Looking Back at Frankenstein 200 Years Ago - Essay Example

Looking Back at Frankenstein After Over 200 Years (Narrative Essay) Frankenstein's fame has endured many generations since the original novel was written by Shelley over 200 years ago. I feel quite familiar with Frankenstein because of the very many stories I have heard about the character and in very many forms. I recall having watched a few movies inspired by the novel, as well as many comedic animated programs on television especially made for children, which depicted Frankenstein as a friendly man-made monster or robot. Not to mention that everybody older than I was seemed to know a lot about Frankenstein. However, I have not, since very recently, actually read Shelley's novel and the experience opened my eyes not only to who Frankenstein actually was in that novel, but also to the ways of the European world in the 1800s, the beauty of the places depicted in the novel as vividly described by the author, and to Shelley herself for having produced such a very well conceptualized and written piece, moving and entertaining even after 200 years. Shelley's novel opens with several letters written by the storyteller, Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville, in England as Walton himself is on a grand voyage to the end of the earth. The series of letters sets the stage for introducing Victor Frankenstein who Walton meets during his voyage. And then, the rest of the book recounts Frankenstein's story of his life. I was especially glued to Shelley's vivid descriptions of locales, the changing seasons, how the characters looked and their emotions at different parts of the story. The writing was so colorful that it was better than watching a movie. Shelley's story also depicted the sensibilities of the age, especially the differing natures and primary pursuits of various countries and peoples in Europe and England. It portrayed the importance that some individuals put on science and other intellectual pursuits while others choose to occupy themselves primarily with commerce and the accumulation of wealth. Shelley depicted the interplay of good and bad in human character and very successfully did so. Personally, my realization was that there is always reason why people do certain things and that this reason is primarily good in the view of the person acting on the reason. Before I read the original text of Frankenstein, I had very many misconceptions about the story. I had thought Frankenstein was the monster, or Victor Frankenstein was a mad scientist, or that a Mrs. Frankenstein actually came into being. All this was probably brought on by the different stories I heard on the same subject. I never thought that I would consider Frankenstein a literary masterpiece that has made it become a classic. Actually reading the novel has of course changed all that. It was quite easy for me to get a copy of Frankenstein because it was available in the Project Gutenberg collection. A remarkable novel such as what Mary Shelley has written over 200 years ago can now be easily accessed, read, dissected, analyzed or merely perused for enjoyment. The Gutenberg collection has over 3 million titles and over 25,000 of these are freely accessible. Indeed, in this age of computers it is quite marvelous to be able to look back at somebody's work from hundreds of years ago, learn from it and get inspired by it. Who is Victor Frankenstein (Reflective Essay) It is amazing to realize that Victor Frankenstein, the character created by Mary Shelley in her famous novel some 200 years ago may well be any one of us, today. Shelley may have over dramatized the pursuits of Frankenstein in her book but the character of Victor, his aspirations, his focused pursuit of objectives, his joys and sorrows are as human as they were then as they are now. Victor, at the story's opening is from a family with means. But as he relates the story of his parents, it was not so in the past, rather a series of ups and downs in terms of economic well-being. That initial story already depicts human histories that are true even today. At the age of seventeen, Victor is sent to get higher education outside his native country of Switzerland, in Ingolstadt, Germany. His parents believed such a move would broaden the young man's horizons, a desire that even parents today espouse for their children. Victor's loved ones consisted of his father, his cousin Elizabeth and his good friend Clerval. This set of cherished relations are most probably the same set one would keep today - a parent, a dear relative and a friend. Like any young person, Victor drew inspiration from his readings, his teachers and his imagination. He is particularly impressed with chemistry and as taught by a favorite mentor M. Waldman. How many of us at a certain point in life would also latch on to a particular interest and get inspired by a particular person Victor, then, in his youth, believes he can accomplish anything and conquer the world so to speak, as he embarks on something that has never before been done, that is to create a human being. This may be fantastic but in a sense realistic, too, as inspired humans do become the great inventors of something new, different and never been done before. Victor accomplishes what he has singularly dedicated himself to do, but was not glad with the result. This is like many similar stories of ordinary people. What Victor has created should have been his instrument for glory but rather it became the cause of all his miseries. He then alternately shifts from being problematic to being resigned to what cannot be undone. He is nagged by his folly and would worry about it at length, yet other times he will forget the same worries and take comfort in the beautiful world around him. All of the small stories in the Frankenstein novel relate very realistic small stories in ordinary human lives. Towards the end, when all his friends have been lost, and when the only reason to live is to seek his enemy, Victor finds consolation in meeting Robert Walton. Walton represents renewal of the human spirit, a fresh hope, just like what happens in everyday lives when the all the chips seem to be down, something happens which changes the courses of things. At the very end, on his deathbed, Victor rationalizes and summarizes to Robert all the reasons for the actions he has taken and why he continues to desire the annihilation of the monster. This part is also very similar to the musing of the elderly when they believe they are about to reach their journey's end. Victor Frankenstein, to me, is a very human character. And Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, to be revisited after over 200 years from its writing is a remarkable literary piece with its riveting tale, its educational value from the depiction of 1800 Europe and the quality of the writing, but more importantly, inspirational as it mirrors the limitless capacities of human beings. Works Cited Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. Project Gutenberg. 1993-10-01. 23 September 2008 . Read More