The Timelessness of FRANKENSTEIN

I absolutely LOVE FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley.  It's difficult to explain what it is about this book that is so incredibly awesome.  I've read the book often enough now that you'd think I have it memorized, but I thoroughly enjoy each and every reading.  I've been reading the same edition for the past several readings and it's interesting to note that not only do I re-underline (in a different color) the exact same passages, but I also still have other passages that I can't help underlining this time through!  There's just so much that's great about this novel.  What's even more awesome is that even more than a hundred years later, it's still a novel that hits home.

Here's this creature who just wants the love and fellowship of his fellow human beings but he's denied that simply because he's so hideous to look at.  People are afraid of him and, as a result, won't take the time to get to know him.  He knows that if people would just give him a chance, he'd be able to convince them, to show them that he is capable of giving love as well as worthy of receiving love.  There are still so many people today who are ostracized by society simply because they're DIFFERENT from everyone else.  While we didn't get a chance to talk about it in class, this is exactly the theme of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, another of my favorite stories, but written by Gaston Lereaux, a French author.

I guess, in a way, I tend to identify with the creature in the respect that because I am so different from most people I know, I am often teased, picked on, and left out of activities, etc. that my friends, co-workers, etc. enjoy together.  But my mom always told me that it's ok to be different.  While sometimes it hurts that I'm not accepted in certain circles, overall, I'm happy with who I am.  Just like anyone else, I know I have areas that need to be worked on, improved, but as a whole, I like who Polly Anna is and what she's accomplished in life.  I have my days of low self-esteem, of course.  But as a whole, life is good and I'm ok with being different.

The biggest difference, of course, between the creature and myself is that he allows the rejection of his creator and society to lead him down a path of destruction while I refuse to go that way.  I don't know that the creature could have done much of anything to convince anyone, ever, of seeing him as the loving human being he so desired to be.  It is just too difficult to get beyond his horrific appearance.  But even Victor says at the end of the novel that his creature has the power of persuasion and he warns Walton not to be pulled in by the creature.  So it seems that there MIGHT have been a chance to the creature to find SOMEONE who would look beyond his hideous appearance to the true, loving man inside.....

I also love FRANKENSTEIN because I can relate to Victor in how he gets so incredibly engrossed in his study and the creation of his monster, that everything else around disappears.  Granted, he fails to pause long enough to question whether or not what he is doing is morally the right thing to do while I feel that I am at least aware enough, even in my most absent-minded moments, to know right from wrong and to do the right thing---as much as I am able.  When I am reading or writing, everything around me disappears.  I am not aware of much of anything going on.  I've often joked with my family that when I'm reading, a herd of elephants could rampage through my living room and I wouldn't even notice it.  I really do think that's pretty close to being true.  Victor was that involved in his studies and his creation of his monster.

I could go on and on and on about how wonderful FRANKENSTEIN is as a novel.  I could talk about all the great themes that are covered, all the wonderful references to other texts and great poems that Shelley uses, all the wonderful, beautiful lines and descriptions, how well Shelley keeps track of dates/time, and on and on.  It is for these reasons and many more that not only is the novel amazing to read, but the story itself is so widely referenced in movies, tv shows, books/novels, songs, and on the list goes.  It's a timeless tale that if you've never taken the time to read, you really, really, really should!