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fruitea 's review for:
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
by Mary Shelley
I read this at least three times for my A Level and every time I became increasingly infuriated with Victor. How are you going to rob graves and put body parts together like puzzle pieces and only realise how horrifying that is after you brought the creature to life? It's undeniable that the creature is not a completely innocent character either, but Victor is the reason all of this happened in the first place. It does make you think about nature vs nurture. Are good and evil inherent in us? Do we have no control over it? Or is it our life experiences and the ways we're treated as children that makes us good or evil? Tabula rasa. The mind is a blank slate when you're born; we are socialised to believe the things we believe, perhaps not even questioning whether there is another perspective worth considering.
Unfortunately for Victor, the thought of treating anyone or anything with kindness is so alien to him that he instead allows this being that, for all intents and purposes, is is son, to kill Elizabeth. Every death at the hands of the creature is also one that Victor bears responsibility for. I feel more empathy for the creature than I do for Victor, and I think referring to the creature as Frankenstein should be encouraged, because Victor would hate that. It makes sense thematically, too, with the creature acting as Victor's double, or perhaps his shadow.
Unfortunately for Victor, the thought of treating anyone or anything with kindness is so alien to him that he instead allows this being that, for all intents and purposes, is is son, to kill Elizabeth. Every death at the hands of the creature is also one that Victor bears responsibility for. I feel more empathy for the creature than I do for Victor, and I think referring to the creature as Frankenstein should be encouraged, because Victor would hate that. It makes sense thematically, too, with the creature acting as Victor's double, or perhaps his shadow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence
Moderate: Death of parent