How Does Mary Shelley Use Chapters 15 and 16 of “frankenstein” to Evoke the Readers Sympathy for the Creature?How Does Mary Shelley Use Chapters 15 and 16 of “frankenstein” to Evoke the Readers Sympathy for the Creature?How Does Mary Shelley use Chapters 15 and 16 of “Frankenstein” to Evoke the Reader’s Sympathy for the Creature?In this essay I will be commenting on Mary Shelley’s use of chapters 15 and 16 in the novel “Frankenstein” to evoke feelings of sympathy from the reader. I will be analysing her presentation of character, the language and literary devices she uses, and what effect she intended her writing to have on the reader.
There were a number of influences on Shelley, during the writing of the novel “Frankenstein”. Firstly, at the time of writing, gothic fiction was hugely popular, and so Shelley decided to have her novel set in this genre. All gothic literature follows a certain set of conventions which are present in all works of this genre. Gothic tales all occur in an inhospitable place, such as a mountain or dense forest, during bad weather. The characters in Gothic tales are often unnatural or sinister, and the plot is usually morbid, focusing on murders or strange paranormal occurrences. However, “Frankenstein” does not always follow these conventions to the letter, as Shelley sometimes deviates from this set formula in a deliberate design which enhances the atmosphere of the tale and the effect upon the audience.
The plot of The Hunger Games has been carefully selected, and the story is told in a way that reflects the elements of gothic society and history. Although the Hunger Games’ plot is told in Greek and is followed by a period within the series, in fact, the plot of The Hunger Games has never had much of an influence on this story.
The Hunger Games “Frankenstein‟
Shall the reader know what we are talking about? ________ ________ ________
“The Hunger Games” means: “A series of scenes for three hours with a main purpose being to get the audience to understand that the movie is a story of the Hunger Games of that world, and as such, not a true story of this world in which nothing can even be said about it, so that the audience may know that there are all sorts of characters and events that really are the main plot of the action…[the characters] (i.e., the characters) are essentially human being and in order to understand this, they should be given a strong background, perhaps made a bit more elaborate.” ________ ________ “This is a story of the Hunger Games of the world, and we are trying to give a strong focus on this genre, to be able to describe something that is quite similar to the stories in the novels, which is quite different: more of them, certainly, but also less. In order for the characters and events that have been shown in the novels to be meaningful, this must be done through narration. There is no doubt that if this had been filmed I would have gotten the audience to know where was the plot.” ________ ________ “I could have done it as a story of the Hunger Games. But I wanted to give a strong sense of the series. Like the manga, and that’s why I wanted the series to be very dramatic to get a feel of the stakes of our world to the point with the characters and to show how the plot can be told and how much we have to put together. At first the book had the notion of the Hunger Games of the world. But as the characters change and the world becomes different, it gives us an idea of the world, is interesting to me. Then the world of the book grew up and they became bigger. And that’s exactly what we were trying to do. We tried to use the book in its entirety and not just some basic elements. We tried to see the world so much bigger, with greater diversity, not just the elements mentioned in the story but the themes and the themes of the world. And we did that with The Hunger Games. The story in the book is basically that this is the same world we have seen before, the same people all of the previous events…but the world is different. We have to focus on a completely different kind of world.” ________ ________ “The Hunger Games didn’t just tell about the world. It told this about the character. And we want to tell this about characters as well, since we are trying to explain the world to people.” ________ ________ “We have never seen what can be said in words about a movie.
The plot of The Hunger Games has been carefully selected, and the story is told in a way that reflects the elements of gothic society and history. Although the Hunger Games’ plot is told in Greek and is followed by a period within the series, in fact, the plot of The Hunger Games has never had much of an influence on this story.
The Hunger Games “Frankenstein‟
Shall the reader know what we are talking about? ________ ________ ________
“The Hunger Games” means: “A series of scenes for three hours with a main purpose being to get the audience to understand that the movie is a story of the Hunger Games of that world, and as such, not a true story of this world in which nothing can even be said about it, so that the audience may know that there are all sorts of characters and events that really are the main plot of the action…[the characters] (i.e., the characters) are essentially human being and in order to understand this, they should be given a strong background, perhaps made a bit more elaborate.” ________ ________ “This is a story of the Hunger Games of the world, and we are trying to give a strong focus on this genre, to be able to describe something that is quite similar to the stories in the novels, which is quite different: more of them, certainly, but also less. In order for the characters and events that have been shown in the novels to be meaningful, this must be done through narration. There is no doubt that if this had been filmed I would have gotten the audience to know where was the plot.” ________ ________ “I could have done it as a story of the Hunger Games. But I wanted to give a strong sense of the series. Like the manga, and that’s why I wanted the series to be very dramatic to get a feel of the stakes of our world to the point with the characters and to show how the plot can be told and how much we have to put together. At first the book had the notion of the Hunger Games of the world. But as the characters change and the world becomes different, it gives us an idea of the world, is interesting to me. Then the world of the book grew up and they became bigger. And that’s exactly what we were trying to do. We tried to use the book in its entirety and not just some basic elements. We tried to see the world so much bigger, with greater diversity, not just the elements mentioned in the story but the themes and the themes of the world. And we did that with The Hunger Games. The story in the book is basically that this is the same world we have seen before, the same people all of the previous events…but the world is different. We have to focus on a completely different kind of world.” ________ ________ “The Hunger Games didn’t just tell about the world. It told this about the character. And we want to tell this about characters as well, since we are trying to explain the world to people.” ________ ________ “We have never seen what can be said in words about a movie.
Many of the themes and occurrences in the novel were relevant to her personal life as well; she was mourning the death of her firstborn at the time, which could explain the more morbid twists of the plot and she was the victim of discrimination as she had to publish the book anonymously due to the fact she was a woman. She lived in a time when science was in contention with the church and there was precedence of electricity being used to stimulate dead frogs, which may have given inspiration as to how the monster was created.
Chapters 15 and 16 occur around the middle of the novel, after Victor has animated the monster and then rejected it. The chapters are written entirely from the monster’s point of view. This is very important to the novel as a whole, as it enlightens the reader to the creature’s motivation and also sets the stage for the events which occur later in the novel. These chapters also add a lot of depth to the novel, as it forces the reader to question his/her morals; it changes the story from a simple tale with a clearly defined hero and villain to one where you understand and relate with the creature and are less enamoured of Victor.
By giving the creature a voice and personality, Shelley introduces a great deal of pathos into the story, as we no longer see the creature as basically an object which needs destroying, we also come to understand what it has been through and why it has acted as it has. The creature’s use of language allows the reader to relate with it, as it speaks fluently with an extensive and intelligent vocabulary. The fact that the creature is articulate makes the readers reconsider their perception of the creature, as we can no longer think of it as a mindless beast, but a sentient being with thought and feelings. Shelley has the creature use very emotive language when describing his experiences and feelings; this has a profound effect on the reader, for example when the creature describes his being “sunk in the lowest dejection.”
In these two chapters, the creature raises a number of points which contribute to the theme of nature versus nurture, which is present throughout the novel. The creature defiantly contributes towards the nurture argument, as these two chapters detail his metamorphosis from a positive view of mankind “I learned he views of social life which it developed, to admire their virtues, and to deprecate the vices of mankind” before his maltreatment, to a wholly negative one after “The mildness of my nature had fled and all within me was turned to gall and bitterness”. This contradicts the nature argument, as, if it was in his nature to be evil (being made of dead criminals), he surely would have not been so gentle and caring before. The creature has been consciously written to evoke sympathy, as it is plainly obvious that Shelley wrote in many of his characteristics for the sole purpose of making the reader feel sorry for the creature. Its ugly appearance and constant lamentation of loneliness cannot fail to provoke a reaction. “But I was wretched and alone.”
The creature, and his situation, is not the only device Shelley uses to stir feeling for the creature among the readers. Her use of first person narrative when the creature is explaining himself makes both chapters feel very personal, and her descriptions of how other characters in the story react to him induce a copious amount of pathos. There is a great deal of dramatic irony in the writing when the creature is talking to De lacy, who is blind and cannot see the creature’s ugliness. The fact that they have a cordial conversation only because the man