Hellos

hmm... I don't see other postings yet this week (it could just be me, I'm blog challenged), but I guess I'll go ahead a post some of my ramblings. Here goes....

We discussed in class how popular culture has mistakenly taken the name Frankenstein from the mad-scientist character and given it to the monster from Mary Shelley’s horror story instead; although this was not the naming scheme Shelley intended, modern culture isn’t so wrong in associating Victor Frankenstein with his creation. In the book, Victor avoids naming the creature, because he believes his creation doesn’t deserve to be shown the affection of having a name assigned to it. Shelley, however, may have kept the monster an ambiguous character as a statement that Frankenstein and the monster were not so different and could sometimes be seen as the same individual.
For the entire first volume, Victor is the only person that encounters the monster after its escape a few months back. You would think that someone would have seen a hideous eight-foot, not-to-mention barely sewn together, fellow, but apparently chance would have it that only Victor is fortunate enough to be graced by the monster’s presence. As the only person that possesses knowledge of the monster, it is as if the monster only exists in Victor’s head, indicated by the degree of psychological turmoil Victor undergoes. Victor’s thoughts and the monsters actions are so intertwined such that Victor has a dream the night of the monster’s birth foreshadowing the death of his beloved Elizabeth in his arms, and in effect, at his own hands. Victor is also a monster, as mentioned in class, for his cruel rejection of the monster and his lack of responsibility for his creation.
As a side note, the question of the origin of the name Frankenstein was brought up in class. In German, the literal translation of Frankenstein is “stone of the franks”, where franks means free or not being subject to control. Some questionable sources believe that Mary Shelley may have found her inspiration for the book from a visit to Castle Frankenstein where an alchemist had experimented on human bodies.

That's all. Byes!