In Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" she opens the book with R. Walton writing home in a letter to his sister Margaret. He tells her about his and his men's situation of being stuck in the ice with the ship. He then begins to hint at the first of the mystery to come.
"We perceived on a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs ,pass on towards the north, at a distance of half a mile; a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge, and guided the dogs." (Letter IV)
Later in the book Victor Frankenstein, a young physician that wants to make the perfect man but instead has created a creature that he appalls, becomes the narrator. He created the monster but was overwhelmed by what he had done. The creature to him is horrid and he can not bear to look at it.
"I continued walking in this manner for some time, endeavoring by bodily exercise to ease the load that weighed upon my mind. I traversed the streets without any clear conception of where I was or what I was doing. MY heart palpitated in the sickness of fear and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me."(50)
The third narration returns to be Waltons again. He has witnessed Frankenstein’s death and the creature had come to see his creator. The creature had told him of his plight.
"I was at first touched by the expressions of his misery; yet, when I called to mind what Frankenstein had said of his powers of eloquence and persuasion and when I again cast my eyes on the lifeless form of my friend, indignation was rekindled within me. "Wretch!" I said, "it is well you come here to whine over the desolations that you have made."(202)
No comments:
Post a Comment