MONSTER CAN SHOW AFFECTION?

"I saw no cause for their unhappiness; but I was deeply affected by it. If such lovely creatures were miserable, it was less strange that I, an imperfect solitary being, should be wretched" (pg 77). I was stunned by the maturity and affection that the monster showed. First when he becomes intrigued by this little family and their problems. He is a very considerate creature, because when he realizes that he is part of the cause of their unhappiness by stealing food, he decides to stop and to help them out. I feel like many humans wouldn't even do that. I was also extremely allured by the fact that he wanted to learn, and he acted upon this desire. He paid attention to what they did and how the words correlated to the actions. I think it's hard to learn another language in school; I can't imagine trying to teach myself my first language. Victor may be wrong in his belief that he created such a terrible being. From what the creature told Victor, the creature has a good heart. He cares about people and himself by furthering his own knowledge. However, I do find it kind of creepy that he just watched this family. Kind of stalkerish, but how was he supposed to know it was wrong?

Justine

"Justine shook her head mournfully. 'I do not fear to die,' she saod; 'that pang is past. God raises my weaknesses, and gives me courage to endure the worst. I leave a sad and bitter world; and if you remember me as of one unjustly condemned, I am resigned to the fate awaiting me. Learn from me, dear lady, to submit in patience to the will of heaven'" (pg 59). I think that Justine is a very powerful and amazing woman. To have the courage and faith in God to admit to a false accusation in order to reach heaven is astonishing. I don't think I know anyone like her today on a personal level at least. I don't quite understand why she would admit to something that is not true though, because she still would have gone to heaven if she lived a good life. She didn't have to leave at that time. I wonder if it was God's time for her to go, or if she just thought it was her time. It's almost like a form of mercy killing or euthanasia, because she is basically choosing to die. I don't know if it's because she doesn't want to live with the blame on her and everyone thinking she is a murderer. I guess I wouldn't want to live like that either, but I feel that it is kind of wrong for to take the blame when she is innocent.

It's ALIVE!

"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 pearly whiteness; but these luxurances 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" (pg 35). It is shocking that Victor would be so disgusted by his creation after he spent so much time and effort on making it. However, the imagery the monster is quite frightening. If I were to see this creature come alive before my eyes, I would probably think about running away too, but I hope I would realize that would be the wrong thing to do. By running away and neglecting his responsibility of this creation, he puts the lives of many others (his brother!) in danger. It makes one question why he ever decided to make this monster. I wonder if it was because he never thought he could actually do it; it is defeating the laws of nature to be able to create life. I would never think I could accomplish such an astonishing feat. In class, we talked about how he only thought about, "Can I do it?" not "Should I do it?" I believe that it is kind of a mixture of both. He wanted to prove that he could do it, but he didn't know if he could, so when he accomplished his goal, he didn't know what to do with the product. He never thought about the consequences.

Cornelius Agrippa

"A new light seemed to dawn upon my mind, and, bounding with joy, I communicated my discovery to my father. My father looked carelessly at the title-page of my book and said, "Ah! Cornelius Agrippa! My dear Victor, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash" (pg 20). Victor's father goes as far as to use the metaphor of this book being trash, yet Victor still decides to read it and become fascinated by it. I was surprised that Victor called his father's response a "cursory glance," because, if my father said that to me, I would definitely think twice about becoming so intrigued by it. I feel like Victor is somewhat blaming his father for his later disaster. He says that if his father would have gone into more detail, then maybe Victor would not have made the big mistake that he did. I'm sure that his father would have been more thorough if he knew his response would have been disregarded and later been the cause of creating a monster. I also think that it is very interesting that this book of some sort of magic was the catalyst of his curiosity in science. Victor said that as soon as he returned home from the baths near Thonon, the place where he had found the book, he began putting Agrippa's words into actions. I wonder what these books said exactly to make him act the way that he did.

"Frankenstein" Mary Shelley

"And when, on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine -- mine to protect, love, and cherish" (pg 18). As I read this first chapter, I felt that Elizabeth's role was a bit ambiguous. I could not tell if she was going to be his sister or Victor's wife or both... As strange as it may be, it turns out to be more of the third option. Victor's parents raise her as a child of their own, showing pride and love in her. On the other hand, his mother did pick her out, because she was so beautiful and told Victor that she had a "pretty present" for him before they brought her home. The hopes of his parents were that they would raise her and eventually Victor could marry her. That is really odd to me, because it's like they went to the store and hand picked a wife for their son, but oh well. I'm guessing that it was not that peculiar back then as it is today.

COINCIDENCE???

"A new point of view occured to me. Suppose Tom found out the Daisy had been driving. He might think he saw a connection in it--he might think anything" (pg 144). As soon as the black man said it was a yellow car, I was wondering if Daisy knew what Myrtle looked like and whether she would intentionally injure her or not. I didn't think that she would kill her on purpose, because then Tom might kill Gatsby in revenge. I also wondered whether it was Gatsby or Daisy driving. In my mind it would make more sense for Gatsby to kill Myrtle in an attempt to hurt Tom, after Tom had upset him so badly. It could have been a type of vengeance, like if Daisy can't have me, then you can't have Myrtle. I also wondered, like Nick, if Tom would make a connection, and if he would do anything about it if he did. Another thought running through my head was if Myrtle was trying to get hit or if she was trying to talk to Tom. I am still curious on that matter and whether Daisy tried to stop before she hit her, because I know she took off afterwards.

LONELY

"I found myself on Gatsby's side, and alone" (pg 164). I found this line to be depressing. This is probably weird, but sometimes I think about who would come to my funeral if I died, and if no one came I would be absolutely devestated. I find it incredibly sad that Gatsby has no friends. I would think that some of his platoon mates would come or something. It kind of makes sense that Wolfsheim and those fellows wouldn't show, because they could get in trouble for being in public. Daisy not making an appearance would be horrible in Gatsby's mind, but for her, it was probably better that she didn't know, because it would cause her internal conflict to grow even more. Having someone you love die is terrible, and if you ended on a bad note, it would be even worse! I grew to appreciate Nick more for being such a great friend.