Frankenstein Study Guide: Chapters 6-16

Chapters 6-10
1.) Justine is primarily at fault for William's death, however, Victor does take a part in his death as he had created the creature that had killed him.
2.) People in today's court system follow the line "innocent until proven guilty," which gives time for evidence to be found thus causing a hold on a persons trial. However, in the courts of the past the phrase was twisted to where a person was guilty until proven innocent/
3.) The guilt practically consumes Victor as time goes on, it becomes quite excessive as he falls ill because of it. Introducing this again, Shelley allows the reader to show the character development emotionally and physically of Victor.
4.) His halt in the Valley of Chamounix  shows his desire to scream the guilt he holds from the recent tragedies. There, he seeks oblivion in the landscape as well as sleep; various things (avalanches, earthquakes) that begin could also represent the chaos that Victor's mind is in. Additionally, we can infer that this suggests that Victor's want to escape from his responsibility is short-lived. (Note: This is where the readers realizes that Victor may face his downfall sooner.)

Chapters 11-16
1.) The imagery Shelley is employing when describing the awakening is not only (to me) Gothic, but it could be taken through many perspectives. A main one that comes to mind is a child being born, but is eventually not wanted. This is an obvious example as the reader witnesses the rejection that Victor holds for the creature. I would also like to add that his confusion, which is caused by the creature appearing before him, was something that he took as a sign to run. This reminds me of Macbeth and when he first encountered the three witches, his confusion soon turned into something like panic in what he should do.
2.) The change in perspective also changes the way the reader looks and reads the novel, giving them an option on which side story they truly wish to believe. I do feel sympathy for the creature as he was thrown into a world that he knew nothing of, in addition, it had no interpretation of anything around him nor of himself.
3.) The De Lacey family played a huge role in the development of the creature both in the emotional and intellectual states. The creature had observed the family, their actions mainly, and soon came to learn the basics of language through the conversations of Safie and Felix. The creature had eventually become aware of itself, knowing it was a deformity, unfortunately this is part of his drive for revenge. However, on a more positive note, he had learned the need of love, the idea of determination, bravery, generosity, and other emotions that humans do have from this experience. In this, it is sad to know that the creature simply wants sympathy from Victor as he learns that he is derived from him.
4.) The motivation the creature holds derives from several situations it had gone through. Firstly, the barbarity of man; when people saw him the immediately only saw him as a monster and purely a monster. This judgement made him question himself in both his creation and his placement. Secondly, the encounter he had with De Lacey. He simply wanted to know that he could be accepted by humanity in some way, however, this was shut down once De Lacey and his family had rejected him due to his looks which had ended in scorn. Lastly, he learned that no matter what he could do, he would always be seen as a monster that was always stuck with the short stick. (Blamed for the crime when he had saved the girls' life).

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