Dear Readers,
Oscar-winning director Gillermo Del Toro first read Frankenstein when he was a fourteen-year-old growing up in Mexico. Mary Shelley’s novel transformed him. As we conclude our study of Frankenstein, consider these words of his:
I saved my Sunday allowance for a couple of weeks and bought it [the paperback]. I read it in one sitting, and by the end of it, I was weeping. It was my Road to Damascus. It illuminated the reason I love monsters, my kinship with them, and showed me how deep, how life-changing, a monster parable could be–how it could function as art and how it could reach across distance and time to become a palliative to solitude and pain.
And here we are, two centuries later, faithfully depositing flowers to this most exquisite storyteller, this extraordinary Galatea who refused to be shaped by her circumstances and gave us all life. And we try, in return, to help her creature stay alive. We strive to turn a curse into a blessing.
We hope that in some way, somehow, our gratitude, our love, can reach him like a whispered prayer, like a distant song. And we dream that perhaps he can stop–amid that frozen tundra and the screaming wind–and can turn his head and look back. At us.
And we hope that then he might recognize in our eyes his own yearning. And perchance we can walk toward each other and find meager warmth in our embrace.
And then, if only for a moment, we will not feel alone in the world. (xiv-xv)
Although Mary Shelley’s novel may not have transformed you as it did Del Toro, you are reading, or rereading, its final chapters as the COVID-19 pandemic transforms all of our daily lives.
- Have the unprecedented circumstances of the past two weeks altered your perceptions of Shelley’s novel? If so, how?
- If you’d rather not write about finishing Frankenstein in the days of coronavirus, write about one of the novel’s themes or one of the moments in the narrative that lingers in your mind.
- Or respond to Del Toro’s remarks.
Post your response of twenty-five words or more as a reply. If you address a point that one of your classmates has written in a previous reply, mention that classmate by name in your own reply. In the coming weeks we may turn back to some of your replies/comments as we study Dickens, Carroll, Stevenson, and Doyle.
Remember to check your CVCC email and Blackboard regularly for updates and assignments.
Sincerely Sequestered,
Dr. Lucas
Work Cited
Del Toro, Guillermo. Introduction. “Mary Shelley, or the Modern Galatea.” The New Annotated Frankenstein. By Mary Shelley, edited by Leslie S. Klinger, W. W. Norton, 2017, pp xi-xvii.
Postscript
And the early-bird bonus points go to these CVCC Red Hawks: Grey Sacona, Caeley Arney, Madison St. Clair, Gabe Carswell, Chandler Danner, Lauren Setzer, Jenna Ramsey, Joshua West, Ruben Castillo, and Joe Van Story! Well Done!
Jane Lucas 
I believe we can all agree that Frankenstein draws forth intense emotions from its reader, of one sort or another. Frankenstein is, indeed, a beautifully well written novel, and while I can not declare that it had a transformative effect on my life, I can relate to Del Toro crying amidst the powerful story of Frankenstein’s monster’s autobiographical speech as at drew tears from my as well.
Due to COVID-19, we are isolated in our homes and bored out our minds with nothing to do. If we are bored we should read. As I continue to read Frankenstein I have grown to love and appreciate it, as Mason Nance expressed. Unfortunately as this pandemic is expanding, we should see the positive in life, as Madison St.Clair has pointed out.
I feel as if the way I read Frankenstein has shifted in the past couple of weeks. Nothing could have ever prepared us for what is going on right now, just like nothing prepared Victor Frankenstein for what life would like after he created the monster. Victor Frankenstein was scared so he ran away and hid from his creation. This is what everyone is doing right now as they run and hide from the virus. My perceptions have definitely been altered while reading Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, while we are going through these unprecedented circumstances.
I believe that Del Toro’s story is something that we can all relate to right now. Toro creates a thoughtful and unique response to the unforeseen circumstances of this world. He says that he wants to help people and he hopes that his gratitude and love will make a difference in ones life. I think that these statements can be applied to our life right now. With everything that is going on, I think we should stay strong and try to be a positive light for someone, maybe then we can “…turn a curse into a blessing.”
I think that even thought I didn’t experience the intense emotion that Del Toro did, I think my experience of reading the novel, has changed. In the beginning, I was reading the novel as a chore. Now I’m actually enjoying the novel and thinking about how I can take its themes and apply it to my life.
Although I cannot say that I can relate to the extent of what it was that Del Toro felt about the novel, I can understand the reaction after reading such a well crafted story as Frankenstein. I also found the line where Del Toro mentions that Shelley “refused to be shaped by her circumstances” to be interesting because it reminds me of the circumstance that we are all currently faced with.
I believe my perceptions of Mary Shelley’s novel have altered due to the life-changing coronavirus. Similarly to Frankenstein’s monster, the deadly virus causes fear and hiding among people, as Caeley Arney points out. Yet, like Guillermo Del Toro states, “We strive to turn a curse into a blessing.” As readers of Shelley’s book, we hope for the best outcome for the monster because, after all, he just wanted to be accepted. Today, the world strives to find a cure for the “curse” or virus that is dramatically changing our lives every day. A cure would be a “blessing” that saves the lives of many people. Therefore, the current circumstances in the world parallel perfectly with Shelley’s novel.
Caeley, I completely agree with what you said. When we were all hit by the shock and magnitude of this virus, we were caught off guard and were in serious need of reevaluating the way we go about our daily lives. When Frankenstein realized the magnitude of his actions in regard to the monster he had created, he was shocked and had to rethink (or reevaluate) how he lived so that he could avoid the thing in which he created. In regards to Del Toro’s remarks, he states how reading the book showed him “how deep, how life-changing, a monster parable could be–how it could function as art and how it could reach across distance and time to become a palliative to solitude and pain.” This also goes hand-in-hand with the virus. This virus is the ‘monster parable’ that has been life-changing to most everyone, in at least one way or another. While this virus has been ‘a monster parable,’ it could also be considered an ‘art’ of sorts in the way it has caused us to stop and think about what we truly need to be buying (if we truly need to run out to this store or that store), has caused us to spend more time at home with our families and rethink what we are doing with the time we have on our hands. It has also spread all over the world, affecting many people, leaving us to solitude/quarantine and caused pain to those who have had life-altering things happen due to the virus.
Jenna, I completely agree with what you are saying in agreeing with Caeley. As victor created this monster he was flabbergasted along with all of us in this horrible pandemic that is affecting all of us by canceling things that we enjoy. The time we all have now makes us realize how precious time can be, and how we take things such as time for granted.
The unperceived circumstances have changed my perspective. That is because, Covid-19 shows that tragedy can happen at any moment just like in Frankenstein. This theme of tragedy seems to reflect the current days theme and the theme as to come.
I am a fan of Del Toro and I know he looks at anything monsters in a completely different light than others. I did not experience what he experienced as I was reading Frankenstein, however, reflecting back I can see what he is talking about. Shelley was able to write a masterpiece with many undertones that you can’t even catch on the first read. The majority of the book is about morals, whether or not we should do what we want or what is right. The want to support the monster is itself a moral conflict. The monster has then horrible things but yet it is still misunderstood and I believe that’s what we all love about it. I agree with Del Toro that Shelley is an amazing writer she was able to write a theme about morals in her book and then make us feel that same theme about one of her characters. I think that’s truly amazing.
I agree with del toro that reading this novel had changed my perspectives in life. After reading Frankenstein, I have learned to not look at everything at face value and to try to look deeper and try to find the good in what is happening. An example of this is the COVID-19 virus, while it is a tragedy it has brought unexpected joy in my life, such as spending more time with my family.
In the past few weeks, our lives have changed dramatically affecting our relationships with people surrounding us. This occurs to Victor Frankenstein as his relationship with his family members and especially with Elizabeth Lavenza is strained. His own guilt makes him not be able to properly communicate knowing that his actions have caused death. In this pandemic, our actions control the spread of the virus whether we would like to admit it or not. In contrast to Victor Frankenstein, I would like to not carry around the guilt of sickness and suffering.
As Caeley Arney mentioned in her comment, it is true that Victor Frankenstein hid himself from his creation in disgust. But we must not forget that the monster too isolated himself from society, intently watching over the DeLacey family from the safety of their hovel. Being deprived of the company of fellow creatures for such a long time, the monster took an uncharacteristic liking of this intriguing family, longing to be embraced by them and admitted into their ranks. It is in this time of isolation that we may really understand what the monster is feeling, and come to sympathize with him more so than before. One may come to recognize this desire to socialize to be unmistakably human. Thus, while the monster may be confined to the body of a monstrosity, it is evident that the feelings he expresses are none other than those of a human being. This raises questions as to what constitutes humanity and may challenge original notions over who the real monster is in this harrowing story.
I feel that in reading Shelley’s novel I have grown to love it. Not as much as Del Toro, as it seems he felt pure connection with the book. As Gabriel mentioned, I used to think of reading this novel as a chore, but as I did more research as I read, and as I began to understand the book, and its themes more, I began to see probably just a glimmer of the brightness Del Toro saw in this book. But now after reading the book, and re-reading some parts I disliked in the beginning I have a new respect for this author and this novel.
Del Torro had a much stronger reaction to the novel than I did. With that being said, the way I read the novel changed signifigantly. When I started the novel, I was just reading it because I had to, But like Gabe Carswell said, “I’m actually enjoying the novel and thinking about how I can take its themes and apply it to my life.”
In the past two weeks, most of our lives have been turned upside down. But I feel like during this time we have all been trying to “turn a curse into a blessing”, we have been trying to tell ourself that the pandemic will just pass over us and be over before we know it. We are trying to turn a curse into a blessing, just like Guillermo Del Toro said about Frankenstein. We know that we didn’t create the situation that we are in, but we know have to tell with it.
The circumstances over the past two weeks have changed my perspective of Shelley’s novel. I could not relate to the book in any way, but now I feel as if I can apply it directly to my life. Similarly to Caeley, the monster had caused fear and hiding among Victor Frankenstein. The monster was a curse to him. Likewise, COVID-19 has caused fear, hiding, uncertainty, and anxiety among the United States. Now, while reading the book, I’m hoping for the best outcome for the monster and Victor because the monster just wants to be loved. He didn’t ask to be created. Correspondingly, we all hope that the COVID-19 issue can be solved because we didn’t want and pandemic to spread, but we have to make the most of it.
Due to the circumstances over the past few weeks, my perspective while reading Frankenstein has shifted. At first, I did not want things to end good for the monster. He committed malicious acts that I thought were unjust. He caused fear and hiding among Victor Frankenstein. Similarly, like Caeley mentioned, COVID-19 has caused fear, hiding, uncertainty, and anxiety among the United States. We all hope a cure is found and that the situation can be stopped. Likewise, though the book is not continued, I wish the story would finish with Victor and the monster making amends, so all this tragedy among his life can end.
The unprecedented circumstances have certainly altered my view of Shelley’s novel. Along with Caeley and Emma’s thoughts on the novel, when I first began reading Frankenstein, it was enjoyable but not applicable to my life and I didn’t expect it to be. After all, it circled around events such as death, consequences of unnatural decisions, and feelings of isolation felt by both VIctor Frankenstein and the monster in which he created. After the escalation of COVID-19, we are all dealing with isolation from loved ones, death, and the heavy thoughts that are burdened upon us because of theis new and unusual situation. Feeling these similar feelings and relating to a novel I never thought would be so relatable definitely changes my views on both Frankenstein and COVID-19.
I feel that we can all relate to Del Toro’s response. The unforeseen circumstances of this virus have us all individually relating to the novel Frankenstein. Del Toro felt really connected to the novel much more than I did and we can feel his connection between his remarks of the novel. We can all apply Frankenstein to our lives amidst the COVID-19 virus. We feel a sense of fear and uncertainty as the virus continues to take a toll on the United States and the world as a whole.
Reading Frankenstein during these times gives me some perspective of how lonely Victor Must have felt. Currently in our day to day lives we can find a screen (whether it be our computers, phones, or television) that will tell us the updates of our own monster and how others are dealing with the pandemic. We can connect with others even if it is not in the flesh. We know there are others struggling with us. Unlike us though, Frankenstein did not have many people to connect with and help him through his panic, he could not simply find another to help him through the fear he brought himself through his own creation.
My perception of Frankenstein has changed in the past few weeks as I am confined in my house analyzing the text. As Caeley said, we are all “hiding” from the virus just as Victor Frankenstein hid from his own creation. It can also be noticed that this virus stemmed from one person and has had a huge impact on the entire world. Frankenstein’s monster was created by only him, but ended up affecting other people as well.
The unprecedented events that have happened in the last two weeks have altered my views of the novel. Being alone for most of the day has made me realize how alone the monster must have felt. After Frankenstein rejected him the monster must have felt very lonely. It only makes sense that the monster would seek companionship from another monster or from his creator.
The way I have been reading Frankenstein has begun shifting these couple of weeks. This is due to coronavirus. The virus has caused people to become fearful and cautious of everything around them. This relates to how Frankenstein’s monster caused panic and fear amongst the people, as Lauren Setzer pointed out. The fear that the townspeople endowered when the monster was loose is now a fear that is affecting everyone around us. There are events and emotions from the novel that people now have to endower and surpass. There is a statement that Del Torre says which is “refused to be shaped by her circumstances”. This relates to our current situation now because we are refusing to be “shaped” by the virus.
After the outbreak of COVID-19, my perception of Frankenstein has unquestionably changed. I agree with what Caeley said in her reply. Just when Victor thought he had life by the reigns, his entire world flipped upside down. The creation of his monster forced him to adapt to a completely new lifestyle. Similarly, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused millions of people to feel this way. It’s created so much chaos, causing us all to isolate ourselves and stop doing the things we love. It’s derailed everything, much like Victor’s monster derailed his life.
After the past few weeks, reading Frankenstein has been a different experience. Through the unexpected rise of COVID-19, I feel as though many people can relate to Victor Frankenstein. After he created his monster, he ran and hid away from it. Just as Emma said, we are all in fear of the virus and “hiding” from the outside world in a way. We are all isolated into our homes trying to stay away from the spread of the virus. Many extroverts don’t know how to stay away from interacting with reality for as long as we have been told to do. Also as Madison said, the monster must have felt lonely in the time that Victor was away and many Americans can feel that same way during this outbreak. Reading Frankenstein during these times I can relate more to it.
These past two weeks have heavily shifted my views about the novel. Being basically under quarantine and seeing preparations that I have never seen before has definitely caused me to become very cautious and made many fearful about their surroundings. Being isolated made me realize that it is really tough to be alone for an extended period of time and being away from the general public has an affect on people. I now understand that the monster felt lonely and was lacking a connection with someone and it had a hard effect on him. This relates to the current situation happening in the world because of how isolating and how real it is.
The past two weeks have definitely shifted my views of the novel. As Jeremy said, “being under quarantine has definitely caused me to become very cautious.” After being alone in isolation, I never really appreciated interacting with my classmates and friends until I could not see them anymore.
Within these past weeks, my views on the novel have changed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The virus changed our lives drastically and people are panicking which relates to Frankenstein’s monster because the monster brought panic to other people.
Although I cannot relate to the passion Del Toro has towards the novel, I have enjoyed the novel. At first, I thought it was boring, but now I can see that we can relate to many things in the novel. As the world has started to brace for the effect of Covid-19 no one knew how bad it would be or how it might affect each person individually. Just like in the novel, Victor Frankenstein never wanted to create anything harmful, and he never knew how much his world would change after creating the monster. As Madison had previously stated, The monster had to of felt lonely just like we are in these trying times.
The past two weeks of my life have changed my view of the novel. Since we have been advised to stay home and keep a distance from people, I have become more focused on my surroundings and being precautious. The monster in the novel Frankenstein isolates himself from other people and is cautious of his surroundings so he is not seen. In this instance, I can feel what the monster has to go through making sure he is isolated from everyone.
In Del Toro’s remarks, he finds a way to make the monster more personal to us. He does a beautiful job, in my opinion, of bringing our how similar we as human beings are to the monster. Most people can probably say they have felt loneliness at some point in their lifetime, but for the monster that is all he ever felt. I think connecting the monster to the reader on a personal level like that, as in how we all have something in common with the monster, was a very in depth analysis of humankind and the monster. It was also a very good way to make the book more personal.
I think the theme of Frankenstein itself is mostly about the obsession of the course of nature and the coexistence of nature and nurture. Of how a scientist who wanted to be a creator and tampered with natural laws of the human body and made a creation that he regrets. Dr. Frankestein rejects his creature because he had expectations of the monster that was not possible and pushed the nature of his deformity onto the creature with hate, thus truly creating a monster. Instead of nurturing the monster, Frankenstein fed it hate, shame, and harmful actions only for it to backfire and result in the scientist’s own demise. The actions of the creator will result in the future of their creation.
One of Frankenstein’s largest themes is loneliness. Both the loneliness of Frankenstein and his monster can be seen throughout the book, regardless of what setting they are in. I have had that on my mind recently due to the pandemic and being confined to my house for months to come.
I have to say that I agree full-heartedly with Madison St. Clair’s remarks. From Del Toro’s remarks, you can tell that he is very passionate about the world around him and how he plans to leave his mark. In these troubling times, we need to look deep within ourselves and search to see if this virus could be our “Road to Damascus”. What can we do to help our neighbors, community, and country as a whole?
Jenna, I completely agree with what you are saying in agreeing with Caeley. As victor created this monster he was flabbergasted along with all of us in this horrible pandemic that is affecting all of us by canceling things that we enjoy. The time we all have now makes us realize how precious time can be, and how we take things such as time for granted.
I agree with Anthony Sacona, Frankenstein has drawn out many emoitions within the themes. De Toro is just relating to the emotions the book draws out, and the book is especially important to Del Toro, because of the personal connection made to the book.
One of the things that have stuck with me from Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is how Victor thought he was doing something good to create the monster out of the pursuit of knowledge. However, his creation didn’t turn out the way he wanted to and it became a disaster. Sometimes people don’t think, they just do. In the turn of recent events, this can compare to how people haven’t really been to stop and think. With the virus, people have started to panic because they aren’t thinking but doing and causing others to struggle. So stop, think, and be safe.
I may not be able to empathize the same ways De Toro did when reading Frankenstein. I can, however, say there is a peace that exists when you embrace something that is supposed to be forbidden or evil, only to find out that it was not as bad as you think and can even find inner peace within it. For example, how De Toro did with Frankenstein’s monster, Like Anthony Sacona mention.
Despite all that is happening in the world at this moment, I feel what Del Toro says is quite true. He refers to Mary Shelley’s novel and how we keep it alive, which he says, “We turn a curse into a blessing.” At this time with all the talk of the coronavirus, I feel this may be the case for our experiences. For example, some sources say since people are not out as much, the Earth is looking cleaner. Maybe this is a way the Earth replenishing itself? I do not guess we will ever know, but what times as a hard time now may actually be a blessing later on. There is so much panic in the world right now, but what if five or ten years down the road we reflect on this and see that it was a blessing in a disguise. However, only time will tell.
Covid-19 has really had an impact and change of my perception on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Just like that Caeley said, Victor was afraid of the monster that he created and hid from it like how we are now in quarantine. The fact that there is a pandemic is causing us to lose our loved ones and is bringing fear into our homes. I also see the side of the monster as it went through the emotions of loneliness and sorrow. It makes me realize that I took what I had for granted and that I feel lonely sometimes because I am not around the people that bring me joy all the time. This relates to both the current pandemic and I.
I agree with Caeley, this virus has happened so fast that people are scared of it. This virus has turned into “Frankenstein’s monster”. People will not come out of their homes or contact out of fear of it
In the beginning, I felt as if I didn’t relate to the article or the book very much. However, when deciphering the text more intensely, the quote, “how life-changing, a monster parable could be–how it could function as art and how it could reach across distance and time to become a palliative to solitude and pain.” became very relatable and connectable within today’s time period. COVID-19 has been very ¨life changing¨ and comparable to a monster like to many people. Many people have taken for granted, the widely available public access, social interaction and other emotional aspects we all had before the virus ran rampant.
I agree with Caeley when she mentioned that the way she has perceived Frankenstein these last few weeks has changed. Victor’s life changed drastically when he brought the monster to life just like ours is changing everyday with this monstrous virus. The virus reminds me of when the monster murdered Victror’s younger brother. Something Victor created ended up bringing death all around him just like this virus is bringing death all around us everyday.
Over the past two weeks my take on the novel Frankenstein has shifted. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has made me realize that we were not prepared to deal with such a huge task of fighting this disease. Just like in Frankenstein when Victor was not prepared to face the consequences that came with creating his monster.
The rapidly-developing COVID-19 coronavirus has, in the past weeks, quickly changed the way I relate the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster to life today. For instance, we are quick to hone in on the monster’s negative qualities: the people he hurts, the lives he destroys, and so forth. However, even amid the darkest, most decrepit scenes of the monster, we see a little bit of humanity within the unspeakable horror: the way he takes such an interest in the study of linguistics, the care he takes in chopping firewood for the elderly man and his family, and the way he– however harshly– searches desperately for a relationship with his creator. The events unfolding from the novel coronavirus recently have caused me to see this theme of the perseverance of purity, hope, and humanity even in the nastiest of situations. While this virus is certainly a tragedy, our ecosystems are replenishing themselves, just as Courtney Powell said above. Even amidst the chaos and horror, positivity is finding a way to peek through, just as the humanity– even in minuscule amounts– shines through in the story of Frankenstein’s monster.
I agree with Kenna. The current events have caused me to change my perspective. When Victor created the monster he had to adapt to a new lifestyle. Similarly, we have had to adapt to the world changing due to the coronavirus. When Victor Frankenstein created the monster, it had caused disorder and put fear into him just like the virus has put fear into people and has caused our lives to be disrupted.
I believe that just as Del Toro became inspired and driven from reading Frankenstein to keep Mary Shelley’s creature alive we are fighting to keep the world afloat amid this crisis.Cole Sharpe mentioned “turn a curse into a blessing”. While we may not be turning Covid-19 into a blessing we as a people are looking for the any and every blessing during this time.
I believe just as Del Toro became inspired and driven by reading Frankenstein to keep Mar Shelley’s creature alive [we as a people around the world have become driven to. The drive amid the pandemic is not to keep Covid-19 alive rather to keep hope and kindness alive.
In the recent weeks, as the world has been turned upside down by the outbreak of COVID-19, I feel as though I can connect with the monster created by Dr. Frankenstein. The monster is “born” into a world not made for him. He struggles to understand his purpose and connect with other individuals. Later in the book he requests a partner of his kind to be created as he expresses his complete loneliness. While practicing self distancing I must admit that I have felt a lack of connect with the people and world around me. I do fear the unknown as their seems to be only so much we can do, while maintaining a sane and safe lifestyle.
Covid-19 has changed my perspective on life as a whole. I realized the fear of change. Before this pandemic, I had a fear of feeling alone. As Noah said, Frankenstein felt alone. As most of the United States are confined to our homes, we are all feeling some type of loneliness.
Like Courtney Gant said above, people think about monsters as harmful. Everyone that the monster came into contact with got scared or believed he was doing something harmful. This is just how everyone feels about the recent events of COVID-19. It is hard to watch the world around you shut down and watch everyone go into isolation, since we all live such busy lives. But even in times like this, Del Toro is right. A monster story from so long ago can always be related to and change your perspective on everything. After finishing the novel then reading Del Toro’s words, it just makes me feel like the monster is more like us and more like this world than any of us ever thought.
I really like how Hannah Maltba made the connection between COVID-19 and how we think monsters are harmful and scary. Anyone who saw the monster believed he was going to hurt them or do something very harmful. This is how everyone is viewing the pandemic happening in the world; in fear because of the virus. Some people say much good has come from the pandemic because of how the earth has healed from the dramatic decrease in pollution. So yes the virus looks scary like the monster, but it also has a different outcome to the pain.
“Frankenstein” has changed many lives such as the monster himself. The monster and Victor’s life changed around. Victor brought a curse upon the land but that curse changed its course to co-exist with humanity. Del Toro became inspired by the novel that Mary Shelley has written. Just like Declan said, as we are fighting to try to keep our selves safe from COVID-19, Del Toro and many others are trying to keep Mary Shelley’s masterpiece alive as well. Just like how the monster was struggling but brought itself afoot, humanity is trying to survive and preserve from this pandemic.
While experiencing the current crisis unfolding around our world, I feel that my perspective on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has taken a turn. Before, I didn’t tend to fabricate connections from the novel to my life. However, recently I’ve noticed that in a way we can all connect to the monster in the novel. Throughout the novel, after being abandoned by his creator, the monster presents feelings of isolation and despair as he attempts to be accepted into society. It is very similar to the emotions we are all feeling while being mandated to stay-at-home and practice social-distancing. During this time, we can all truly understand the feelings the monster possessed while being socially alienated. As Jacob Palmer mentioned, “It is in this time of isolation that we may really understand what the monster is feeling, and come to sympathize with him more so than before.”.
In the last few weeks i have seen a difference in how i view Frankenstein because of the Virus. One of the main themes of Frankenstein is the ideas of loneliness, and sadness. I have seen how this can play out in someones life as i haven’t been able to do much with my friends because of the quarantine.
With the current crisis unfolding in the world, it has changed my perspective on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. At first, I found the novel uninteresting as the only motive for my reading was for the class. Since we have been out, I have been reading to use my free time, and I have found the book to be more interesting.
While reading Frankenstein in this time of uncertainty definitely brings a new meaning to the entire novel. Being in such unprecedented times shows how much man can be its own worst enemy and how the monsters we create can continue to tear us down and keep us in fear.
As Jacob Palmer pointed out, the desire to interact with peers and companions is a feeling that is an innate human desire. We have been confined to our homes without warning, unable to see those that we care for. It’s crushing, and in times like these, we search for someone or something to sympathize with. For me, that elusive “someone” is Frankenstein’s monster. To the smallest extent, I can understand the loneliness that the monster feels. Perhaps I would not have sympathized so strongly with him had it not been for these unprecedented times.
Theses past 2 weeks have changed my point of view towards being more precautious with my surroundings. Like in the novel Frankenstein isolates himself from people because he does not want to be seen. I as well don’t want to be seen nor do I want to get the virus. It’s best to isolate myself and stay home.