Frankenstein: First Person Point Of View

This novel reflects Shelley’s own childhood, which consisted of her feeling obligated to rebel against her own father’s wishes and his choice for her marriage. Frankenstein is a way for Shelley to tell her own experiences with parental conflict and how she feels she was affected by her demanding father and the environment she grew up in, by comparing herself to Victor’s monster. Shelley analyzed her own characteristics, and the characteristics of her father, and placed them within Victor and the

In the novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelly, there are three different narrators throughout the whole book. This is important because we get 3 different looks into the same story.  The three perspectives allow us to form our own opinions about the story. Having three perspectives helps the reader understand everything a whole lot more because they get everyone’s story and side. Shelly also uses three different narrators for the reader to be able to step in each character’s shoes. Throughout the book, the reader is able to take sides with a certain character because the author used a unique writing style.

Victor Frankenstein’s creation, the nameless creature in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, displays countless characteristics of physical monstrosity; he is described as “ugly”, “demonical” and a “hideous… wretch” (Shelley 36). However, the creature expresses that his only desires are acceptance and love, but he is seen as a monster regardless of his true intentions. When the creature is abandoned by Frankenstein, he is forced to find acceptance on his own and eventually comes across a cottage in the woods. As an attempt to gain approval, he waits to approach the home until the only character home is a blind man, to whom he explains his desire for friendship. The creature says that he is afraid to become “an

As the creator and father of the monster, it was Frankenstein's duty to teach it right from wrong, to care and nurture it like you would a child, because that is what the monster was inside- an unknowing child. As soon as he was created, the monster had a need for love; it reaches an outstretched hand towards Frankenstein showing a want for recognition and love. ' A grin wrinkled his cheeks' The monster even tries to communicate but it can only utter 'inarticulate sounds' as it was yet to be taught how to speak, which should have been the task of Frankenstein.

He took a family he didn’t even know under his wing. He helped them get their food so they didn’t go hungry. He helped chase off someone threatening them. He protected them, whether they knew who he was or not. Once he got up enough courage to show himself, even if it was to a blind person who couldn’t see him, he was happy. He was talking to him, finally had a friend. But then the family came home and assumed he had done a horrible thing and they made him leave in a mean manner. Frankenstein acted the way he did because of the way he was treated. He had a good heart, and a smart brain but people made him a bad

Many Authors have the dilemma of choosing the point-of-view for their novels and which would best fit their story. However, my focus is on first person point-of-view for my story. So I decided to see what other Authors have tackled the same p.o.v problem I am having by using multiple characters that use a first person point-of-view. I found that Mary Shelley uses multiple characters to narrate in first person p.o.v in her novel Frankenstein. Walter, Victor and Frankenstein all use letters in first person p.o.v. in the novel and it creates a sense of realism with a personal touch. Even a current prominent Author like George R.R. Martin in his book A Games of Thrones uses multiple first person narrators but splits them up by chapters. It enhances

Frankenstein puts his life at risk, as well as others trying to acquire knowledge, which he put over his family and his health. The monster is on a path of self-discovery about where he is from, and how to survive. He also patiently learns how to speak and read. Through the “sanguinary laws of man”(Shelley123), the creature learns that it is acceptable to kill in certain circumstances, leading to the death of innocent people. As a result of Felix’s story, he learns how to manipulate the judicial system, leading him to deliberately frame Justine Moritz for William’s death.

The monster has such a gruesome and horrifying appearance, that Frankenstein is automatically scared based on the monster’s looks and therefore flees from his creation. The creature then goes out into a world that he knows absolutely nothing about and has to provide for himself without any knowledge of how to do that. When the creature scares the humans in the village and the farmer he is only trying to find food and never once thought of harming them. The monster shows many acts of kindness in his early stages of life. For example, when he is observing the family, he realizes that they are poor and he has been stealing their food. Once he understands that he is hurting them, he stops stealing. He cuts up firewood and leaves it for them in hopes of making their life easier. These actions show us that the monster does not start out doing bad things only things that might benefit the family. The creature has a desire to learn like a child does, he is fascinated in everything the family does and says. “I shall relate the events that impressed me with feelings which, from what I was, have made me what I am”(Shelley 135), this quote

Something very astonishing to Frankenstein’s eyes was language/communication. He viewed language as some type of “godlike science,” and something he really wanted to pick up on. He was able to learn words such as; fire, bread, mild, wood, good, dearest, and unhappy. He didn’t understand how to use some of the words or how they were used, but he still learned them from the family. He was able to sympathize with the family; when they were joyful, he was pleased, when they were sorrowful, he was sad.

The monster is in need of help from his creator, for he is new to the world and does not know anything about living yet, but instead, he has nobody and is forced to figure life out by himself. Readers understand the monster’s emotion because he says “I sat down and wept”. By understanding his emotion, it will cause readers to feel sympathy for him. This also proves one of the larger themes of the novel, that people should treat others with empathy, because as his creator, Frankenstein should have been able to understand and share his feelings, for he was often alone and left to teach and fend for himself during his studies. Frankenstein’s reject to his creation is what caused the monster to feel so alone, and ultimately, what led to both of their destructions.

The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, is a story about how important having a family is to some, but also judging someone based on their appearance. Victor Frankenstein starts the novel by describing his childhood with his loving and supportive family. Family is very important to him because he did not have many friends growing up. While Frankenstein is away at school he starts to become very depressed and you see his attitude towards his family and his life change. Being away at school, he creates a “monster” by using different pieces of corpses and that becomes the only thing that matters to him until he sees how hideous it is. He immediately hates his creation just because of how he looks. Frankenstein begins to abandon everyone and thing in his life because of his obsession with the idea of glory and science, causing the novel to go from Romanticism to Gothic. The “monster” finds a family living in a cottage, by watching all winter he learns how a family should love and accept others. By seeing this, Frankenstein’s creations understand what was taken from him, and will do whatever he has to do to have a family of his own.

From beginning to end Frankenstein’s Monster is shown as a wicked creature from the people; however, he possesses many human characteristics. The monster was originally an idea of Frankenstein that will soon come to life. Created from many different parts, the monster was never given a chance to be seen as anything other than a science project. From the outside looking in,

It only served to show him what he was missing. In a reality setting, the monster’s loneliness can be compared to that of orphaned children. Though both are obviously without parents, the side effects of orphanage runs past the physical. It creates a mental rift in the child’s ability to connect with the world. In a study done on Russian orphans after a governmental revolution, the scientists, “…found dramatic reduction in what’s referred to as gray matter and in white matter,’ Nelson says, ‘In other words, their brains were actually physically smaller”(Sengendo). Being a child orphan physically changes the way the brain develops. Lacking human interactions stunted the monster’s growth in both mental function and character. Though he talked with a vast vocabulary, his speech is all he was able to develop. Just like a deprived child, all he wants, from his birth to his death, is attention. However, he has an unacceptable way of getting attention. The monster resorts to killing Frankenstein’s family. Though orphaned children do not kill for attention, both do not know the correct way to seek it.

Frankenstein's creation is a complex character whose true motives cannot be determined easily. Although one cannot excuse his actions, they should certainly not be viewed out of context. The creature is exposed to the painful reality of loneliness from the moment of his creation. "I had worked hard for nearly two years," Victor states, "for the sole

Besides, the creature was the kind of person that if someone taught him beautifully, he would pay back by admiring and loving this person. By this media, the creature learned to admire people's grace, beauty, and delicate complexions. The creature understood one language, which was French and quickly he could say some words like sister, brother, fire, milk, etc. This language was taught to him by a French family who he loved: "The French family was the school where the creature studied all the science that he knows and learned history as well." Also, the monster thought this family was the most kind and excellent in the world; but, the same family also taught and showed him how humans could be hurtful, when the family refused to become his friend. On the other hand, the knowledge and education that the creature received from the French family, was not enough to prevent his bad attitude in his personality that came within his creation. The creature was not a great person all the time; he was someone who could murder anyone at anytime, just because he was making revenge against Frankenstein. Besides, the creature was someone who felt alone in earth by the fact that he did not have friends and relationships; he was questioning why he had no father watching him when growing up or a mother taking care of him. "The creature thought his past life was a blemish where he did not distinguish anything."