Letters In Frankenstein

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Throughout the past two centuries, many novelists have tried and failed to recapture the true horror and remorse that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein accomplished. Through first hand accounts of events, the story of Frankenstein and his creation stirs up emotions of empathy, turmoil, and fear. "I have found it! What terrified me will terrify others; and I need only describe the spectre which had haunted my midnight pillow."(M. Shelley ix) Frankenstein, like many of her other short stories and novels, Shelley published anonymously and did not live to see its ascent to popularity. Based on the scientific discoveries of Darwin, Shelley brought forth an idea of reviving dead substance to life. This novel, a byproduct of a ghost story contest among …show more content…
Through a notorious account given by Robert Walton, the story of Frankenstein begins and ends. In a series of letters, Frankenstein remembers his relations with his family back in Geneva. These letters not only serve to prove the virtue of characters, but also to provide a background history for the reader. Each character has their own values and personality, as described through their letters. Whether gentle, pure, horrid, kind, troubled, or carefree, their letters and soft words echo these traits. "Get well-and return to us. You will find a happy, cheerful home, and friends who love you dearly."(M. Shelley 40) When describing scenery, ailment, and trouble, Shelley asserts great detail. Her description does not rely as much on a descriptive visual account as it does on events that took place and where they happened. "He approached; his countenance bespoke bitter anguish, combined with disdain and malignity, while its unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes."(M. Shelley 68) Themes of a creator and his creation surface quite frequently in Frankenstein. Upon reading Milton's Paradise Lost, the monster begins to view himself as Satan, a hated, abandoned creature. Likewise, he views his creator, Victor Frankenstein, as the source of his pain and suffering, his abuser. Victor Frankenstein agrees with the daemons point of view and looks upon him with contempt and regret. Instead of adhering to his creation's need, he ignores him and denies company with him. Frankenstein mirrors the story of Paradise Lost and Satan's gradual contempt of God, his
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