- Select a quote from one of the chapters
- Type the quote out accurately. Be sure to include the Chapter number and page number (Ch #, p#)
- Explain why you selected the quote and why it is significant (this should be at least six sentences long, no more than 12 please)
- Pose a question related to the quotethat we can use in our class discussion
Sounds simple, right? WRONG! There's more...
Here's the twist: you cannot pick a quote from a chapter that has already been selected
10 comments:
Elissa Caldicott
ch. 7 page 53
"This speech calmed me. i was firmly convinced in my own mind that Justine, and indeed every human being, was guiltless of this murder. I had no hear, therefore, that any circumstantial evidence could be brought forward strong enough to convict her. My tale was not one to announce publicly; its astounding horror would be looked upon as madness by vulgar. Did any one indeed exist, except I, the creator, who would believe, unless his senses convinced him, in the existence of the living monument of presumption and rash ignorance which I had let loose upon the world?"
I selected this quote because i thought that it was a significant quote in this portion of the story. This section of the story is significant because it is the first time Victor has had contact with his father and family since he had left for school. The relationship between him and his family is explored again through this quote because it shows the guilt Victor feels for his creation and the murder of his younger brother. The quote is important because it speak the feelings in Victor's head and explores his internal and external conflicts. By exploring Victors conflicts, we are able to see his guilt towards his creation and his uncertainty in how to handle the situation. Through this quote we are able to see the insecurity and uncertain that Victor is feeling because he does not feel as though any one will believe him. This feeling leaves him alone and vulnerable. Overall i believe this quote is significant because it explores Victor's emotions and conflicts by introducing a new conflict in the story.
Question:
In future chapters of the novel, do you think Victor will confess about his creation in order to defeat it and live in peace?
Did Victor make the right decision to keep his creation a secret?
Erica B.
--“I wandered towards these mountains, and have ranged through their immense recesses, consuming my only passion which you alone can gratify...I am alone and miserable; men will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me...this being you must create.” (ch 16, pg 104).
--The creature has just told his story on how society has rejected him, and he is very angry at Frankenstein for making him so horrid and ugly. At this point in the story we learn that Frankenstein must make a fateful decision and decide if it is right or wrong to create a companion for the beast. If he makes a female companion for the creature then there will be two powerful monsters in the world, but if Frankenstein does not create a female monster, then the creature will kill his family. This quote addresses how the monster claims to be “alone and miserable,” and his “wandering through the mountains” did not help his sadness. The question is if the monster will stay sad and miserable even if he has a “deformed and horrible” companion. This is a turning point for Frankenstein because the monster is threatening his friends and family, yet Frankensteins morals tell him it would be wrong to create another beast. The monster is unnatural, and that is why it is not accepted into society. It is apparent that when Frankenstein created this monster he was just experimenting and did not expect it to get this far out of hand. The question is whether Frankenstein will be able to fix his mistake that defies nature.
--Do you think Frankenstein should create the female creature or should he try to kill his original monster somehow? If so how could he kill it?
Nicole Barr
"Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember, I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous" (ch. 10, pg. 69).
This quote, describing the motivations behind Frankenstein's monster, is important to the novel because it raises significant moral questions about the creator and his creation. Frankenstein is portrayed as the unfortunate victim of the story, his life destroyed by the monster who continues to kill his family members. However, it is not until this chapter (10) that we really get a glimpse into the tortured mind of the monster, and realize that he too has suffered enormously. After reading this quote, I understood why the monster was driven to such terrible deeds, and I began to feel more for his character than Frankenstein himself. Because Frankenstein decided to "play God" and create a living thing, I do not believe it was right of him to abandon his creation; it is his responsibility. Instead, the monster is left to his own devices, doomed (thanks to his creator) to be denied love and happiness. He could have been a creature of peace, but because Frankenstein left him as soon as he was created, he blindly wandered into civilization and was attacked and rejected. It seems infinitely cruel that he should have to live his life out in misery, and raises the question:
Is Frankenstein responsible for the actions of his uneducated, misunderstood creation? Is it Frankenstein's moral obligation to make his creation happy, or destroy the monster if he cannot?
Kristen Cipriano
"I am content to reason with you. I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator would tear me to pieces, and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?" (Chapter 17, page 104)
I decided on selecting this quote because it offers a softer side of the monster that people in society do not see. The monster has gained feelings from the hatred and fearfulness he has continuously received from every single person he encounters. By saying "I am malicious because I am miserable" that questions that if the monster was accepted into society would he be kind and not end up killing people? Continuing with Erica's quote, the monster is offering to compromise with Frankenstein, the creator that abandoned him. This quote from the monster makes me feel bad for him; it is almost like he is crying out to be accepted and he is willing to forgive Frankenstein. He even recognizes that Frankenstein does not even care about him, but if Frankenstein creates the girl monster that will bring him comfort that a creature is like him. The last sentence is the monster questioning why he should care for other is no one is caring for him. All in all, I feel bad for the monster at this point whether people disagree or not, all this isolation is enough for anyone to go mad.
Do you think that is the girl monster is created the monster will start to be kind and no longer malicious?
Kyle Mannion
"During the whole of this wretched mockery of justice I suffered living torture. It was to be decided, whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of my fellow-beings: one a smiling babe full of innocence and joy; the other far more dreadfully murdered, with every aggravation of infamy that could make the murder memorable in horror," (Ch 8, p 54)
I chose this quote because it expresses the internal conflict of Victor Frankenstein. Victor experiences "living torture" during Justine's trial because he, and he alone, knows that, through the monster, he was her true murderer, as well as the murderer of William. Although he achieved remarkable success in the field of science, the fruit of his labor proves to be the downfall of two of his loved ones. After their deaths, Victor must live with this guilt and the knowledge that his work led to their killings. This guilt is a heavy burden for Frankenstein, inspiring him to contemplate suicide while boating on the lake. Due to his inaction during the trial and his decision to live with the guilt, Victor can be viewed as a weak man. By explaining himself, Victor could have saved Justine, yet he chose not to do so in fear of the reactions of his family and friends.
Will Victor's guilt continue to afflict him or will he ever be able to clear his conscience?
Will his silence lead to further atrocities?
Tommy Campbell
Chapter 13 page 84
"While I improved in speech, I also learned the science of letters as it was taught to the stranger; and this opened before me a wide field for wonder and delight."
I chose this quote because it is explaining an idea that I believe will be prominent in the outcome of this story. The fact that this massive monster is now learning human actions such as reading and speaking, is troubling. The monster is now beginning to show more and more human qualities while still having an unhumane figure. As the monster begins to read and understand books he will be able to further his intelligence and potentially outsmart Victor or the rest of society. This is the troubling idea that was spinning through my head as I read this quote; because he can now not only physically kill or abuse society but he could mentally outsmart and abuse society. As the monster has begun to narrate the story each chapter reveals more human qualities such as loneliness and depression. I believe that the smarter and more human this monster becomes will result in more and more problems for Victor and the rest of the people.
Why did Mary Shelley decide to switch and have the monster begin to narrate and not Victor?
How is this eight foot tall hideous monster able to just hide and pick up everything the cottagers are saying and teaching Safie?
Deanna Lagasse
Chapter 16, Page 99
"As the night advanced, a fierce wind arose from the woods, and quickly dispersed the clouds that had loitered in the heavens: the blast tore along like a mighty avalanche and produced a kind of insanity in my spirits, that burst all bounds of reason and reflection. I lighted the dry branch of a tree and danced with fury around the devoted cottage, my eyes still fixed on the western horizon, the edge of which the moon nearly touched. A part of the orb was at length hid, and I waved my brand; it sank, and with a loud scream I fired the straw, and heath, and bushes, which I had collected. The wind fanned the fire, and cottage was quickly enveloped by the flames, which clung to it and licked it with their forked and destroying tongues."
I selected this quote as it displayed the influence of nature and knowledge in the novel as well as the monster's feelings of rejection. After his one last major attempt at forming a bond with human society, the monster is rejected and beaten. To the humans in the cottage, it was an act of defense against an eight foot tall and hideous creature. The monster was even rejected by his creator, Frankenstein, multiple times, who openly proclaimed his loathing and regret of the creation from stolen body parts and questionable chemicals. The monster becomes so enraged that he lights the cottage on fire, possibly burning alive the inhabitants. The monster is influenced and encouraged by a "fierce wind", which brought "insanity to his spirits", which caused him to think irrationally and above all reason. The natural world is a place of dark secrets and the unknown, which Frankenstein manipulated in order to reveal the hidden secrets and produce answers and results. Fire is present in a few places in the novel, and the monster discovers both the positive and negative sides. The negative includes the fact that it burns him when he touches it, and the positive when it creates light and he uses it to vent his fury and feelings, since he has no one to talk them out with. Like the fire, the knowledge for creating the monster is both a good and bad thing, as the creation is a milestone in science and shows the amazing abilities of Frankenstein, but the monster kills people, is shunned by society, and is even regretted by his creator.
Question:
In the next few chapters, do you believe that Frankenstein's monster will attempt to reach out to human society again, or do you think otherwise? If he is rejected again, will he be influenced by the forces of nature and lash out violently?
ch. 13 pg. 85
"Oh, that I had forever remained in my native wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat!
'Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling; but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death- a state which I feared yet did not understand. I admired virtue and good feelings and loved the gentle manners and amiable qualities of my cottagers, but I was shut out from intercourse with them, except through means which I obtained by stealth when I was unseen and unknown, and which rather increased than satisfied the desire I had of becoming one among my fellows."
I selected this quote from near the end of chapter 13 when Frankenstein describes his misery from inability to experience human pleasures (familial love, social interactions, bond etc..). I found the page, where my quote comes from poignant and touching. It's especially to note our sympathy towards the monster's tragic situation because it shows the monster was not always evil(as we later find out the treatment of the cottagers toward him). I am very impressed with the monster's intelligence and his ability to reason that perhaps it is better to not desire complex ideals of humans, but to have only the basic survival drives. The monster is one of the protagonists (or antagonist against Victor F. depending on which way you look at it) of the novel, whose conflict with Victor is a main plot of the book. This quote is important because we have been reading about Victor's perspective of the monster, and now we can understand the monster's wretched state and what caused him to become evil later. Everyone can relate to the monster's contemplation between good and evil, to hold on to morale or to succumb to impulses of destruction. Sigmund Freud describes this as the id(the pleasure seeking part of mind) vs. the superego (conscience), it is shown in this quote, so far, the monster's ego has surpassed his id "admired virtue" "loved the gentle manners." The monster describes the "desire I had of becoming one among my fellows" or social belongingness, yet he has to be painstakingly in "stealth."
If Victor does not create a girl monster for the boy monster, is there any way/reason for the monster to remain benevolent despite the harsh rebukes from humans and hold on to his morale?
Awkward I did not see Tommy's post.
Here is another quote with similar themes to the quote I used.
Chapter 15 pg. 97
"Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung: in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick. I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sunk within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained. I saw him on the point of repeating his blow, when, overcome by pain and anguish, I quitted the cottage, and in the general tumult escaped unperceived to my hovel."
This quote is important because it is the turning point from which the monster begins to become malicious. These cottagers, that he valued so much has just rebuked him. The quote also shows the monster's good nature. He mentions he could have hit Felix, but he did not. The monster was able to control himself and not act on impulses, which itself, is a main difference between man and beast. One can only imagine the pain the monster experiences while being struck by Felix. He has dreamed this moment for so long, it finally happens and he is repeatedly hit by Felix. The audience can understand how it is possible for once a benevolent monster to turn bitter and malicious towards mankind. This scene is an argument in favor of the monster's behaviors.
Same question:
If Victor does not create a girl monster, is there any way/reason for the monster to remain benevolent despite the harsh rebukes from humans and hold on to his morale?
Shayleigh Oldroyd
Chapter 18 page 109
"During my absence i should leave my friends unconscious of the existence of their enemy, and unprotected from his attacks, exasperated as he might be by my departure. But he had promised to follow me wherever i might go; and would he not accompany me to England? This imagination was dreadful in itself, but soothing, inasmuch as it supposed the safety of my friends."
I thought that this quote was important because it shows how Victor feels toward his family and the monster. Victor and his family seem to have gotten a lot closer and he wants the monster to come with him to prtoect his friends and family. It shows that he is willing to sacrifice himself in order to protect others, probably due to the guilt of the deaths. At the same time it shows how he is a "slave to his monster" because he has no control over it and is actually scared of it, knowing the harm it can cause. The quote also shows his fear of the monster by traveling to England to get information about the monsters request, although he struggles in the decision to make the female monster. Overall i think the quote is important in showing the struggle of Victors emotions and what he fears about the monster, which result in him being a slave to the creation.
Do you think if Victor does what the monster says in creating another creature, they will be at peace?
Do you think its smart for the monster to go with victor to england?
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