Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley

Let’s get one thing out of the way up front. The well known, square headed monster with a bolt through his neck has no name. Victor Frankenstein is the name of the man who created the monster.

I always knew of Frankenstein, the classic images of the mad scientist pulling the big switch, and then the lifeless body becoming animate. But I didn’t know the extended story.

The basic premise is Victor Frankenstein pursues his passion and tries to create a being. It works. But the thing he creates ends up being a hideous monster. The monster becomes more and more self aware. It watches humans, and learns their language, and eventually how to read. He starts to realize that he doesn’t fit in. That he has no purpose, and will always be viewed as a monster. The monster learns of Frankensteins contempt for what he created and he becomes angry at Victor for creating him. The monster runs into a young boy, who he learns is the younger brother of Victor. In a fit of rage, the monster strangles the boy and kills him. The rest of the book is essentially a clash between Victor and the monster. At one point, the monster is able to convince Victor to make him a companion, in exchange for him running away to South America and never being seen again. Victor agrees, but as he is making the female companion, he releases that should the two monsters be able to reproduce, he might be creating the end of humanity. So he destroys the companion before he animates it. This enrages the monster. His sole purpose at this point is ruining Victor’s life. He kills a good friend of Victor’s, and promises Victor that he will be there on Victor’s wedding day, which Victor understands to mean the monster will kill his wife and him. The monster succeeds in killing Victor’s wife on their wedding day and Victor is further enraged and determined to kill the monster. In the end, Victor ends up dying of exhaustion essentially due to his long chase of the monster through the arctic. The monster witnesses Victor dying, and then vows to kill himself as well.

The interesting thing with the book is at times you actually feel bad for the monster. It is self aware enough to know it has no place. All it wants is a companion, but Victor refuses to make one for fear of the impact to humanity should they be able to reproduce. So the monster feels crushed, hopeless, and worthless, and the only thing that brings him any sense of purpose is to destroy Frankenstein.

Overall, an enjoyable and iconic read.