Mason Pocklington - Frankenstein
For the week of the 26th of August I read Frankenstein! I really loved the book as a whole, and had the time to finish the entire novel over the weekend before school started. The book surprised me with how human Victor was, when I heard about the story in the past my understanding of Frankenstein was that he was of the mad scientist type, and seeing both his and his creatures character arc transition was a really satisfying yet pleasant surprise.
One of the most prevalent takeaways for me was the realization of how closely related the stories of both Frankenstein and his creature were. They both introduced themselves into the story as pure beings of hope, who loved humans and were positive individuals. Throughout both of their respective storylines the reader could watch the arc of each of their characters slowly begin to focus on nothing but the other. To me, the creature quickly took my interest over Victor, and it was delightful to watch as the roles of creator and creation became slave and master. The aspect in particular was really satisfying to realize at the end, and an extremely clever part of writing that I don't get nowadays from modern novels that I read.
What was really interesting to me as well was the part of the story where Victor turned down the offer to create a female creature. I definitely would have accepted the creature's offer and made another, just to know that they would harm no more, and be off far away. It seemed almost selfish of Victor to say no, considering he well knew the creatures threat of their wedding night, it surprised me that he declined. Knowing his background and how he grew up, it seemed so odd that he wouldn't choose to protect his future wife over himself. Throughout the early parts of the book he expressed such protective and possessiveness over his bride that his decision just seemed like the author took priority over how he would have acted in real life.
One of the most relatable and human moments that I felt connected to me was when he finally brought the creature to life. It was such a suspenseful moment, two years had been leading up to one moment, and the second the creature opened his eyes, smiled and reached out to Victor, his creator abandoned him. It almost seems like the author was superimposing her life story into Victor's, how her family issues affected her, because to the reader, I was very surprised that Victor had abandoned his creature. I read the story before knowing about the author's life, and it makes sense now that she would write that into the plot, but at the time I remember it confusing me a lot.
Overall this is definitely a book I'll come back to once I have the time and re-read to catch all of the little details that I missed, and I'm very pleased with the first read of this course!
One of the most prevalent takeaways for me was the realization of how closely related the stories of both Frankenstein and his creature were. They both introduced themselves into the story as pure beings of hope, who loved humans and were positive individuals. Throughout both of their respective storylines the reader could watch the arc of each of their characters slowly begin to focus on nothing but the other. To me, the creature quickly took my interest over Victor, and it was delightful to watch as the roles of creator and creation became slave and master. The aspect in particular was really satisfying to realize at the end, and an extremely clever part of writing that I don't get nowadays from modern novels that I read.
What was really interesting to me as well was the part of the story where Victor turned down the offer to create a female creature. I definitely would have accepted the creature's offer and made another, just to know that they would harm no more, and be off far away. It seemed almost selfish of Victor to say no, considering he well knew the creatures threat of their wedding night, it surprised me that he declined. Knowing his background and how he grew up, it seemed so odd that he wouldn't choose to protect his future wife over himself. Throughout the early parts of the book he expressed such protective and possessiveness over his bride that his decision just seemed like the author took priority over how he would have acted in real life.
One of the most relatable and human moments that I felt connected to me was when he finally brought the creature to life. It was such a suspenseful moment, two years had been leading up to one moment, and the second the creature opened his eyes, smiled and reached out to Victor, his creator abandoned him. It almost seems like the author was superimposing her life story into Victor's, how her family issues affected her, because to the reader, I was very surprised that Victor had abandoned his creature. I read the story before knowing about the author's life, and it makes sense now that she would write that into the plot, but at the time I remember it confusing me a lot.
Overall this is definitely a book I'll come back to once I have the time and re-read to catch all of the little details that I missed, and I'm very pleased with the first read of this course!
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