Frankenstein Lit Circle #2
As the plot unfolds, we start to get more information about the monster. Does he have more than one mental function and how do they build him as a monster? Does his mental functions help him with individuation when he enters the wilderness?
The monster starts off with the mental function of a feeler. Because of Victor’s initial actions towards him, he decides to run away from Victor’s apartment into the wilderness. He soon starts to discover basic aspects that the world provides, causing him to change his mental function to a thinker.
As he develops his mental function as a thinker, he becomes smarter about his surroundings, helping him greatly with individuation. He was able to learn to communicate and care for his peers behind their backs.
The monster became more human-like, with sensitivity and emotions, and even learned to communicate in english.
As the plot develops, Victor develops a guilt complex from creating a hideous but powerful monster. How does this complex change Victor as an individual? Does the guilt complex build him stronger as a person or tear him apart?
Victor’s guilt complex tore him apart as a person, leading to suicidal thoughts
He wasn’t able to come upon any chemical instruments, as he would think back to the monster that he fully regretted creating
His guilt complex worsen after the murder of his younger brother, William. He believes that the monster must have killed his brother, causing more guilt and regret on his back.
All the events after the creation of the monster slowly and surely tore him into pieces, making him feel miserable and eventually leading to his suicidal thoughts.
Through the post-colonial lens, how can the monster be connected to the elephant in Shooting an Elephant? Do they both have the same status in the society?
It is easily seen that the monster is not part of the hegemony, rather the subaltern. This is also seen in Shooting an Elephant where the elephant is the subaltern of the short story.
They are both seen as the odd one out of the entire society, as both of them are looked down upon. The rest of the society treat them differently
Both of them felt unhomely, being in an environment they both were unfamiliar with
Frankenstein Lit Circle #3
Since Mary Shelley was a feminist, do you believe she tried to make Safie one of the strongest characters in the novel and why? Does Safie help Shelly speak her thoughts on female stereotypes?
Though a constant motif seen throughout the novel is the passive woman, Safie’s actions as a female character goes against the motif
She is able to take initiative and face her own fate without the accompaniment of her father or any man, which goes against the female stereotypes of the need for masculine protection and woman as nature
Characters such as the monster and Safie’s father are also considered outsiders like Safie herself, but only she was able to gain acceptance, showing how Shelley wanted to make her one of the strongest, if not the strongest side character in the novel.
Safie creates a huge contrast from other female in the novel, showing Shelley’s opinion on the stereotypes of a female character
Through the post-colonial lens, after the monster creolized and learned the language of the hegemony, do you believe he was successful in getting the acceptance and love he wanted?
The monster tried his best to gain the acceptance of Victor which is seen through his explanation and interest in Felix and Safie’s relationship. The monster hoped for Victor to feel ashamed of abandoning him after hearing about Felix risking everything for Safie
Since the monster is part of the subaltern, it would be reasonable for his desire of acceptance by the hegemony. As he asks Victor to create a female companion for him, I believe that the monster is starting to understand that he will never be accepted by the humans, and the only way for him to feel love and acceptance is from having another monster companion
Connecting to the short story The Diamond Necklace, how are Mathilde and the monster’s journey of seeking acceptance similar?
In The Diamond Necklace, Mathilde spends a lot of money and effort to look fabulous and impress others at the ball. All she wanted was the acceptance of the rich, but ends up making a huge mistake which changes her entire life.
Connecting the monster to Mathilde, he murders innocent people because of his desire for their acceptance, and he goes out of his way to learn other languages to adapt to other’s lifestyle. Though he turned humanlike and was able to attain Victors attention to listen, he was still unsuccessful in gaining the acceptance he wanted, leading to his decision for wanting a female monster companion. Likewise, Mathilde did impress a lot of people at the ball with her luxurious diamond necklace, but in the end her status drops lower than before, showing her failure in gaining acceptance of the rich. Both Mathilde and the monster failed to gain acceptance in the end.
Frankenstein Lit Circle #4
Though Victor promised the monster that he’ll create a female monster companion for him, Victor considered the consequences and decides to destroy the creation in mid progress. Through the feminist lens, does Victor destroying his female monster creation show his view on females and why?
His reasoning for destroying his creation was because he was worried that the monster would reproduce and create a lot of hideous monster that would take over the world
Another reason was because Victor was scared that the female monster would hate the hideous monster and go on a killing rampage
Through his reasonings of destroying the female monster, it clearly shows that he is an anti-feminist. He compared women to nature, thinking that the female monster will be destructive and wild. Additionally, he stereotyped women saying that the female monster will reproduce, assuming that is the role of a female.
How does Victor’s self centered complex affect the outcome of the story? Does Victor being an introversion also affect this?
Throughout the entire novel, Victor progressed as a scientist alone, cancelling out his family and focusing on his dream, which was to create life and be the greatest scientist to live. Though he instantly regret his creation, his introversion caused him to not tell anyone about the monster, thus leading to the death of the people close to Victor.
Victor’s self centered complex lead to the death of all of his close friends and family, especially Elizabeth. His self centered complex caused him to think that the monster wanted to kill him for breaking his promise, but Victor never realized that all the monster ever killed was the people closest to him, not Victor, the creator himself.
Through the jungian lens, how is the boy in The Giving Tree and Victor similar? Do they share the same complexes? Do they both have a big ego?
The boy in The Giving Tree has a self centered complex, causing him to constantly take from the tree. He only cared about things that would benefit himself, rather than realizing the life he was taking away from the tree. The boy’s ego grew as he grew older, from a little boy who would enjoy playing with the tree, to a man who only cared about himself, thinking that he is more superior and important than the tree.
Similarly, Victor had a self centered complex, causing him to not be aware of his surrounds and only worrying about the monster. This lead Victor to lose all of his loved ones, one after another as they were killed by the monster. Even so, Victor became dehumanized and only cared about getting revenge on the monster, which became his life goal until he died. His big ego of wanting to be the most successful scientist in the world lead to the cause of the entire novel. His ego made him desire to create something no other scientist attempted or succeeded in, which was creating life.
Album – All you have is Yourself:
- The Monster – Eminem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRPGGJQao4
- Same love – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0
- Fix you – Coldplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4V3Mo61fJM
Album Explanation
The Monster by Eminem featuring Rihanna is a song about the balance between fame and success in celebrities. The chorus of the song explicitly says, “I’m friends with a monster” (Eminem). Through the Jungian lens, the monster in the song is symbolizing the dark side of oneself, the shadow. In the song, the monster is the shadow of a celebrity that desires for fame, which is created by their own ego. Connecting to the text, the Monster is actually the shadow of Victor. Victor started off with a huge ego, thinking he was greatest scientist who ever lived. This lead to his desire to create life, the monster, which eventually took a toll on him and caused his madness. Though Victor had a huge ego, the monster portrayed his weaknesses, causing his illnesses, losing all of his beloved ones, and eventually losing everything, only wanting to take revenge on the monster, which ultimately was his own shadow.
Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis talks about acceptance and homosexuality. Macklemore tries to address the issue of discrimination among the society as a lot of people are discriminated because of their gender and skin tone, portraying why the song is called Same Love. Connecting to the novel Frankenstein, it relates completely to how the Monster feels, especially towards the De Lacey’s. Majority of the section, the Monster was afraid to reveal himself, as he would study them from afar. He knew he was different, and that he would be looked down upon because of his appearance. Though he gained the courage to come out and talk to De Lacy, it was only because De Lacy was blind. Soon after, his kids came back and the Monster was told to leave. All the Monster wanted was acceptance and love from the humans, as he believed we all share the Same Love.
Fix You by Coldplay talks about losing a loved one. Although the song is mainly talking about losing a loved one that meant everything, the line in the chorus, “I will try to fix you” is saying how support will be given by other loved ones, specifically the soul mate. Connecting the song to the novel, the Monster lost Victor, his creator. The song clearly illustrates how the Monster felt as he weeped in front of Victor’s dead body. Though the Monster did lose someone who was very valuable to him, he had no one by his side to comfort him, leading to his thought of having no reason to live anymore. Furthermore, the song Fix You does not exactly relate to the scene, but the contrast between the two texts portray the emotions of the Monster. All the Monster wanted was to be accepted and loved, but unfortunately Victor broke his promise of creating a female companion for the Monster, thus leading to the Monster’s loneliness, especially after losing Victor, his creator.
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