On Monday, I am Victor Frankenstein

June 10, 2006 at 9:01 PM

You stare at me as if I am a mad man, wandering out here on the snow and ice. How did I get out here you ask? Well, it would only be right if I told you from the very beginning, about the time before I began upon my pursuit out here in this desolate waste land otherwise it will do nothing but fuel your thoughts and affirm your notions of my madness.

Now, the beginning, a time when I was happy and didn't have a care in the world. My family and friends were my joys and focus of my life. I had a very happy childhood with more opportunities than most young boys my age yet I was concerned only by the affairs of my family and my interest in the natural alchemists of the early days. It was at the end of those young and blissful days that my father, as he and his father before had, sent me to get an education at the University of Ingolstadt. When I first left I was incredibly sorrowful about leaving my family, especially my dear cousin Elizabeth but soon my professors had my attention focused on other pursuits and thus the beginning of what has led me here began.

Once I became comfortable at Ingolstadt I threw away the philosophies of the early alchemists from my childhood and focused on the modern natural philosophers and chemists. I became fascinated and consumed with the creation of life out of something inanimate. I resolved that I would work until I discovered how to create life and had succeeded in having it breathe a breath of fresh air. I told no one of my labors to create such a being, resembling that of a human but enormous in size and strength but kept it a secret until this very day. You are probably reeling in shock at the idea of creating such a being. I was reeling too, in ecstasy of my accomplishments until at last it came to life. Oh, if only I had known what would become of my monster I would have never created him and instead retreated back to Geneva and my family...... Elizabeth. *Sigh*

After the monster slaughtered my brother, he left my family and me in grief. He forced me to pursue him. When I met him he told me how it was really him who suffered and for a moment I truly felt that he had been wronged. Reluctantly, I agreed to his demands in hopes that he would leave me and those close to me alone and for a short while I became happy again. I departed for England where I rented a small hut to work. Again in peace and unbeknownst to others I began to work on another hideous beast that my monster had demanded of me. In the last days of my labor I was overcome with the terrible reality of what I was doing and the unknown future it would bring if I gave this new being life. What if it rejected the monster already alive? What if the two began a horrendous rampage together? How could I live with myself if I were to create such an accomplice for my already malice monster? I didn't care about the threats my monster shed on me when he learned of my abandonment of his demands. My only regret was to have not pursued and killed him then but I was too overcome with his fleeing words...... “I shall be with you on your wedding night” ...if only I had known the extent of what he had truly meant perhaps things would have been different.....

Alas... After that encounter which enraged the monster and myself, I deposited all the evidence of my devlish work on the bottom of the sea when I got taken over by a storm. I came to rest in a small Irish village where my creation had struck again this time killing my dear friend from childhood, Henry Clerval and somehow I was the one blamed. Sickened and my health completely gone, I was thrown in jail until proven innocent of the crimes charged against me. Once released from jail my dear father took me home to Geneva... ah to go home at last.... where I was set to marry my cousin Elizabeth as soon as my health warranted. My monsters words haunted me and I resolved to tell Elizabeth what I had done and told her I upon my return that I had a very dark secret to share but would not tell her until after we were married.

Our wedding was not a joyous occasion. Elizabeth was uncomfortable about my secret and my mind was wandering constantly as I tried to spy out my monster and intercept his attempts to harm and kill me. That night when Elizabeth and I went back to the mansion I asked her to give take my leave to the bedroom as I explored the building in search of the hiding menace, his words “I'll be with you on your wedding night” still ringing strong in my ears. Oh the horror! The horror! I heard a scream and I was met with a sudden, sick realization as to what my creation had truly meant back in England.

The monster had killed my wife!

He meant to keep me alive and torment me while destroying that which was closest to me and that I derived all my joy from. The grief that struck me as I realized that my experiment had now, through my allowances, killed three of my closest acquaintances and through the trial of one had killed another was too much to bear. Again I watched in torment as my monster.... as I.... claimed yet another victim. My father. The pain of losing Elizabeth, whom he had raised from a small child, was too much to grasp, he became ill and died. I was left alone. No friends. No family.

The world is a cruel cruel place. If only I could have predicted the unhappiness and torment my creation would cause I would have never thought twice about creating such a being. How could I have been so ignorant? How I ask you! Surely if I had only thought a little more I could have predicted the negative possibilities enough to save my family. Is there nothing I have done right towards fixing this problem? I wish I could go back and fix my mistakes..... how could such a brilliant experiment go so incredibly wrong?

My monster forced me to pursue him.... he controlled my every move, making my life livable but ensuring that every single step was agonizing... I sensed that the monster derived joy in seeing my pain. He wanted to see me suffer. He would leave clues for me so that I could continue my pursuit but never was I able to encompass and destroy him. We went on in this manner for days, for months.... The monster had said that I was his tormentor, now he was mine.

How does my story end? You'll have to wait awhile.... I'm exhausted from my journey and I need to rest. Adieu.

From Jasmine Lewis
Posted on June 10, 2006 at 11:07 PM

Kelsey, why didn't you tell me you got married?

From Jim W. Miller
Posted on June 10, 2006 at 11:10 PM

Frankenstein is the best story ever. Surprised it was presented as an old tale of the sea. Edge of the seat all the way. Byron and the Shellys were crazies. Present-day analogy to Mary's young brilliance is a few hot violin chix I think.

From Kelsey Z.
Posted on June 11, 2006 at 5:17 AM

*shakes head* Jasmine..Jasmine Jasmine....

I agree Jim, amazing book! I have to present the book to my English class in a "creative" way so I wrote this monologue that I will attempt to act out.

From Jim W. Miller
Posted on June 11, 2006 at 5:41 AM

I read it a long time ago. One of my favorite parts is where he's taken refuge in the old man's house unobserved, observing them carefully, and sets out to improve himself and prepares for and fantasizes about the day he'll introduce himself and then...

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on June 11, 2006 at 6:08 AM

Kelsey, I tried to read the book once, but I didn't like it. I like your version much better.

From Kelsey Z.
Posted on June 11, 2006 at 6:10 AM

Jim, Shelley is so good about creating different emotions and reactions towards the characters, particularly the monster. That part you mentioned is a really intriguing part of the book that I think a lot of people can identify with. It's such a good book whether you are reading it for something to read or for something deeper.

Pauline, I think you have to enjoy that style of writing and be genuinely interested in reading the story to get through it. I loved it from many perspectives. It was an easy read for me compared to some of the things I've read this year (Paradise Lost, Heart of Darkness, Gulliver's Travels) and I was really looking forward to being given the chance to pick my own book to read and I had wanted to do this book for some weeks before I read it. I'm glad you enjoyed my synopsis of it, it still doesn't reveal the ending though. :)!

From Jim W. Miller
Posted on June 11, 2006 at 6:46 AM

Yep! Good characterization.

From Jim W. Miller
Posted on June 11, 2006 at 6:59 AM

Your characterization of her, I mean.

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