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The creature is eloquent and persuasive, even though he learnt to speak by observing. Shall we trust him?

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The creature is eloquent and persuasive, even though he learnt to speak by observing. Shall we trust him?

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The creature was created without malice, he had no notion of the world, so he couldn't distinguish from good and bad, instead he learn it through his experience with the people that was around him.
He tries to justify his murders by saying that he felt rejected by others, because he was horrible, even Victor leaves him when he sees what he had created. At some point, we can feel empathy for him to the point of justifyng his sins, because he was lonely and he wanted to feel loved.
He also was very persuasive when he ask Victor to create a female creature, what is more he convinces him to do it, without considering all that implies. In the end Victor says no, and the creature kills his family.
So, I don't think we should trust him, he was a monster and his true nature was to murder, to take life, even though he could try to be kind and good.
"This was then the reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, and, as a recompense, I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound, which shattered the flesh and bone. The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage anda gnashing of teeth. Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind."
Chapter 16, page 108. (Wordsworth Classics).
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"I intended to reason. This point is detrimental to me; for you do not reflect that you are the cause of its excess. If any being felt emotions of benevolence towards me, I should return them a hundred and a hundred fold; for that one creature's sake, I would make peace with the whole kind! But I now indulge in dreams of bliss that cannot be realised. What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate; I demand a creature of another sex, but as hideous as myself; the gratification is small, but it is all that I can receive, and it shall content me. It is true we shall be monters, cut off from the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another. Our lives will not be happy, but they will be harmless, and free from the misery I now feel. Oh! my creator, make me happy: let me feel gratitude towards you for one benefit! Let me see that I excite the sympathy of some existing thing; do not deny me my request."
Chapter 17, page 112. (Wordsworth Classics).

Daniela Mora

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Pride and vanity are the qualities that direct Victor Frankenstein to his discovery of life

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Pride and vanity are the qualities that direct Victor Frankenstein to his discovery of life

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Victor Frankenstein was a real aficionado of science. He knew he had everything he needed to create life. Although it was very difficult to join the parts and to give life to an acceptable creature. Victor was very proud of his achievements, without knowing that his creation would be against him.Paula Chamorro

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Victor is responsible for his negligence as a “parent” 

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Victor is responsible for his negligence as a “parent” 

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Parents play an important role in the development of their children, and they should educate them with love and affection. If they aren't, then they will feel unwanted and incomplete.But Victor ignored all this, he didn't take any responsibility with the creature,he abandon it. "Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideos that even you turned from me in disgust?God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance (...)  I am solitary and abhorred" (Shelley, p 100)  "I was alone. I rembered Adam´s supplication to his Creator. But where was mine? He had abandoned me: and, in the bitterness of my hart, I cursed him" ( Shelley,p 101)
Evelin Navarro

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Compare Robert Walton's voyage with Victor Frankenstein's pursuit of scientific knowledge. 

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Compare Robert Walton's voyage with Victor Frankenstein's pursuit of scientific knowledge. 

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Robert and Victor have a point in common: they both desire to explore and discover. On one hand, Robert desires to explore and discover unexplored regions, the North Pole "I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man." [Mary Shelley, Chapter 1]. On the other hand we have Victor, a man who is also in search of knowledge, not on maps and unexplored landscapes, but on science and mysterious antropological discoveries. Victor desires to "play God" and to give life to a corpse through the studies of certain forgotten authors such as Cornelius Agrippa. "I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter" [Mary Shelley, Chapter 4]. Both men are passionate and really driven by their convictions, each one in their own discovery.
Nicolás Geoghegan.

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What forces Victor to tear the new creature into pieces is the thought of a possible catastrophe triggered over humanity. Why this second creature would be more dangerous according to his thought?  He considers it to be more dangerous than her companion as he is, in a way, almost humanized, and the new creature may react according to her instincts. He can´t trust in a newcomer who is experiencing a state of savagery. That´s why Victor regret on creating a female for the fiend. Ch. 20, p 126 “She might become…whole human race.”
Martyniuk Tamara

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What makes Robert Walton enjoy the company of Victor Frankenstein? 

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What makes Robert Walton enjoy the company of Victor Frankenstein? 

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From the very beginning Robert was in search of a friend, when he was gathering his crew he knew that all were men on whom he can depend, well-endowed with dauntless courage, but none of them could fulfil that place.

“But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection. I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true, but that is a poor medium for the communication of feelings. I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me, whose eyes would replay to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own to approve or amend my planes. How would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother”…

It was not until the encounter with Dr. Frankenstein that he could find that beloved friend that he was looking for. … “For my own part, I begin to love him as a brother, and his constant and deep grief fills me with sympathy and compassion. He must have been a noble creature in his better days, being even now in wreck so attractive and admirable”… “I said in one of my letters, my dear Margaret, that I should find not friend on the wide ocean; yet I have found a man who, before his spirit has been broken by misery, I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother of my heart”

Robert Walton really enjoyed the company of Dr Victor Frankenstein because he finally found the companion, his peer whose purpose in life was the same than his. They share many points in common both of them had a great spirit of adventure, thirst of knowledge, and were lead by the ambition of getting their dreams it does not matter how, they would pay the price that necessary to get what they wanted, even though it cost lives.

Analia Romero

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The creature is Victor's doppelganger (alter ego)

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The creature is Victor's doppelganger (alter ego)

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All along the novel we deal with a completely different version of Victor Frankenstein, this is why we can affirm that the creature is Victor’s doppelganger, meaning this a ghostly counterpart of a living person.

While Victor, fascinated with the ‘secret of life’, brings someone to life, the monster kills Victor’s beloved ones. Victor has a potential ‘mate’ named Elizabeth while the monster begs for one to be done to accompany him. In the beginning Victor alienates Elizabeth to feed his obsession to reanimate life, placing libido on that, spending years away from the women that loves him the most. Conversely, the monster believes he needs a partner for him to find happiness.

On another side, we can discuss the fact that Victor’s woman is a natural human being, while the monster’s mate was to be another abomination to God. At the same time, we know Elizabeth loved Victor, yet we were not able to assure the new monster will do so with him (the monster).

Acosta Lucas Nahuel.

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The monster is a mirror of Victor Frankenstein. 

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The monster is a mirror of Victor Frankenstein. 

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Victor Frankenstein uses his knowledge about science in order to create a creature. He builds this character by using  death human parts. This kind of man was more of a monster or a failed experiment. However, the real monster is not the man made creation, despite his appearance but the man who created it in the same place. In addition this monster is not mindless or heartless, it is only deformed or disoriented by the dissolutions of his creator who leaves an innocent child to suffer instead. And this child grows with questions and with doubts that are going to be answer during the book. Victor's desires go beyond the nature, crossing a path, which drives him mad

MICAELA PEREZ.

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Victor often seems to fall ill after traumatic events. Is he avoiding responsibility?

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Victor often seems to fall ill after traumatic events. Is he avoiding responsibility?

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All throughout the novel, it can be seen how Victor falls ill after any attemp of facing what he had done. As a mechanism of defense, Victor´s body got weak till he was ill, and for some, this mechanism was used to avoid and ignore his creation and its consequences.This is an example of the weakness of Victor´s personality and how he pushed himself to the edge only to fall in a very long- recovery sickness. . In the story, for example, the first time he gets ill is after the creation of the monster, when he sees what he has done:

"I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my

forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed"

Julián Acevedo

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Light symbolizes knowledge, discovery, and enlightenment

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Light symbolizes knowledge, discovery, and enlightenment

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In the novel, light is understood as the act of discovery. It represents knowledge and enlightenment. The world is considered as a place of dark secrets, so the main objective of the scientist is to reach the light of understanding. Walton asks … “What could not be expected in the country of eternal light?”… (Shelley, Pag. 13 ,Letter I), He expects to find the secrets of the universe unveiled in the North Pole,the “ country of eternal light”.

Light also symbolizes Victor´s revelations. When he first discovers natural philosophy, he says, .."A new light seemed to dawn upon my mind"… (Shelley,P.37, Ch.2 ). Another example can be when he discovers the secret of creating life, he describes his feelings saying ..."from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me - a light so brilliant and wondrous" ..( Shelley,P. 50, Ch. 4). However, it´s important to take into account that light is bright and blinding too. Victor and Walton fail to see the dangerous consequences of their investigations for enlightenment.

Greta Acosta

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Man’s fascination with creation is reflected in fact and fiction.

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Man’s fascination with creation is reflected in fact and fiction.

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Melina Gambino
Through the novel we can see that victor has this power of giving life to creatures in a unnatural way that stands against the beliefs that only God has the power of doing this.
Nowadays in fact is very popular to hear people talk about surrogacy, in which a woman goes through pregnancy to have a baby for other person that can´t have him/her on their own

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The monster created by Victor Frankenstein encounters his creator and tells him about his different linving experiences during all the time he was alone wandering around the valleys and mountains.  This wretched creature talks about a family  in particular from whom he learns all sort of virtues, without meeting its members face to face since he is hidden in a hovel next to the cottage of this family, from where he observes their daily life.
In one of his visits to the neighbouring wood, he finds a leathern suitcase with some books. One of these is "Paradise Lost", which provokes a great effect on him, to the point of comparing himself with "Adam" because they both are alone at the beginning, but then, the monster realises that Adam is a perfect creature created by the hands of God, happy and prosperous. What is more, he is guarded by his creator, God. Unlike Adam, the monster is a horrible creature, unhappy, wretched and he is alone. And his creator despises him.
That is the moment in which he becomes consciuos of being more Satan-alike than Adam-alike. Finally, a feeling of envy overcomes him towards the bliss of his "protectors", just like Satan does in the book. It hates Adam becouse he lives in Heaven, while Satan is doomed to live forever in Hell becouse he betrays God.
Likewise, in the next quotation we can see that the monster finds several similarities between him and  Adam until the moment he is rejected by whom he once considered their protectors, and starts feeling envy and hatred towards them. From that moment on, he looks himself more like Satan.
"But Paradise Lost different and far deeper emotions" / "Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other aspect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature, but I was wretched, helpless, and alone. Many time I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me" (Chapter 15, page 125. Penguin Popular Classics)
The monster not only feels hatred towards his protectors, but towards Victor, just like Satan towards God, and he starts a "war" against Victor killing his brother and indirectly to Justine, after reading some papers he finds in the pocket of the dress which he takes from the laboratory. These papers explains step by step the horrible work that Victor undertakes to create him.
"Another circumstance strengthened and confirmed these feelings. Soon after my arrival in the hovel I discovered some papers in the pocket of the dress which I had taken from your laboratory. At first I had neglected  them, but now that I was able to decipher the characters in which they were written, I began to study them with diligence. it was the journal of the four months that preceded my creation"./ "Every thing is related in them which bears reference to my accursed origin; the whole detail of that series of disgusting circumstances which produced it is set in view; the minutest description of my odious and loathsome person is given, in language which painted your own horrors ans rendered mine indelible. I sickened as I read. "Hateful day when I received life!". (ch 15, page 125. Pinguin Popular Classics)

Florencia Billordo

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Victor tries to kill his monster. The monster never attempts to kill Victor. Why do they behave so differently?

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Victor tries to kill his monster. The monster never attempts to kill Victor. Why do they behave so differently?

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Victor realises the terrible mistake he made when creating the monster out of body fragments to such an extent that he promises to go on a pilgrimage so as to take vengeance on the creature and to save the world from the monster he himself created. Thus, Victor makes attempts to do away with the monster unsuccessfully, though.

On the other hand, the monster views Victor as a God or a father. One of the reasons why the creature keeps Victor alive is because the former wants the latter to create a female companion for him and threatens to kill Victor’s loved ones if Victor does not fulfil his wish. Besides, the monster is so ugly and revolting that people cannot stand looking at him; the monster wants to make friends but he always fails to do so. In this sense, the monster never dares to kill Victor because the creature wants to make Victor suffer for his and people’s ill treatment towards him.

“Again do I vow vengeance; again do I devote thee, miserable fiend, to torture and death. Never will I give up my search until he or I perish; and then with what ecstasy shall I join my Elizabeth and my departed friends, who even now prepare for me the reward of my tedious toil and horrible pilgrimage!” [Ch 21]

"I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth." [Ch 17]

“If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends." [Ch 10]

Daiana Kifer

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HERE IS A SMALL FACT

You are going to die.

I am in all truthfulness attempting to be cheerful about this whole topic, though most people find themselves

hindered in believing me, no matter my protestations. Please, trust me. I most definitely can be cheerful. I can
be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that’s only the A’s. Just don’t ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do
with me.

The Book thief, Chapter one.

Sometimes death is predicted by the only saying of a very direct sentence like “ I’m dying”, “I’m going to see the light”, “He’ll haunt me, find me and kill me”, but how boring Frankenstein would be if everything was said. Through the novel, plenty of hints lead us to a great fact, someone is going to die. The inhospitable atmosphere from the very start get us thinking how would a person survive in such a state of life; Victor seems to be walking on a tightrope, or standing at the edge of a cliff completely stubborned by his own obsession of defeating death.

On the other hand, The Captain Walton, who shares the same madness as Victor, takes his men to an expedition to the North Pole having in mind that it surely it would cost the lives of them. At one of his last letters to his sister on September the 7 th he even declares “The die is cast, I have consented to return if we are not destroyed.” Declaring as
there is no way to escape from death.

As for the monster, he seems to enjoy representing a figure of death by playing with Victor’s agony,  He insists him to follow north and even teases “ Prepare! Your toils only begin, wrap yourself in furs and provide food; for WE shall soon enter upon a journey where your suffering will satisfy my everlasting hatred” ( Ch. 24). Once again, Victor seems to be walking on a tightrope but about to slip by his own fury and hunger for revenge.

Camila Fagundez.

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Technology has the potential to enhance and extend human life.

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Technology has the potential to enhance and extend human life.

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It is a truth that nowadays there are several technological methods to enhance human life, but not to extend it yet. Some examples of these technological methods are the x-rays, which help people to treat cancer; and there are also new machines, better known as 3D printers, that can be used to print things like a tower or a car, but also to print parts of the body for those people who suffered the loss of some parts of theirs, such as their hands or legs. But, there is also a constant attempt of finding the formula for immortality; thought that is also represented by Victor Frankenstein, who says "besides, I had a contempt for the uses of modern natural philosophy. It was very different when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand; but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded. I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth." (Shelley, page 37, chapter 3)

Gastón Jansen

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Two of the most inaccurate assumptions of society revolve around the central characters of Dr. Frankenstein and the monster. Dr. Frankenstein is more of a monster while the monster is the more decent of the characters. He is labeled decent but he is actually irresponsible, stubborn, and extreme in his actions. His irresponsibility shows through many times in his feelings toward his creation. The creation, or as society has labeled the monster, is actually one of the only characters that has rationale behind his thinking. Society has mislabeled this creature as dumb, savage, and brutal. He is actually intelligent, kind, and humane. “I beheld the wretch- the miserable monster whom I created." (Shelley, page 59)
Agustina Capuano

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How does the character of  Frankenstein resemble the values of Enlightenment? 

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How does the character of  Frankenstein resemble the values of Enlightenment? 

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The Enlightenment was an era well known as the age of the reason. In this era, people found the new ideas; the discovery of the natural laws of the universe, determination of the natural right of mankind, and progress of knowledge, technical achievement and moral values. Most importantly, people in this era tried to find a reason for mankind existence without religious idea.
In the “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, main character, mastered the enlightenment thinking. He is a student of the university who tries to develop his idea of giving life to a creature through science. While Victor has grown up, he has been learning and putting into practice many scientific ideas. His  scientific knowledge increased as well as Isaac Newton did in the age of the Enlightenment.

Finally , he successed giving birth to his creature, Frankenstein’s monster, in the story. His discovery was definitely influenced by the idea of the Enlightenment although it could not be possible.

The resources

Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Science

http://www.newton.ac.uk/newtlife.html

Western New England College Essay by Professor Gerhard Rempel

http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/enlightenment.html

Cintia Toritto

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What is it to be human and what is to be a monster?

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What is it to be human and what is to be a monster?

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Daniela Badolato
The “creature” represents the typical stereotype of a monster, Shelley plays on certain comparisons to Frankenstein in order to illustrate the fine line between humanity and monstrosity.
Firstly, Frankenstein creates an evil monster out of selfishness because he wants to obtain notoriety and fame. He claims, “no father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve [my creation’s]” (Shelley 80).  Frankenstein’s lack of concern for repercussions and thirst for fame can categorize him as a monster. Frankenstein puts his desires and concerns above that of all others, a typically inhumane characteristic of mankind.
Secondly, Frankenstein abandons his creation purely based on physical judgments. The second he sees the creature he gave life to, he is revolted by his hideous appearance and terrifying demeanor. Frankenstein merely judges this creature based on his appearance and doesn’t give him a chance for a normal life. Similarly, all humans that the creature encounters treat him the same way. Because of this inhumane treatment, a monster is born. In this light, humans can be viewed as monstrous creatures because of their superficiality and reckless attitude towards others.
Lastly, towards the end of the novel, Frankenstein himself becomes a striking image of the monster he created. He becomes obsessed with evil and revenge, and consumed by hatred. Frankenstein refers to himself as a “miserable wretch” (Shelley 165). Shelley now uses the same words to describe Frankenstein, as she had previously used for the monster reflecting the fact that the two are become increasingly more alike. Just like the monster he created, Frankenstein eventually became alienated and even abhorred himself.  The many similarities between Frankenstein and his creation show the fine line between humanity and monstrosity.

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Knowledge is not guaranteed to be beneficial.

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Knowledge is not guaranteed to be beneficial.

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Knowledge was not profitable for Victor. Victor, the creature and Walton had a thirst for knowledge which led them to dangerous places.
Walton: described his journey to the North Pole as 'dangerous'. He nearly died there.'Last Monday...surrounded by ice ...thick fog'. (Walton's 4th letter: Shelley, page 20, Chapter one).
Victor: confessed 'You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been'. He was telling him that his fascination for Science and Alchemy or his creation rendered him who he was, blaming himself for William's death, Justine's death and later for his wife's death, his friend's death and his father's death - (Walton's 4th letter: Shelley, page 24, Chapter one).
The pursuit of knowledge is also shown by the creature who attempted to be part of the community. 'Another circumstance strengthened and confirmed these feelings. Soon after my arrival in the hovel I discovered some papers in the pocket of the dress which I had taken from your laboratory. At first I had neglected them, but now that I was able to decipher the characters in which they were written, I began to study them with diligence. ' (Shelley, p. 100, chapter 15). He was learning how to speak.
'At that instant the cottage door was opened, and Felix, Safie, and Agatha entered. ...Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, ... I quitted the cottage, and in the general tumult escaped unperceived to my hovel.' (Shelley, p. 104, chapter 15)
Gabriela Osso

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Lagrace Malena

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Schvindt K.

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The novel is filled with passive women who suffer calmly and then expire.

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The novel is filled with passive women who suffer calmly and then expire.

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Despite that Mary Shelley was the daughter of a famous radical intellectual feminist, the role of women in Frankenstein is defined by its surprising and notable passivity. All throughout Shelley´s story, it can be glimpse how female´s characters are nothing more but a channel for Male characters to act in the novel. Characters like Elizabeth, Justine or Agatha are presented as submissive, maternal and sensitive, with any kind of control nor leadership in the things they do. This can be seen, for example, when Justine is accused for the murder of William, and she reacts extremely peaceful and calm, with any attempt of defending herself:

‘God knows,’ she said, ‘how entirely I am innocent. But I do not pretend that my protestations should acquit me; I rest my innocence on a plain and simple explanation of the facts which have been adduced against me, and I hope the character I have always borne will incline my judges to a favourable interpretation where any circumstance appears doubtful or suspicious.’

The previous quote is a perfect example of how female characters are there just for a specific purpose: to be nothing more than docile victims of circumstances.

María Belén Farías.

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Examine the ethics of Frankenstein’s creation

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Examine the ethics of Frankenstein’s creation

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Frankenstein is a story of ethical responsabilities. It is a commentary on ethics and morality.

“Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep […] endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness.”

The primary example of unethical cowardice is clearly seen in Victor Frankenstein. His constant refusal to take responsibility plague both his life and the lives of those around him after he constructs and then animates his creature. Victor is in a never ending flux of negative emotions. He turns his creation into a monster both physically and mentally. It is only after his constant rejection of the Monster that the creation begins and continues to wreak havoc and destruction around Victor’s intimate circle of loved ones. The initial moment of life is the pivotal time where Victor has the power to turn his creation into either angel or demon. Victor allows the “horror and disgust” which filled his heart to control his actions.

“A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspects, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy demon, to whom I had given life.”

This cruel abandonment serves as a duality of lessons. First, it instructs us to assume responsibility for our actions and to follow through with commitments. Secondly, it shows us the danger of seeking knowledge that we are unprepared to manage. Victor’s drive to learn the secret to making life utterly blinds him to the consequences of achieving such a monumental feat. When he succeeds he is paralyzed with his own inability to assume the responsibility and care that he should have anticipated his creation would require.

Ethicaly speaking he should have not pursued creating life from death as it violates a cultural tradition that the world is not ready for.

Lucas Rivadeneira.

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Creature attempts to become human but lacks basic needs (self-fulfillment, self-esteem, love and safety)

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Creature attempts to become human but lacks basic needs (self-fulfillment, self-esteem, love and safety)

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Frankenstein's creature attempts to become human, but he can not perceive himself as a real human being. We might assume that he lacks of different natural attributes such as: Self-fulfillment because as he is not conceive but created. He is an artificial creation of victor’s ambitions who can not escape from his creator. And as a consequence of his lack of knowledge about the human “desires”, he must follows Victor to survive and endure his loneliness as his unique purpose in life. As regards self-esteem, He always feels excluded from society because of his ugliness. Not only victor believes him ugly, but also the people whom he watches so passionately. We can appreciate this on Victor’s words describing the body:: “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.” (Wordsworth classics, ch 5, p 45). Moreover, as a consequence of this arborescence factions; he never finds love from his creator nor from other people inside the novel. We can observe this when Agatha, Safie and Felix look at Frankenstein for the first time: “My wife and my sister will never recover their horror. I entreat you not to reason with me any more. Take possession of your tenement, and let me fly from this place” (Wordsworth classics, ch 16, p 106). Last but not least, he always run away from one place to another because he never finds safety. Even Though he learnt to read and speak a language, people couldn’t perceive him as a human being. So people just feel themselves in danger or being attacked by the creature. As a result, this leave Frankenstein's monster without a real home. Moreover, he can not establishes himself nor lives like a real human and we can also observe this when he rescues a girl and then citizens assumes that he will attack her. And they finally hurt him: “This was then the reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, and as a recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone. The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth. Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind” ((Wordsworth classics, ch 16, p 108)
Barrios Micaela

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“Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.” 

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“Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.” 

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Despite the fact that Victor thinks he is a creator, he is hiding his monstrous characteristics. Frankestein believes he is a creator because he creater the creature, but on reality he is an irresponsible inventor, a monster as he leaves his own creation. Even though, Victor´s belief, he is kind of a killer because he tries to kill the monster. The creature says: “Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me…You purpose to kill me” (Frankestein, Wordsworth Classics, Ch. 10, p. 77). Victor´s answer is the following: ““Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are to mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil! You reproach me with your creation, come on, then that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed.” (Frankestein, Wordsworth Classics, Ch. 10, p. 77). Frankestein´s reply is ambiguous, why a creator would like to kill his own creation? He tries to defeat the creature after the crimes he commited. In one part of the novel he shows compassion to the monster, when the creature asks for a female company, but he ends up leaving the creation of a female monster undone. Here Victor is hiding his selfish, he only thinks about himself and he is also vengenful towards the monster. Frankestein is not what he thinks, but what he hides.

Ingrid Micale

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Shelley, in spite of being a woman writer, shows in her story a male character, Victor Frankenstein. He is influenced by alchemists, he is interested in chemistry and begins to obsess over the idea of ​​creating life. He achieves his goal and becomes a creator. it is seen that in his ambition to create life, Victor creates a "monster", through this character, Mary Shelley, leaves in sight a society where Men have a greater influence, and also that the one who poses power is the one who can create. And if it is abused or used against others creates "monsters", where does not mean that the result is the monster, but the same creator.
The creation of Victor, is a being without money or class, he is innocent although when William is assassinated by him, Frankenstein describes his brother with affective traits to highlight the monstrous characteristics of this being created by him, taking away all responsibility. That “monster” is an excluded being. But seen by society as a danger. It can be said that society created his misery by rejecting him. Victor created the being, but society created the monster.  It is because of his looks, Victor’s fault, and society’s unwillingness to accept those who are different that means the creature becomes a monster.

“My  heart  was fashioned  to  be  susceptible  of  love  and  sympathy,  and  when wrenched  by  misery  to  vice  and  hatred,  it  did  not  endure the  violence  of  the  change  without  torture  such  as  you  cannot even imagine.”
Ch. 24, p 167

"I am malicious because I am miserable; am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces, and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?...Shall I respect man, when he contemns me? Let him live with me in the interchange of kindness, and, instead of injury, I would bestow every benefit upon him with tears of gratitude and acceptance. But that cannot be; the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union. Yet mine shall not be the submission of abject slavery. I will revenge my injuries: if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear ….If any being felt emotions of benevolence towards me, I should return them an hundred and an hundred fold; for that one creature's sake, I would make peace with the whole kind! But I now indulge in dreams of bliss that cannot be realized." Ch 17, p 112.
Rebeca Jarmel.

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"You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This you alone can do and I demand it of you as a rigth which you must not refuse to concede". Frankenstein asks Victor (his creator, his God) for a lady company because he feels alone.  Making a comparisson,  Adam felt alone too and God created Eve. Frankenstein felt alone and asked HIS god for company.  Fernanda Garcìa

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Humans have a basic need for love and belonging (affection from family and friends)

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Humans have a basic need for love and belonging (affection from family and friends)

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Maslow’s hierarchy of need pyramid is designed to show the development of human need. The bottom layer shows the more basic needs, while the top layer shows the more sophisticated needs. The third hierarchy is the needs of love, affection and belongingness, which involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging. “Humans have a desire to belong to groups: clubs, work groups, religious groups, family, gangs, etc. We need to feel loved (non-sexual) by others, to be accepted by others” (Abraham Maslow biography - Hierarchy of Needs). We can say that this is the need that the Monster lacks most, because he is abandoned after he is created and he is rejected by everyone, except for Mr. De Lacey. We can see when the Monster describes: “He raised her, and smiled with such kindness and affection that I felt sensations of a peculiar and over-powering nature: they were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never before experienced, either from hunger or cold, warmth or food; and I withdrew from the window, unable to bear these emotions.” (Chapter XI, page 108). However, the Monster never has the chance to interact with others, so he feels no sense of belongings with any human being. He also speaks to himself “But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing” (Chapter XIII, page 121). The creature describes what he feels: “Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence […] but I was wretched, helpless, and alone” (Chapter XV, page 129). Here he shows that he does not fit in anywhere. On the other hand, the creation displays his need for love when he asks Victor to create a mate to keep him company: “You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This you alone can do; and I demand it of you as a right which you must not refuse to concede.” (Chapter XVII, page 144)
Andrea cardozo

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A Quest for Knowledge can lead to self-destruction

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A Quest for Knowledge can lead to self-destruction

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In several instances throughout the novel, Viktor laments his arduous quest for knowledge, especially in the beginning of his story. When Walton expresses his desire, and to what extent he would go in his seek of knowledge in the artic pole, Viktor fervently says “Unhappy man! Do you share my madness? Have you drunk also of the intoxicating draught? Hear me; let me reveal my tale, and you will dash the cup from your lips!” (Shelley, Letter 4 p20) On the same line, Viktor continues to warn Walton explaining that “I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to your destruction and infallible misery. Learn from me, …, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is wo believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.” (Shelley, Chapter 4 p53). The protagonist then proceeds with his tale and insists that his wish to discover "the very generation of life" led him to have a miserable existence losing everyone he loved and held dear.

Maira Pérez

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Allusion to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge"

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Allusion to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge"

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Shelley and Coleridge both create very similar settings. Frankenstein and the mariner play very similar roles, as well as the albatross and the creature. The fate of the crew members in The Rime of The Ancient Mariner was in the hands of the albatross. This bird decided which crew members were destinated to live and which ones were subject to death. Ironically, the entire crew in the poem were killed and the only man who survived was the mariner.
"I am going to unexplored regions,  to "the land of mist and snow;" but I shall kill no albatross, therefore do not be alarmed for my safety, or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the "Ancient Mariner" (Shelley pp 18, Letter II). Here Walton is referring to the part of the story in which the Mariner shoots down the Albatross, which causes the downfall  of his crew. This correlates to Frankenstein in a sense that the creature had the ultimate control over the human population. It was in his power to kill whomever he chooses to.   Gabriela Aleman