Frankenstein: The Meaning behind the Words Essay

Upon receiving all the books that we had to read during this course, Frankenstein was the one that I was looking most forward to reading. Most horror fiction novels have the same story line with no actual meaning behind the writing, but as I opened this novel and continued to read, I really became interested in the deeper meaning of Frankenstein and I just had to continue reading to find out more. Unlike most horror fiction novels, Frankenstein in my opinion has the ability to keep its readers interested instead of boring them. Mary Shelley used her writing ability to tell a great story that involved the relationship between man and mans creation. A major observation that I made while reading Frankenstein was of all the several themes made throughout the whole entire book. Some themes where obvious, others you really had to think about it. All though many people may think Shelley’s Frankenstein is just another normal horror fiction novel, I believe this novel provides several themes throughout the entire story line because it shows the themes of human injustice towards outsiders, ignorance is bliss, and society’s sexist viewpoints. The main theme that I noticed while reading Frankenstein, was the idea of human injustice towards outsides. All throughout the novel, the monster has to face man’s cruelty to those who are different. Frankenstein’s monster is indeed an outcast and he doesn’t belong in human society. The monster’s alienation from society, his struggle for revenge, and his unfulfilled desire for a companion, are all shared by his creator. I noticed while reading the novel how quickly Victor became similar his creation. Both Victor and his creation live in isolation from society, they both hate their miserable lives, and both Victor and his creation are suffering. Shelly did a very good job showing the relationship with man and his relationship with outsiders, and how cruel society can be when it comes to being different from everyone else. The monster states, â€Å"When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, the, a monster, a blot upon the earth from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?† This quote explains itself. The monster was different, and therefore he was alone in the world. This was the easiest theme to recognize, in my opinion, because this theme plays a big role in society. Shelly’s writing shows exactly what people in society that are different go through, by showing it through Victor and his creation. A second theme that really stood out to me was the idea that ignorance is bliss. With the power of human reason, through science and technology, it challenged a lot of concepts about world and man’s relationship with his creator. This was the idea of Shelley’s time. Although this was a big concept, many questioned stressing the limits of human capacity. Shelley uses this theme in her book. She uses the idea in chapter four when Victor warns Walton to not follow in his footsteps stating, â€Å"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow† (38). During Shelley’s time, including many others, some aspects of nature should never be discovered by man. Shelly used both the new sciences of chemistry and electricity of life to conjure up the bodies of the dead. Victor is a man that clearly wanted to discover and did discover these aspects of nature and he stole the idea of creation from God and used it for his own ill-advised purposes. The third theme that I analyzed while reading Frankenstein, was the indicting towards society for its sexist viewpoints. Throughout Frankenstein, Victor sets the view for women as weak, suffering, non useful human beings who live to serve and depend on the men in their lives. Many people believe Shelly could have experienced these sexist points at one point in her own life, but she may or may not have agreed with it. In Frankenstein, Victor puts the name of a barbarian to the monster because the monster has a very good notion of the opposite sex. The monster, unlike Victor, believes that men and woman are equal and both should be treated equally. The monster, throughout the novel seeks companionship from a female, which does not convey a desire to rule a women or that a woman should have to depend on the men in her life. The monster states, â€Å"I am alone and miserable: man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create† (129). His desire for companionship just shows the monsters need for equal companionship with someone to share his sufferings. Frankenstein expressed several different themes all throughout the novel. The three themes discussed in this paper really stood out to me and I felt they played the biggest parts in the novel, but many of the other themes expressed in Frankenstein played a big role in making the novel what it is today. Shelly used these themes for her novel Frankenstein, to suggest the monster from the novel is some sort of metaphor of our own culture. Shelly’s way of using actual real world themes in her novel allowed her to show how these themes are actual portrayed in the world. Frankenstein is definitely one of the best horror fiction novels; not just because of the story, but because of the deeper meanings you can get from reading the novel. WORKS CITED Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Dover, 1994.