Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Death of a loved one
After finishing the novel Frankenstein I found it sad how much death played a role. I dont know if it's just me, but if that many people that were close to me died in such a short period of time I'd be more devestated than Victor was. On top of this thought, I always wonder about the background phenomenon as well. Don't you think people would have started to become suspicious if everyone around you was suddenly dying? I thought it to be weird that no one asked what the real underlying problem was. Death represented so many different aspects in this novel and I know it made me really sad when the end finally came. When I finished this book I was just sad. Do you think this is what Shelly intended for the end emotion of the reader? What did all of this Death in the stroy represent or mean to you?
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Holding the key to life and all... why didn't Victor ever attempt to bring any of his loved ones back to life? That'd be a good way to get back at the monster!
I never thought about why no one suspected anything when all of Victor's friends and family started dying in such a short period of time. I was always curious about how the creature was never seen and always got away with it but never in that aspect; that's pretty interesting. I'd be devestated if only one close person to me died, I cannot even fathom what Victor went through. I'd be so terribly torn up. When I think about all the deaths though, it makes me ponder that maybe Shelley intends us to appreciate life. Keep your loved ones close now because you never know how much time you have left with them.
I think because Victor's family members each died in very unique circumstances it would be difficult to find any underlying factors besides Victor (eg. Henry is murdered in Ireland(?) and Justine was convicted of being a murderer). The people around Victor probably thought he was just a victim of fate. Mary Shelley probably wanted the readers to feel sad after finishing her novel. Can you really find any plausible way for Frankenstein to end in a positive note (especially after Elizabeth is killed)? Also I think early in the novel it mentions that Victor cannot bring people back to life only create life itself.
I agree with you, Cerberus, that it is very peculiar that no one (especially Victor's family and friends) noticed how strange it was that many people whom Victor was close to died under unusual circumstances in such short a time. In a way it is ironic that Victor, who was so fascintated by the emergence of life, would encounter deaths that would steal his loved ones away from him. Perhaps Shelley is suggesting, as Morgan le Fay pointed out, that Victor should have viewed life as a fleeting gift to be cherished, not as a static scene that would always wait for him.
I loved the fact that Shelley "killed off" so many of the characters dearest to Victor, (don't take that the wrong way) what I mean to say is that it added so much more suspense and emotion to the story, and the tension that Victor could've been feeling at any given moment, the audience feels that a hundred times more. To me, Death in this story shouts out the "moral of the story" in a way, "you reap what you sow", "be careful what you wish for", etc. Also, I think Shelley did in fact intend that kind of depression one feels at the end of a horror story. By painting such a dismal picture of the "reality" of this story, the reader, in a sense, is immersed into the entirety of the story all at once, and that is why the end of this story is so emotionally powerful; monstrous and marvelous, all at once.
Well I think the history behind this novel was that Shelley was having a competition with her friends to write the scariest horror story. The deaths of all those characters adds to the despair of the narrative and that's why I think makes the story more horrifying because no one wants their loved ones to die. All the deaths probably represent the consequences of Victor's actions and why no one should repeat what he did.
Shelley kills off Victor's family members in order to develop him and the monster into more tragic characters. Victor's family was the most important part of his life and, when they died, he had nothing left to live for except for his pursuit of the monster. Similarly, the monster killed Victor's family because he had lost his own family (the De Lacys). Both characters had lost the only people that ever mattered to them, so they turned to the only people that they had left, each other.
I agree with everyone above. I do think it's very odd that no one around Victor ever bothered to ask him about all the deaths. I also agree that most people would be beyond devastated if everyone close to them died, especially since it is his monster who is killing everyone. This, however, would be a reaction that most people would have, though I wouldn't say Victor is most people. I think his emotions, or lack there of, are due to the fact that he is trying to hide the monster and prevent people from finding out about it. Trying to undo his invention and cover for the monster is probably clouding his vision and making it difficult for him to really feel for his losses.
There is also the plot element of the deaths and I think Shelley is obviously aware of that. If Victor had a common reaction to these deaths, or if fewer people died, the story would be more of a tragedy than a horror story.
I believe that people would become suspicious if almost everyone I knew started to die, because that type of thing just doesn’t happen. If a natural disaster occurred that would be one thing, but mysterious deaths of loved ones would be suspicious and make the person left the main suspect.
I think that Mary Shelley wanted to elicit some type of emotion from her readers and sadness is as good as any to make her point. I think she wanted people to see what could happen to the human condition when certain things happened and by having a sad ending that only helps make her point.
The death represents all of the consequences that accompany choices made by people, and I think that ties back to Shelley’s main point of what can happen when certain choices are made.
Personally the death of so many loved ones in such a short period of time would destroy me. As a coping mechanism Victor may have just numbed himself of feeling guilt in order to survive such tragedy. His obsession and determination in catching the Creature probably came from the guilt and greif he felt for the fate of his loved ones.
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