A Tragic End

The depressing and macabre tone within the novel make it a tragedy. In the end, Walton describes Victor as a once noble man who was corrupted by tragic events. The need for revenge overtakes Victor as he feels that he must kill the Monster in order to make him feel the pain that the Monster caused him. This need for revenge eventually led to the downfall of both the Monster and Victor Frankenstein. As their anger grew and they began to want revenge more and more, they grew further from society. To me, this tragic ending recounts the main theme of the book: the danger of knowledge. However, Frankenstein's story helped Walton to realize that his life is more important than discovery and he ends up making the decision to turn around after breaking out of the ice.

Guilty Conscience

Throughout the novel, Victor falls into periods of extended illnesses. It begins after he creates the Monster and continues up until his wedding night. There is never any reason given for these illnesses, which leads me to believe that they are psychological. Whenever Victor has a confrontation with the Monster, he randomly falls ill. I believe his illnesses are a result of the guilt that he feels for creating the Monster. When William and Justine are killed, Victor blames himself and feels like their deaths are his fault. While the idea of someone becoming physically ill because of emotions is hard to believe, but there are examples of it in every day life.

No Sympathy Here

While reading this book, I had a hard time sympathizing with the Monster, whereas it was very easy for me to sympathize with Victor Frankenstein. I feel like the Monster should be appreciative of the life that Victor Frankenstein gave him, even if he is misunderstood by everyone. It is not Frankenstein's fault that the Monster is not accepted. Also, I do not think the Monster went about trying to get a mate the right way. Of course Victor is going to be skeptical about making him a mate when the Monster has stalked him, killed his best friend and love of his wife, and possibly his brother. The Monster's actions do not prove that he is willing of a mate, or that making a mate would not lead to further destruction. Contrastingly, the pathos that Shelley invokes for Victor left me feeling sympathetic towards him. As a firm believer of science, he did not know that creating the Monster would be a big mistake, but was only trying to further the reach of science and add to the knowledge of humanity. Admittingly, he did not go about some things the right way; however, he did not deserve the pain that the Monster caused him.

Gender Confusion

Throughout the novel, Shelly portrays women in a passive, concerned, and sacrificial manner. In several different instance they rely on the men to rescue them or simply accept the decisions of the male. An example of this is the outlook that Victor Frankenstein has towards his step-sister, Elizabeth. He believes that he must protect her against all wrong and that she is incapable of making her own decisions. Also, when Justine is accused of murdering Victor's brother, she cannot do anything about it herself, but must rely on Victor to get her pardoned. To me, the fact that Shelley puts women in such a secondary role is unfathomable and confusing. Although women were not greatly appreciated during the time this novel was written, it seems that Shelley would still want to make the women in the story have greater roles. It seems like a sellout attempt to make sure the book sells, since people may have not appreciated the book as much if it was more centered on women.

Opposites Attract

After the execution of Justine, Victor Frankenstein returns to Ingolstadt. Shortly after, he falls ill, and his friend Henry shows up just in time to nurse him back to health. In the novel, Henry serves as a foil character to Victor in that he is representative of openness, honesty, and companionship. Contrastingly, Victor represents secrecy throughout the novel, shown by his actions in hiding his creation from everyone. To me, this is a lot like real life regarding friends. A lot of times I feel like people's best friends have conflicting personalities with them, yet their friendship seems to work. Although this is not always the case, I think that it says something about the nature of people that they are closest with people who are not like them. They may possibly just admire their friends as opposites, strive to be like them, or even like them for the break they give themselves from their normal personality.

Secrets Are No Fun

As Victor becomes more entangled in his studies, he isolates himself from everything else in his life, including his family and friends. As he retreats away from all he's known, he takes refuge in his studies. This presents the theme of secrecy within the novel, as Victor grows away from everyone who loves him. He conducts experiments in secret and becomes obsessed with his studies. As this goes on, he becomes sickly and lonely. Although he believes he is pushing the boundaries of science, he creates the monster in secret, afraid that someone will steal his ideas. After the monster is made, Victor's obsession with finding him and killing him have remained a secret thus far in the book as well.

Foreshadowing = Suspense

In the first few chapters of the novel, foreshadowing is ubiquitous and plays an important role in the development of the story. The letters from Walton that begin the story tells the readers that Victor will undergo harsh times that will lead him to the North Pole. While telling his story, Victor mentions his unavoidable downfall several times. Even when focusing on his happy times earlier in his life, he always ties it back to how there was no he could avoid his doom. This foreshadowing adds suspense because the reader is constantly kept wondering what caused Victor's imminent downfall that he mentions. Also, the foreshadowing gives away the ending because the reader knows how Victor's situation ends up.