- Victor doesn’t give his monster a name. What does this do for the story? What does it say about us in society today that we think the monster’s name is Frankenstein?
- How is science portrayed in Frankenstein? Consider that this book was written in the midst of vast scientific advances and the advent of the Industrial Revolution.
- You might have noticed some religious/mythological influences in this text. To start off, there’s the creator/creation paradigm. In addition, the monster is compared to Adam. But the monster is also compared to the fallen angel – Satan – and Victor takes on comparisons to God. Finally, the novel itself is officially titled The Modern Prometheus. Do these inferences and references force characters to be depicted as "good" or "evil"?
- How does conflict figure into the plot? Is the conflict primarily intellectual, moral or emotional?
- How does the concept of hubris figure into the plot? Are the characters propelled by Fate, or something much more psychological? Why?
10 Comments
Kevin Ortega-Nuñez
8/24/2016 11:51:31 am
1.) From an individualized approach to this topic, Victor has likely not given his creation a name considering its current occupation: he is a creature brought forth by the hands of a greater mind, not a being brought forth by the tender and caring hands of a parent. The "daemon" is a monstrous apparition brought forth through a "successful" experiment within its premise of bodily functionality and, principally, organic re-animation. If it were given a name, such as the title of "Frankenstein", it would come, in essence, as a result of being the scientifically-conceived "offspring" of Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the "daemon". Likewise, within the popularization of the character, the monster has been known as "Frankenstein" through its acclaimed legacy of fictional premise whilst, in all realism, it is better known as " The Frankenstein's Monster."
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Kevin Ortega-Nuñez
8/24/2016 01:16:13 pm
NOTE: [Response for Question #05 cut off at "aware"]
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Oscar Rivera
8/25/2016 09:06:02 pm
1. Victor did not name his creation due to many factors. These factors include: regret, disbelief, disgust, and rejection. Whenever a pet or new born child is given a name it is because the parents or owners are proud. The parents are happy; they consider themselves blessed to raise and share their life with another life form. Some are so proud that they even name their child after themselves. In this case however Victor leaves his monster without a name because he regretted making him in the first place. He was in disbelief when he had seen how “The Monster” came to be. With all his disgust he chose to reject “The Monster” and run away. Not naming his monster gave the story a sense of regret. All throughout Victor had never been truly satisfied with himself especially due to the death of many loved ones. Not naming his creation reflects his un satisfaction with the creation and himself. Many people believe the monster is named Frankenstein and some even choose to call him Frankenstein. What this says about society is that we are reluctant to leave anything with a beating heart un named. In today’s society it is natural to give a name to everything and for us to call Victor’s creation “The Monster” would be inhumane. Even though some might not see him as human.
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Marcos Rosales
8/26/2016 05:39:46 pm
1. Not only does Victor not consider his creation worthy of a name, he also does not consider himself worthy of naming anything. Once he succeeds in creating the monster, his immediate reaction is one of disgust and regret with himself. One of the things he does soon after creating it is abandon it in his living quarters and leave. As a result, in pop culture many tend to make the mistake of naming the creature Frankenstein. This could be viewed as people simply not knowing enough about the story, resulting in an inaccurate statement. However, it could also be said that human society as a whole puts more emphasis on creators rather than creations. A real world example could be Steve jobs and the iPhone. Many people praise Steve Jobs and remember him today, whereas they grow more critical of the iPhone product.
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Victoria Argote
8/26/2016 08:17:44 pm
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein neglects naming his monster. This leaves room for interpretation from the reader. One argument could be that Victor is the true monster, after disregarding warning signals and potentially losing his morality he is gripped back to reality at the ‘birth’ of his monster. He realizes the horror he has composed and flees, abandoning his monster. Later into the story, Victor is informed his brother William was found dead and his cousin Justine Moritz is accused of the death and then sentenced to. During Justine’s trial Victor sees his monster on a late night walk, the possibility of his monster being the actual murder eats away at Victor’s sanity. As the story goes we learn of the monster’s travels. He tells Victor of his journey and a family he stalked during so, he tells of how he learned to speak and read. He also learns of his role in society which brings him to ask Victor for a companion. Victor already guilt ridden declines, he refuses to bring another monster in the world. The monster sets out for revenge on Victor and tells him he will be with him on his wedding day. The anxious wait all but kills Victor. Victor then discovers his long time friend Ernest has been killed. Victor’s father visits him and tells him of his wishes for marriage to which Victor agrees and go to marry Elizabeth, his ‘more than sister’. On the eve of their wedding Elizabeth is killed by the monster, which sets Victor on a quest for blood. The theory of Victor being the monster stem from the events which follow the creation of his monster. It is Victor’s fault for all the tragedy and even the monster horrible as he is falls victim to the greed and selfishness of Victor. Although most of it stems from confusion and little knowledge on the book, society calling the monster Frankenstein could root from a deeper knowing of the term monster. Sure in his anatomy Victor is human, but Victor is the monster in all expect name.
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Victoria
8/26/2016 08:20:20 pm
the response to #3 is bunched up with #2 it starts at "Victor's bias" and #5 is bunched of with #4 it starts with "Victor's pride"
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Lauryn burwell
8/26/2016 08:56:28 pm
1. In the story "Frankenstein" Vicor does not name his creation because not only is he disipointed in the monster, but also in himself for many reasons. One of the main reasons was discusted that he even created it in the first place. Because he had such a strong discust for his creation he ran away without naming it. I believe the reason that he left his creation without naming it is because of all the loss he experienced in his life. People naturally assume that the creation would be named Frankenstein in today's society as a feeling of compassion for the unnamed breathing creation.
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Aleyna Van Antwerp
8/26/2016 10:03:47 pm
1. I think the lack of a name for the monster leaves the readers open to interpret the actions of the creation. When a child is born into a family it is done so in love, it is carefully named with all the intentions of it being cared for it well into the future. Dr. Frankenstein is horrified by his creation, in all reality; he is the monster for playing God out of the sheer fascination of doing such a thing without considering the implications and an inability to be responsible for it. Society today knows that both creator and created in the story are abominations, as the creation takes on the sins of its father.
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Daisy Padron
8/26/2016 10:48:36 pm
1. In the story, Victor does not name his monster. This could create a bit of confusion for the readers of the story. One of the factors could be because he was appalled by what he created and therefore did not want to take ownership, or any responsibility about his creation. He was ashamed that his moral standards had led him that far to actually making the monster, he could not bear to name it, so instead he ran away. It says a lot about society that we just assumed the name of the monster was "Frankenstein". This could be just because of the ignorance of society and not actually reading the story correctly. It could also be because as a growing culture, people are constantly creating new things. It turns to be a big deal when something is created that people automatically assume the creation is wanted by the owner. The creation does not only become labeled with the owner's name on it, it becomes a part of the owner's identity. This can represent how we can value and remember synthetic things more than the actual people who created them. This also shows a loss of human value and interaction in this century if we are not even willing to read a persons' story right. Personally, it irritates me that the majority of the population can not differentiate Victor Frankenstein, the fictional main character, from the monster he created. It's absolutely ridiculous.
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Rodolfo Valencia
8/26/2016 11:55:57 pm
1)In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein leaves his monster nameless due to the fact that he felt regret for what he had created. He soon felt his monster was a disaster and was horrified by what he had done. The fact that society chooses to believe or call Victor's monster Frankenstein implies that his creation was in a way a reflection of himself, his monster was what he created and at one point his monster related to how he felt. His monster represents Victor's sorrow for loved ones that passed away. The monster inherited Victor's last name as a way to represent Victor as the father and the monster as a child who takes after the father.
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