From the Chapter 7 through Chapter 9 do the following:
- select ONE significant quote.
- Type the quote out (put the page number!!)
- Explain why you selected the quote
- Explain what its significance is
- Propose one question to the class about the quote/section you selected
Steps #3 and #4 should be at least 6 sentences long. Do not exceed 12 sentences.
15 comments:
Danielle Andrews
“Night also closed around; and when I could hardly see the dark mountains, I felt still more gloomily. The picture appeared a vast and dim scene of evil, and I foresaw obscurely that I was destined to become the most wretched of human beings,” (49).
I selected this quote because of its use of symbolic imagery and its significance to a major theme. This quote contains nature and imagery which expresses the situation and emotions of Frankenstein. The imagery talks about how it is night and even then Frankenstein still felt, “more gloomily.” This imagery describes how Frankenstein is having internal conflicts and how his situation is getting worse and worse. This quote exemplifies romantic qualities, because it uses nature to symbolize Frankenstein’s internal conflicts. Continuing, the quote describes a “vast and dim scene of evil” which is used to represent what is happening to Frankenstein, based on his actions and his creation of the monster. Along with describing what is happening to Frankenstein, it may also be foreshadowing evil that is going to come upon Frankenstein for his actions. This quote is ultimately significant because it deals with Frankenstein and how he holding on to a deadly secret that is constantly eating away at him. This secret is also causing Frankenstein to become “the most wretched of human beings.”Knowing about such a dangerous monster and not informing or taking responsibility may cause physical and mental harm to others and him. It is also significant because it goes back to the theme of, is a human willing to admit their fault or actions, even if there could be devastating consequences? Ultimately, this quote uses imagery to express Frankenstein’s situation and feelings while also showing how his secret is causing him to become and evil man.
Question: Considering Frankenstein believes the monster killed his brother, do you think that Frankenstein will expose his wrongdoings and take responsibility for his actions, or will his human instincts of shame prevent him from exposing himself?
Kevin Guay
"Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts" (60).
I chose this quote because it shows how remorseful Frankenstein is for the deaths of his loved ones. He obviously feels responsible for their deaths and wishes that he could have stopped them. Another reason why I chose this quote was because it confirmed my suspicions that it was Frankenstein's monster who killed William and Justine. At first I was unsure of who the shadowy figure in the woods was. But because of this quote, and the sadness and guild that Victor feels, it is clear that it was the monster who killed William. The final reason why I selected this quote is because it foreshadowed that is to come later in the book. When he said "the first hapless victims", I became aware that later on in the book some more people would fall victim to Frankenstein's monster. I predict that Victor will get into a lot of trouble down the road for the destruction of these human lives. This quote is also very significant to the story. One reason is because it shows a little bit of Victor's character. From this quote I understand that he is sadden and experiencing grief, but why does he not tell anyone about this monster? If he is really concerned and sorry he should tell people about this monster so they can protect themselves. It shows that he is cowardly and unwilling to do the right thing. Anther reason why this quote is significant is because again, it shows that more people will fall victim to this monster. Because of this quote, I can almost guarantee that someone later on in the book will be murdered by this monster. I am really curious to see who its next victim will be. Overall I really like this book so far and cannot wait to see what is to come next
Question: Do you think that Victor Frankenstein will ever confess to creating this monster, and do you think he will receive all the blame for the deaths of his loved ones?
Samantha Hubley
"The tortures of the accused did not equal mine; she was sustained by innocence, but the fangs of remorse tore my bosom and would not forgo their hold." (57)
I chose this quote because I liked how it portrayed Victor's torture and pain from creating a monster. This quote shows that when people play God and try to be creators of life, only bad things will come from their efforts. This quote states that even though Justine is sentenced to death for being innocence, Victor is still the bigger sufferer. This quote posses as a warning to those who think they can be God and create humans or monsters.Even though Victor innitially wanted to use his scientific research to help, he ended up hurting himself and his brother. This quote accurately depicts the feelings of Victor and that is why I chose it.
The significance of the quote is to show how Victor will be punished forever for creating his monster. The quote states that the fangs of remorse "would not forgo their hold," which hints that Victor will have to suffer with his guilt forever. Since the monster may have killed William, Victor will forever hold the guilt of the murder. However, not only will Victor suffer as murderer, but he also has to live with the guilt that Justine had died an innocent woman and it is Victor's fault. This quote signifies the pain and suffering that will come to those trying to defy nature and God. Because Victor had gotten too caught up in his science research and alchemy, he created sorrow for his entire family and will be punished forever.
Question: Do you think the monster murdered William? if so, why?
Miky Branson
"I could hardly sustain the multitude of feelings that crowded into my mind...Fear overcame me; I dared not advance, dreading a thousand nameless evils that made me tremble, although I was unable to define them"(48).
I picked this quote and it is significant because it is very descriptive of how Victor is feeling. It also sort of gives a summary of a large chunk of this section which we read. Dr. Frankenstein has been through a large amount of hardship up to this point, and there is probably more to come. He has created a monster, been completely scarred for life and scared to death of this hideous creature he has created. He is terrified that, because the monster has disappeared from his laboratory, he may see the monster again in his life. Images of the monster and possible situations of the monster continuously crowd his mind and causes him to be scared into fits. Not only does this fear haunt him, he now fears that his whole career has been a waste, and he hates what he has done. He cannot tell anyone of these horrible sights he has seen and the horrible thoughts he thinks because he fears them so badly. On top of all of this, people around him are continuously dying and he is nearing the point of no longer being able to bear this death and hardship. He does not realize that his illness and not being able to write, has caused his family great anxiety and sadness. His family finds joy in William, who is very beautiful and solely the sight of him can cheer the moods of the members of the Frankenstein family. Now William has died, and the family experiences ultimate hardship, and Dr. Frankenstein does not know where to turn. All of these indescribable evils haunt him and he cannot bear them. He, along with his family at this point are just going through life full of sadness and depression because of all of this anxiety that surrounds them. This quote fully explains this hardship.
Why does Elizabeth feel that she murdered William?
Mike A.
“I was often tempted, when all was at peace around me, and I the only unquiet thing that wandered restless in a scene so beautiful and heavenly- if I except some bat, or the frogs, whose harsh and interrupted croaking was heard only when I approached the shore-often, I say, I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities forever.”(62).
I chose this quote because it gives the reader a great insight into how deeply troubled and depressed Victor has become. The guilty feelings have been eating away at him since the death of William and the erroneous accusations against Justine. He realizes that by creating the monster, he holds the sole responsibility for the death of his loved ones, a realization that is nearly impossible to bear. Victor is trying to get away from all this guilt in this scene, yet is unable to do so. The monster which he created will follow him where ever he goes. This is a very significant quote because of the suicidal thoughts that Victor seems to be having due to what has occurred. He wishes to “plunge into the silent lake” which vividly expresses how depressed he truly is. The lake is supposed to represent a place where he can get away from all the pain, but here he is seriously considering drowning himself. It is also noteworthy that at one time he was a man obsessed with creating life, but now he wishes to take away his own. He may feel that because he possesses the power to create life, he also has the power to take it away. In this quote we see a man whose life has been shattered and is close to complete implosion.
Question: If the deaths continue, will Victor be able to live with himself or will his shame and guilt lead to his own death?
"But I, the true murderer, felt the never-dying worm alive in my bosom, which allowed no hope or consolation" (59).
I chose this quote because it is the root of Frankenstein's anguish. Here, he tells Walton, his audience, that he felt he murdered William. He places the blame on himself; justifying it because the monster that killed him was created by Frankenstein himself. Also, I found Shelley's description of the never-dying worm quite interesting. It is a symbol of his pain and sorrow that continually is eating away at him, like a worm. The significance of this quote is that while the other characters suffer severely, Frankenstein has much more guilt, considering that his fear of causing his brothers death is actually logical, unlike that of ELizabeth. This will also lead readers to recognize why Frankenstein chased his monster all the way to near the North Pole; he has no consolation for what he has done and is most likely seeking to revenge the horrors the monster brought to others.
My question to the class is do you think that Frankenstein will ever find a way to redeem his self-respect?
Paige Hanson
"Remorse extingished every hope. I had been the quthor of unalterable evils, and I lived in daily fear lest the moster whom I created should perpetrate some new wickedness" (62).
I selected this quote because it gives the reader an overall insight of how Frankenstein is feeling. Although the book is written in first person so we often get his outlook on what is going on, this specific sction shares the ultimate guilt he is feeling for his actions. The quote illustrates how deeply troubled h is about his creation and how it affects society (especially his family). In relation to the rest of the story this uote is significant because it foreshadows the shame and guilt that Frankenstein will continue to feel. Shelley writes that he is just waiting for a new wickedness to erupt from the moster making it utterly impossible to live life as before. The feelings that he is forced to deal with are overall causing him to become a different person.
Q: As Frankenstein continues to live with the guilt of his creation, will if ever become too much of a burden forcing him to admit his wrongs?
"... But now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart."
I feel like this is a huge turning point in the novel: the creation of the "monster." Frankenstein has so far only given information so that the true magnitude of this accomplishment can be appreciated. All the descriptions of nature and life, and also those of death, decay, and the inanimate, have been sequestered effectively up to this point. When the "monster" is "born," however, the horrors of a concoction of death and life are revealed. The doctor, his feverish quest completed, has his eyes open to the true nature of his creation: an abomination, a thing so unnatural it offends his tender sight. One would suppose that at his moment of triumph, he would look down at his creation much like a loving mother would. Indeed, he should having brought this creature into the world. It is a testament to how powerful the aversion to this defiance of nature is that he feels disgust at an instant almost identical to that of the "birth" (P.S. that was the most verbose sentence ever. But its pretty...). This is the fundamental aspect of Shelly's horror: its unbelievable ability to instill a sense of WRONG in those who view it.
Question: Which type of bear is best?
Answer: False. A Black bear.
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galatica.
Real Question: Why did the doctor flee the scene rather than terminate the creature, and what does this say about his character?
Stephanos Von Baconstein
Cara D'Amico
"I discovered more distinctly the blacksides of Jura, and the bright summit of Mont Blanc. I wept like a child. 'Dear mountains! My own beautiful lake! How do you welcome your wanderer? Your summits are clear; the sky and lake are blue and placid. Is this to prognosticate peace, or to mock my unhappiness?'" (49)
I selected this quote because I thought it represented the conflicting emotions and feelings within Victor. He is happy to return home and sad at the thought of what he might encounter there, just like he was so joyous about his discovery at first then crushed by its failure and grotesqueness. In this passage he is is caught between happiness and sorrow, just as he is at many other times earlier on in the story. I also thought this had great imagery with the mountains and the lake. It shows how Romantics used the external nature of beauty to reflect internal feelings of the characters. I feel that Mary Shelly does this quite often throughout the book. this quote is not only represenatative of a reocurring conflict of emotions, but it is also an example of the writing style of the time.
So far there is always a small amount of Joy to counteract Voctor's sorrow, yet in the future we know he is nothing but misery. When do you think he loses all happiness?
Ben Briggs
"My journey was very melacholy. At first I wished to hurry onm for I longed to console and sympathise with my loved and sorroweing friends; but when I drew near my native town, I slackened my progress. I could hardly sustain the multitude of feelings that crowded into my mind... How altered every thing might be during that time! One sudden and desolace change had taken place, but a thousand little circumstances might have by degrees worked other alterations" (48).
This quote is important because it shows the inner turmoil that Victor is feeling during this time. On one hand, we see that he is extremely sad to learn of the death of his brother. Because of this, he wishes to hurry back to his home town as quickly as possible to console and grieve with his family. On the other hand, he has become so distant from his family, through his own fault, that he is afraid to return home. He believes that in his absence, the entire world has changed for the worse, and he will not be able to deal with such change. This passage also reflects the mental and emotional scarraing that was caused to him by his creation of a monster. Upon his completion of such a parody of human life, Victor saw that all of his hard work and toil had come to ruin. This has twisted him into the broken and cynical character that we see in the passage, as he believes that his experince will mirror the rest of society. Upon ariving at his home town, he "could hardly sustain the multitude of feelings that crowded [his] mind". This shows the reader that even in the most depressing of times, when his family needs him most, he is unable to come to their rescue to comfort them, because of his own crushing fear. He may also believe that in creating a monster, he has wronged God in some way, and now this is his revenge upon Victor. It is beacuse of this that Victor is unable to face his family, because he is paranoid that his family will accuse him of his brother's death. In addition, Victor also feels guitly that he has for so long focused upon creating new life, that he ignored those lives that he cared about around him. He now feels guitly that in his pursuir to play God, he is missing those whom he held dearly.
How will this death ultimately affect Victor, and his work in creating life?
"Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul both of hope and fear." (61)
I chose this quote because it's powerful description of Frankenstein's feelings of guilt and anxiety towards the events that just occured. Frankenstein unintentially created a monster that was responsible for the death of two of his family members, which in turn makes Frankenstein feel most responsible. He is then overflowed with feelings of guilt. Frankenstein also contains feelings of anxiety, since he is unable to do much after those horrific events just took place. He is stuck in a rut of "dead calmness of inaction". The descrption of Frankenstein's guilt and anxiety is expressed in this one quote.
This quote is significant because it is related to the text as a whole. The entire first half of the books is about Frankenstein's struggle to find the answer to life. He thought he found the answer, but instead created a murderous monster. Frankenstein failed to see that that the answer to life is in fact the existence of emotion, like guilt and anxiety. The powerful descriptions of Frankenstein's emotion throughout the book is the missing piece to life that Frankenstein was looking for.
How will Frankenstein cope with his feelings of guilt and anxiety?
1)"It is impossible to communicate to you a conception of the trembling sensation, half pleasurable and half fearful, with which I am preparing to depart. I am going to unexplored regions to 'the land of mist and snow'; but I shall kill no albatross, therefore do not be alarmed for my safety, or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the 'Ancient Mariner'" (6).
2) I chose this quote because I thought that it was interesting how it connected to the other literary works we have studied this year. The quote shows how the writers of the Romantic period had influence on one another. Here, it is clear that Mary Shelley was influenced by Coleridge. The quote stuck out to me because we studied the ancient mariner and class, and explored it closely with our projects, and it was interesting to see the connection between it and Frankenstein.
3) This quote is significant to the text of Frankenstein because it sets up the notion that the author of the letters (Robert Walton) is beginning a dangerous journey, just as the mariner did. It shows that a tale is to be told within Frankenstein, just as the mariner tells his tale. It also shows the parallel between the two stories because the marniner in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" tells his tale and later in Frankenstein, Walton is told the tale of another man's life journey. This quote is significant to the text because it begins the idea of a story that will be told through allusion to another work from the time period.
4) Question: What parallels exist between Frankenstein and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"?
"Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a lng time traversing by bedchamber unable to compose my mind to sleep" (35)
I selected this quote because I thought that it accurately employed foreshadowing in two ways. Firstly, because it shows that Victor has left his monster alone without supervision and something bad may happen. Second, because it is the first characterization of Victor as a coward. Victor later shows his cowardice during Justine's trial. He knows that he (or his monster) is to blame for the death of William and feels terrible about it, but is too afraid to admit so because he is afraid no one will believe him and he is afraid that he will be punished. Consequently, Justine is convicteed and executed. This quote is significant because, as mentioned before, it reveals the lack of fortitude of Frankenstein's character. I am hoping that Shelley continues to develop Victor as a timid and cowardly character.
Question:
Do you think that Frankenstein will continue to be internally totured by the secret that he is keeping inside him regarding his opinion of William's death?
Hannah Cassidy
"The appearance of Justine was calm. She was dressed in mourning; and her countenance, always engaging, was rendered, by the solemnity of her feelings, exquisitely beautiful. Yet she appeared confident in innocence and did not tremble, although gazed on and execrated by thousands..." (54).
I selected this quote because it describes how beautiful and calm Justine looked during this tense time. I felt that the quote helped to further show Justine's innoncene. For example, she is described as being "dressed in mourning". That shows that she was grieving William and did not want him to die and therefore did not kill him. The quote was interesting to me because it portrays Justine as very pretty and serene, opposed to the monster, who actually killed William. This quote is important because it explains how the monster is the actually murderer and Justine is not to blame.
This quote is significant because it shows the contrast between Justine and the monster. She is illustrated as beautiful, calm, and confident. The monster is a scary creature. The quote highlights Justine's innocence and the monster's guilt. Also, this quote shows Justine's character. She remained confident in her innocence even though almost everyone believed she was guilty. She carried herself in a graceful way despite the fact that she was being accused of this terrible act.
My question for the class: do you think Justine will ever be announced innocent, even though she is dead, and do you think Frankenstein's monster will ever be caught?
Jaime Carens
"'Poor little fellow! one only consolation have we; his friends mourn and weep, but he is at rest. The pang is over, his sufferings are at an end forever. A sod covers his gentle form, and he knows no pain. He can no longre be a subject for pioty; we must reserve that for his miserable survivors.'" (48)
I selected this quote because it shows the human emotions of Victor and Henry. Although it is Henry whom is speaking, this quote directly applies to Victor as well. It shows their condolence and sorrow for the loss of William but at the same time this almost jealousy that he no longer has to feel these emotions. Victor, although his intentions mean well, they went astray and his own fear of life is what overcame him in the end, not his love for his brother or family. The reader sees Victor as a very solitary character now. Although in earlier chapters he shows his love for his family, he later finds iot harder to put them first.
This quote also shows the intellect of these two characters because instead of seeing only what is on the surface, they look deeper into the situation. Also, their thoughts show how dynamic their characters are, and really bring them to life. They are able to feel more than just one emotion, making this story so much more interesting.
Question: What does Victor's fear say about him?
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