The novel is composed of a series of letters written by Walton to his sister back in England. Walton took part in a long journey as a captain of the sea. During his voyage, Walton met a man named Victor Frankenstein. His letter soon switched from topic of his own journey to the recounting of Victor's life. Victor as a young man was fascinated with science and the miracle of life. He took it upon himself to create life. Subsequently, Victor created a monster. The rest of the novel recounts the tragic events Victor faced due to his horrific creation and ultimately ends with his death and the suicide of the monster.
The theme of the novel is the curiosity and the thirst for knowledge. Victor wanted to know the secret of life so bad that he created a monster. This shows his need to know all which ended badly.
The tone of the novel is ironically calm. Even though the series of events are tragic and dramatic, the language of the text remains collected from Walton's view point. The tone is also very depressing. Walton uses adjectives like miserable and dark in his letters.
Examples:
1. So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein—more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.
2. I saw—with shut eyes, but acute mental vision—I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion. Frightful must it be, for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world.
3. I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on.
Three important literary techniques that helped me understand the theme were:
1. Romanticism
They consulted their village priest, and the result was that Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my parents' house--my more than sister--the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures.
2. Imagery
As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire, issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty yards from our house; and so soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump. When we visited it the next morning, we found the tree shattered in a singular manner. It was not splintered by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribbons of wood. I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed. 3. Rhetorical Questions |
