The Creation Story Versus the Birth of Frankenstein February 26, 2010

              There is plenty of intertexuality in the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley. The main point would be evidence of the Creation Story in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible.  

“How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!- Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same coulour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips” (p. 60).

            Mary Shelley brought much of the Genesis story to the limelight in her novel Frankenstein. The Creation Story was the major point of the novel. Shelley describes how the creature was created and made to appear as some sort of monster that everyone would be scared of. In the book of Genesis, God was the Creator of Adam and Eve who also symbolized his greatest work of art. Victor is described as the Creator of the creature. He had control of the monster’s appearance and was portrayed as being the ultimate creator just as was God. He was the one who took complete control of this project and knew it was going to be a great masterpiece.

            In chapter seventeen, Frankenstein tells the doctor that he wants him to create someone of the opposite of sex so that he can have a wife. He did not think Frankenstein was going to want to married another monster like him as his future bride. Just like in the Creation Story, God did not think that Adam and Eve were going to bring sin into the world by eating the apple that the serpent enticed them to eat. This is another correlation with the Genesis story of the creation of Adam and Eve. Victor stated that:

“His words had a strange effect on me. I compassioned him, and sometimes felt a wish to console him; but then I looked upon him, when I saw the filthy mass that moved and talked, my heart sickened, and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred. I tried to stifle these sensations; I thought, that I could not sympathise with him, I had no right to withhold from him the small portion of happiness which was yet in my power to bestow” (130).

The creature wanted someone to love. He wanted to share some compassion with someone he would love. Victor was empathetic towards the creature and knew that he wanted someone to love him like any other human being would want to be loved. In the book of Genesis, God wanted Adam and Eve to love each other. He knew he would still love them even though they had both brought sin to the world. He did not shun them unlike Victor who shunned the creature. The creature knew that he was not being given the proper love God gave Adam and Eve.

            In conclusion, it is evident Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was closely founded on the book of Genesis. Her creativity allowed her to make close associations with religion. Readers can look at her novel from different perspectives. No matter what point of view they have, one thing is for sure, Frankenstein keeps discussions alive.

Frankenstein Blog 2 February 17, 2010

“How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!- Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same coulour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips” (p. 60).

            Mary Shelley brought much of the Genesis story to the spotlight in her novel Frankenstein. The Creation Story was the key point in the novel. Shelley describes how Frankenstein was created and the way he appeared. In the book of Genesis, God was the Creator of Adam and Eve. Victor in the novel is described as the Creator of the monster. He had control of the monsters appearance and how to act just like God.

 In chapter seventeen, Frankenstein tells the doctor that he wants someone the opposite of sex so that he can have a wife. This is another connection to the Genesis story because Adam and Eve were created. Victor stated that, “his words had a strange effect on me. I compassioned him, and sometimes felt a wish to console him; but then I looked upon him, when I saw the filthy mass that moved and talked, my heart sickened, and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred. I tried to stifle these sensations; I thought, that I could not sympathise with him, I had no right to withhold from him the small portion of happiness which was yet in my power to bestow” (130). Victor was empathetic towards Frankenstein and knew that he wanted someone to love him like any other human being would want to be loved. In the book of Genesis, God wanted Adam and Eve to love each other.

            All-in-all Mary Shelley brought much connection to the First Testament of the Bible into the novel. It allowed her to be more creative and to make some association of religion and atheism into it. People can look at it in many different ways, but it shows that Mary Shelley was trying to be imaginative in her own way.

Frankstein Blog 1 February 12, 2010

“Be calm! I entreat you to hear me, before you give vent to youre hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suffered enough, but you seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it. Remember, thou hast made me more powerful than thyself; my height is superior to thine; my points mroe supple. But I will not be tempted to set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature, and I will be even mild and docile in my natural lord and king, if thou wilt also perform thy part, the whih thou owest me. Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other, and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Every where I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Made me happy, and I shall again be virtuous” (p. 93-94).

Mary Shelly grew up in a time that was not equal in rights when it came to women and men. Women were a prize to men to show off. Women were to stay at home with children while men were to bring the income to the household. Shelley was married to Percey Shelly. They both lived in a somewhat very mysterious life together. Mary loved Percey very much and thought they were meant to be together for the rest of their lives. Percey ended up committing suicide and left Mary speechless and heartbroken. Frankstein is a book for of her emotions that she went through in her life. Frankstein represents Mary in her life. She wants to show people how she felt growing up in her life with her parents and her one true love, Percey. Not only that, she shows how having a luxurious lifestyle did not show always show the many hidden problems within a family. An example of this would be in Frankenstein:

“The name of the old man was De Lacey. He was descended from a good family in France, where he had lived for many years in affluence respected by his superiors, and beloved by his equals. His son was bred in the service of his country, and Agatha had ranked with aldied of the highest distinction. A few months before my arrival, they had lived in a larege adn luxurious city, called Paris, surrounded by friends, and possessed of every enjoyment with virture, refinement of intellect, or taste, accompanied by a moderate fortuen, could afford” (p. 110-111).

Mary seemed to have wanted to be heard by many through the novel. It shows that she could not bear the thought of being alone anymore. Her one true love left her and now there was nothing for her anymore than to write about her life. She did not believe that money brought happiness because this book shows many clues within that living in a certain lifestyle can bring many problems to a family. She grew up wanting to work hard like her parents did. She knew it was the only way to survive and live a life of enjoyment. She did not think that hiding secrets was the best way to live life. Not everything is meant to be hidden “in the closet.” She thought life should be lived as a one time deal and to just enjoy it with those around you and those you love.

The Significance of Experiencing the Feeling of a True Reader February 6, 2010

A reader must experience a true interest in reading through his or her own feelings and in his or her engagement in the story. Any reader can experience this. Gerald Graff believes that any good book should derive from a hobby or field of interest not something that is assigned in school because it brings more joy out of the reader. According to Graff, he “began to learn the rudiments of intellectual life: how to make an argument, weigh different kinds of evidence, move between particulars and generalizations, summarize the views of others, and enter a conversation about ideas.” Enjoying a book should help one create these certain thoughts and strike up a conversation. A few examples are when I read The Kite Runner and The Diary of Anne Frank.

The Kite Runner, was very captivating. I could not put the book down. I had to keep reading it until I was completely finished. This book illustrated the life in the slums of Afghanistan. It brought to life a true story as seen through the eyes of the writer. It dealt with the pain and struggles of a much oppressed people during the emergence of the Taliban. I was thrilled when my teacher decided to make this book a project due in the beginning of the year in high school. The project involved illustrating the thesis of a theme which was love, at times foreign to the reader, found within the story. The project allowed me to broaden my thoughts and leave my comfort zone to discover more creative ways to share both the author’s theme and my feeling about the book and its storyline.

Like Graff said, one must be interested in a subject to create a perfect argument in something you enjoy no matter the circumstance. He believed that it was better to be “street smart” than school smart. “Street smart” is when one is smart outside of academics in their field of interest. With that in mind, I realized my teacher in high school wanted her students to be reading things that were of interest to them. She chose a wide array of books that dealt with different subjects to allow for a diversity of interests. The books chosen came from an assortment of genre from science fiction to autobiographies and everything in between. I chose the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

The Kite Runner helped me bring my point across for the theme I chose because I was allowed to do a project about something I personally enjoyed reading the most in high school. The class was encouraged to ask questions at the end of the presentation regarding the book and its theme. I knew I would be able to project the essence of “my book” with great confidence. The author was successful at reeling the reader into the depth of the story. The reader “felt” the emotions felt by the main characters of the story. Thanks to my teacher who allowed our class to bring “street smart” into the class by reading a novel we enjoyed and presenting our interest to an audience of our peers, we were all able to share our admiration of our liking in books.

            The Diary of Anne Frank is an autobiography about Anne Frank through her diaries. Her story is about how she lived her life hiding from the Nazis because she was Jewish. She had to hide in a closet behind a bookcase and was never found and captured. She knew her enjoyment of writing was the only thing that could keep her alive. This novel helped me grasp her feelings as a young child hiding herself from others with her family and friends in her town.

            The novel about Anne Frank brought much interest to me due to the background and the compelling story about a young girl who was my age, at the time, going through struggles about her religion. I definitely could not put the book down because to these reasons. Due to the descriptiveness, it allowed me to understand Frank’s feelings and see how she felt during this period in her life, which contributed to my interest in this novel. My curiosity of this novel brought me to think more in depth about the history of that time. I researched many different stories that were written during the time of the Holocaust and the capture of the Jews by the Nazis. Soon after, I was told that I was to do a book report and I chose to do it about The Diary of Anne Frank. I made sure I brought a lot of history into the report because I was also learning about it in my history class. I knew I wanted to give it some more detail because I was very interested in this subject. I wanted to bring a point across that I enjoyed this book. I wanted to make sure that my teacher would let the class do more projects like this in the near future.

            With the wise words of Graff and his opinions on finding interests, reading can be found outside of the classroom. Schools cannot force students to be fond of something through their teachings. Students must find what they enjoy through anything that strikes their eye. It can be found in many ways and forms through magazines, newspapers, and/or a small book. With that in mind, everyone has different interests in the way they read or the type of subject to read. The only way for someone to really enjoy what they are reading ties into how engaged one is through feelings and engagement of the book. This allows everyone to be educated to strike up a conversation and to make an argument. Without reading something one is interested in, no one will be able to bring up a discussion and there will not be many different types of interests.