As we discussed in our presentation last week, and in our class discussion, this unique graphic novel of "Frankenstein" offers us a whole new way of looking at Mary Shelly's version of the original text. Whether you like this graphic novel or not, we can all agree that reading this story through a different medium affects what we understand and take away from the story. Now that we've established the differences in writing styles and plot, we have to begin to explore the characters a bit more.
Maybe it's because I've been reading a lot of "Hamlet" lately in my English seminar, but I can't help but feel some sympathy for Victor Frankenstein. He's a brilliant scientist who is also extremely lonely and wants to make something of himself. So he creates this extraordinary being, and what does it do? It starts killing people! Now of course this is not what Victor Frankenstein intended to happen, but does that make it okay? We've mentioned many times throughout the semester how we don't like to attribute human-like qualities to monsters, but the truth is, humans can be monsters too. But where is the line drawn between monster and "a guy who makes a mistake that ends terrific boy"? Is there a difference between good and bad intentions in terms of who is and is not a monster. You would probably say a man today who is in prison for life for killing 5 teenagers is a monster (hypothetical situation here) but what if that wasn't his intention? What if he claims it was self defense, would we still say he is a monster?
I think our answers to these questions connect back with our morals-what we believe to be right and wrong. But, as we've mentioned after reading Asma's article, when we are actually in a dangerous or scary situation, we may end up acting differently than we thought we would've. As much as we with things were black and white, they're not. So, if like me you have some sympathy for Victor Frankenstein, that's okay. But if you think he's a monster, that's okay too. It's all a matter of opinion, but we can't ignore the fact that anyone has the potential to have monster-like qualities.
You make an interesting point about being a matter of opinion, because it is not black and white. I also felt some sympathy for Victor because he just seemed like your typical misunderstood loner who just wanted someone to care. But the more I get to know his character, the more I feel like he is a coward. I have read Frankenstein and I felt sorry for the guy back in high school, he represented people like me who never really fit in. But now, I am looking at him with different eyes. He has been given a messed-up life, but he does nothing. I want him to do something to change his situation. I want to tell him that he needs to stop feeling sorry about himself and start doing work, take responsibility and grow up. Maybe I am talking from experience and from having people in my life who go through this, it just frustrates me when people don’t even try.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel sympathy for Victor, but I can see why you might. Sure, he's a messed up teenager who's lonely and pretty obsessed with science. However, I agree with Karen in that he is cowardly. If he did not mean to make a murderous monster, OK. But he let someone take the blame for his monster's murder and she died because of it. I can't feel sympathy for someone like that, because although he did not tell the monster to murder the boy, he essentially killed Justine himself by not standing up for her, which is definitely a monstrous act.
ReplyDeleteWhat's particularly interesting about Victor is that he inwardly believes he is a monster, but does not act to change that. He often loathes himself for creating and unleashing a monster onto the world, and even blames himself for Justine's death. If he is such an awful person (as he believes), why doesn't he do something to revoke his monstrous-like status? If he has any sense of morality, he must strongly believe that he is not in control of his situation - which is preposterous. Although Victor didn't have bad intentions when he brought the monster to life, he certainly didn't have good intentions when he left the situation to fate. I think that Victor's story teaches us that monstrosity not only includes action, but inaction as well.
ReplyDeleteAnne, you provoke an intriguing discussion regarding Victor Frankenstein and his monster-like qualities. Personally, I too somewhat sympathize with Frankenstein. He seems like a troubled character, something anyone can relate to since we all possess different flaws in our nature. However, that perception does not mean I condone his actions within the story. Sympathizing with Frankenstein and believing him to be a monster are not mutually exclusive events. I feel for him as an outsider, but still believe that he needs to be held accountable for the deaths and suffering that weighs on his conscience alone. In many regards, Frankenstein is selfish by enabling others to take the blame for the problems that he constructed. Although Frankenstein did not expect for the plot of the story to progress as it does, he remains idle when his very creation destroys the world around him. The selfishness that Frankenstein exhibits remains one of the more glaring monster-like qualities that he maintains.
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