Narrator Since The Creature example essay topic

Frankenstein is back to the role of narrator. He is bewildered and perplexed. The creature desires a female as his right. The latter part of the tale has enraged Victor, and he refuses the request. The creature counters that he is malicious because of misery why respect man when man condemns him? He is content to destroy everything related to Victor until he curses the day he was born.

Gladly would he relinquish his war against humanity if only one person loved him. Since none do, he has to find happiness elsewhere, and he is pleading that his creator make him happy with someone to share his misery. Frankenstein sees justice in his argument. The creature notes his change in countenance and promises that he would leave all humanity for the wilds of South America. The narrator does not believe this and refuses once again. The creature continues to plead and threaten.

He is looking to become 'linked to the chain of existence and events' from which he is now excluded. Victor is torn. He thinks about the creature's great strength, about how much more destruction he might cause. He therefore agrees to the task, to save the rest of humanity. The creature says he will watch his progress, and leaves him. He descends the mountain with a heavy heart, and returns to Geneva haggard.

To save his family, Victor resolves to comply with the creature's wish. Analysis: The most important feature of this chapter is the manner in which Frankenstein is convinced to make another being. Throughout most of the conversation, the creature's tone is reasonable in the extreme. By aligning his maliciousness with misery, he is blaming Frankenstein for what he has become. Phrasing the accusation in this manner, however, is so not confrontational that it is more effective at evoking the sympathy of Victor and the reader.

Often the creature refers to Frankenstein as 'you, my creator. ' This doubled form of address not only reminds the narrator of the role he has in giving life to this creature; it is a complimentary title that begs for help. There is a definite Biblical tone to his speech his dialogue abounds with verbs such as 'shall' that carry a confident, imperative feeling. The creature then proceeds to ask a string of rhetorical questions about dealing with humans. These strengthen his arguments because he is emphasizing his state as the miserable, abused wretch.

While he does threaten to destroy Frankenstein if his wishes are not fulfilled, the creature quickly recovers from this and begs help so that he will not hate his creator. This wish appears to be a very noble one. It would seem that the creature wants to banish all evil from his body, and a mate will allow him to do just that. The reasoning is definitely somewhat twisted, though.

The reader might argue that another being like himself will serve to augment the hatred of the creature if he has someone with whom he can identify. Chapter 18: Weeks pass and Victor does not begin working. He fears 'the fiend's' anger but cannot overcome his repugnance of feeling. The work will be aided by some new discoveries by English philosophers; he therefore wants to journey there and needs his father's permission. Frankenstein's health has become robust and strong. His melancholy is abated by rowing on the lake.

The narrator's father speaks with him about his remaining unhappiness. He attributes it to fear of expectation: that he does not want to marry Elizabeth because he is in love with someone else and hates to disappoint the family. Victor quickly assures him that this is not the case. Elizabeth is the only woman he admires. Joyful at his declaration, his father asks of he would object to marrying Elizabeth even though they are both so young. Still, he immediately assures Victor that he is not trying to tell him what to do, or how to be happy.

Frankenstein listens in silence. The idea of marrying Elizabeth with the odious task hanging over his head is unbearable. He must complete it before that special occasion. The creature can then leave with his mate or perish in an accident.

Either way, the narrator will finally have peace. His marriage to Elizabeth is set upon his return. Victor obtains his father's permission to go to England by disguising his purposes. He does not want to work at home. He fears leaving his family open to predatory attacks by the creature, but reasons that the creature will follow him to England. Considerately, the narrator's father arranges for Clerval to meet Victor for the journey.

They travel by boat through Germany and France. Frankenstein notes the great difference between Clerval and himself. The former is entirely alive, while his friend is again gloomy, a 'miserable wretch' as he calls himself. Henry speaks at length about the surrounding beauty, the memory of which launches Victor into a mournful speech of admiration for his friend, who he misses greatly.

By December they have arrived in England, greeted by the various architecture: castles, bridges, church steeples. Analysis: The quiet insistence of Victor's father that he quickly marry Elizabeth is reminiscent of the controlling tendency that Caroline exhibited on her deathbed. It appears to be a bit rash that the narrator is pressured to seal the union as soon as he returns from England. This marriage is representative of a working kind of order within this family's world. Its successful execution signifies a fulfillment of expectation that is reassuring because it directly contradicts the terrible chaos that has been unleashed upon these people. The union of Elizabeth and Victor is the best possible example of life continuing as usual, which is a complete affront to the goals of the creature; he intends to disrupt Frankenstein's life to the point that it cannot exist in any normal fashion.

Indeed, marriage would infuriate the creature because it symbolizes inclusion in human society. It is a ritual that people undergo so that they may express to each other and to the entire world that they are in love. This type of bond is something in which the creature can have no part unless he has a mate. The fact that the success of the marriage depends upon the completion of a task that Frankenstein finds repugnant does not bode well.

The theme of secrecy resurfaces in Victor's concealment (or 'guise') of his true reasons for going to England. He openly expresses fear that by leaving, his loved ones could be at the mercy of the vengeful creature. Yet he never thinks to alert them to the possible danger. No reason is provided to account for this deliberate oversight. The reader can only take this as yet another illustration of the narrator's selfishness and lack of foresight. As before, he only acts when a stimulus is directly applied in front of him, or when disaster strikes and it is too late to take precautions.

Clerval's shining enthusiasm makes more obvious the sickness of Victor's heart. At this point it is helpful to remember that melancholy has plagued the narrator since the creature came into existence. He is tied to his creation in an uncompromising fashion; until the creature is happy, Frankenstein cannot be happy. Chapter 19: London is the current place of rest for the two friends. Clerval wants to socialize with learned men; all Victor wants is to get the information he needs to commence working. He is not enjoying the trip as he should.

Company is annoying. He prefers solitude, in which he can 'cheat himself into a transitory peace. ' The insurmountable barrier of blood from William and Justine forever places a barrier between the narrator and other men. In Henry Victor sees his former self inquisitive, anxious to gain experience and instruction. His friend longs to visit India and learn the language. Gathering information for his work his continuous torturous to the narrator.

After some months, the two are invited by a mutual friend to visit Scotland. The idea is agreeable to Frankenstein, who l...