They Call Him Mr. Frankenstein

Blog #1
Week of 8/26/19

Entering the world of darkness, Mary Shelly’s book, Frankenstein, portrays the deeper understanding of gothic genre and its era. It is best portrayed through a prominent pattern of utilizing gory and exaggerated descriptions. To illustrate, Shelly’s descriptions successfully creates an eerie atmosphere - through use of grim imagery - that sucks the reader’s attention into the twisted mind of the narrator’s perspective: “I saw how the worm inherited the wonders of the eye and brain” (p. 70, Shelly). After reading this particular scene, the protagonist’s, Victor Frankenstein, sense of extreme description was described during his first encounter of the dead had made me physically cringe. On the other hand, Frankenstein’s tone of excitement, while describing the dead, caused it to be more disturbing because it was full of pure delight and satisfaction. Although this was one incident in the novel of wretched description, it is appropriate due to the novel’s genre.

The gothic genre interpreted in this novel was enhanced when Victor Frankenstein created the wretch. Through this, Frankenstein ends up feeling regret subsequently reanimating the monster, “… I sought to avoid the wretch whom I feared every turning of the street…” With the understanding of self-reproach for Frankenstein, it is inevitable that different suspenseful events will occur as the novel progresses, hence shaping that psychological twist for the reader. Through this, the author allows the reader to feel what the narrator is going through, first handedly, such as walking down city streets aimlessly by trying to escape from personal demons and mistakes.

Gothic genre is viewed in many different ways to be seen as dark and gory; however, there is a little humor hidden underneath. Shelly does a tremendous job at creating the contrasting aspects through her use of imagery and tone in her writing. This novel was an interesting read because of the idea of taking a dead man and recreating him into Frankenstein's ideal image of his perfect creation. With all of the hard work and effort Frankenstein put into his creation, it ended up backfiring - just like a normal person living his or her daily life. The novel amplifies the exaggeration of a person's regret of his or her actions.