Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.

Opening sentence to Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I think I can correctly assume that most people know the basic story of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. So instead of doing a more traditional book review, I'm going to talk about a few things that impressed me about the book. If you'd like the basic run-down of the plot go here.

First, I found parts of the book to be genuinely disturbing. There's nothing in it that's outright scary, but there is plenty of narrative tension in Frankenstein and some of the scenes left me unsettled. I didn't expect that to be the case with the novel, which is more more philosophical than any of the movie versions are. Early in his life the creature spends several weeks watching the comings and goings of a poor family. He begins to bond with the family, longing to become a part of it, to end his own isolation. He teaches himself how to speak by observing and mimicking the family. Since the grandfather in the family is blind, the creature first approaches him thinking he, at least, won't run from him on sight. When the father and man of the house returns to find a monster talking to the old man, he attacks the creature immediately. Just when the reader is starting to feel sorry for the creature, he exacts his revenge on the poor family. It's this mixture of emotions that disturbed me.

Frankenstein has something to say to the modern world. Although it's happened to me many times, I'm always surprised when 200-year-old classics hit home. We probably already have the scientific knowledge and technology needed to create a human being. I think it's just a question of when. Mary Shelley's creature is made by man, not by God. The nature of his creation excludes him from human company, forces him into isolation which makes him a monster. If the creature had succeeded in joining the poor family, he would have been happy. But no human family, created by God, will have anything to do with him. Is this a lesson we should learn? Those we exclude from the human family turn into monsters.

The isolation theme runs throughout the lives of the novel's human characters as well. It is, in part, Victor Frankenstein's own social isolation that drives him to create the creature in the first place. The Arctic explorer, whose letters frame the novel, is driven to attempt to reach the north pole again by his own social isolation. He writes to his sister how deeply he longs for a companion to share his enthusiasms, to whom he can unburden his soul. When Victor Frankenstein happens along in a dog sled he thinks his prayers have been answered. Frankenstein, however, is pursuing his creation, and will not remain on the explorers ship longer than it takes to tell his story. Had the two men met before any of this had happened, they may have provided a check on each other's behavior.

Lastly, I was impressed by just how fine a piece of literature Frankenstein is. I expected a mixed bag--some literary aspects in a book valuable for its inventiveness but not exactly first-rate art, something like Bram Stoker's Dracula. Instead, I found a well reasoned, soundly crafted work of late 18th century literature. (Though it was published in 1818, it's really not a 19th century novel.) Mary Shelley's philosophical argument about the nature of man, her understanding about the affects of social isolation, and her way with words make for a book that should get much more respect from academics than it does.

I was impressed.

Happy Halloween!