Sunday, January 29, 2017

Week One: Frankenstein

What exactly makes a work such as Frankenstein by Mary Shelley so memorable and iconic? Personally, I think Frankenstein is perfectly timed result of exploring a unique topic of the time combined with social commentary and inflection into human nature. The trust and exploration of science at the time was just starting to kick off, and it was a fascinating subject. The new German discovery of electric currents causing muscle spasms in the dead and the fact humans use electric energy in the nervous system made people think they could really bring back the dead. Shelley tapped into this discovery, and by basing her fiction in science of the time, she created the first known “true” science fiction story.

I think that one of the strongest Gothic elements in the story is how Shelley explores human nature through the monster. The monster acts as the only decent being in the story, and they end up ruining him. I think it’s important to think about how the people in the story condemn the monster for just existing. Shelley depicts mankind as hostile and cruel to those which it does not understand. For example, when the monster tries to save the little girl from drowning, they shoot him. It’s no wonder the monster ends up on a homicidal rampage.

This novel also romanticizes the monster rather than depicts him as true evil. It makes the reader sympathize and try to understand what it would be like to be scorned. This new turn of events in a scary story fleshes out the characters and makes it a much more entertaining read. Although this story has become a sort of icon of Halloween, it is still important as a reflection of the beliefs of the past and the birth of Gothic fiction.

Thursday, January 12, 2017