machine of his own, and therefore places massive amounts of regret and remorse for something he still didn't quite understand. He understood the creation of life, but he couldn't understand the care a nurture for it necessary. It is because of this that he believes his creation will plague every bit of humanity it comes into contact with.