Parallel Events in Frankenstein

1. Parallel Eventsin Frankenstein By: Emilia Cavallaro, Drew Hall, Robin Canoy, Lauren Werres, and Matthew Caddell 10/8/13

2. Literal Meaning of the Prompt • Parallel Events draw comparisons between people, places, symbols, etc. • Discuss the importance of events that are similar or are repeated throughout the novel. Highlight their similarities and differences.

3. Connection between the prompt and Frankenstein • Frankenstein is an appropriate novel to write about forthis prompt because there are many parallel events and symbols employed throughout the novel in order to draw comparisons between the characters in the novel. Parallels between the creature and other characters like Frankenstein and Walton are especially effective because they highlight the dual nature of the creature’s personality.

4. Example Thesis • 1. Victor Frankenstein is compared • 2. Victor Frankenstein, a lonely, innovative scientist, is appropriately compared • 3. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, a lonely, innovative scientist, is appropriately compared to his creation • 4. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, a lonely, innovative scientist, is appropriately compared to his creation, a grotesque beast that is looking for a companion • 5. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, a lonely, innovative scientist, is appropriately compared to his creation, a grotesque beast that is looking for a companion, because they are both in need of a friend • 6. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, a lonely, innovative scientist, is appropriately compared to his creation, a grotesque beast that is looking for a companion, because they are both in need of a friend; thus Mary Shelley passionately reveals her inner solitude by using recurring themes such as Victor and the monster’s search for companionship, the creature being shunned by those around him, and hints of betrayal by all major characters.

5. Significant Moment 1 • One significant moment in the novel Frankenstein that is closely connected to the prompt is when Robert Walton writes in his letters to his sister about meeting Victor Frankenstein. When Frankenstein hears of Walton’s quest for “knowledge and wisdom,” Frankenstein says, “I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been” and begins to tell the story of how his life was ruined by his ambition to “unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation” (Shelley 19, 40). In other words, because Walton’s scientific goals paralleled those that Frankenstein had at his start, Frankenstein is driven to tell his cautionary tale so that Walton will not make the same mistakes. Without this moment, the novel’s story would not have happened.

6. Significant Moment 2 • A second recurring moment is the creation, followed by the destruction of Frankenstein’s second creature. After the creature tells its story and demands that Frankenstein make it a companion, Frankenstein begins the process of creating a creature just like he did the first time. However, unlike the “first experiment, a kind of enthusiastic frenzy” that shielded Frankenstein from “the horror of [his] employment” the implications of creating a second creature caused him to rethink his decision and eventually “tore to pieces the thing on which [he] was engaged” (Shelley 175, 177). This event is significant because it sets the creatures killing spree into motion.

7. Other Examples Related to the Prompt • Both Victor and the creature experienced misery and the pain of loneliness. Throughout the novel, Victor’s “friends were snatched away; [he] was left desolate” and after the death of his father and Elizabeth “melancholy followed, but by degrees [he] gained a clear conception of [his] miseries and situation” (Shelley 146, 147). This parallels the situation of that of the creature, as it was shunned and rejected by humans, leaving it to dwell in desolation and solitude that resolves the creature to “[declare] everlasting war against the species, and more than all, against him who had formed [it]” (Shelley 143).

8. Other Examples Related to the Prompt • In chapter fourteen, the creature retells the story of Felix in which Felix breaks a Turk out of prison with the Turk promising Felix his daughter’s “hand in marriage, so soon as he should be conveyed to a place of safety” (Shelley 87). This promise is a lie, for once Felix was put in prison for helping free the man, he found out that the Turk had “become a traitor to good feeling and honour and had quitted Italy with his daughter” (Shelley 89). The Turk abandoning Felix in prison is parallel to that of Victor abandoning the creature. Victor had left the creature once he saw how horrid and wretched it was just like the Turk had left Felix once he saw the poverty he had been reduced to.

9. Other Examples Related to the Prompt • In his letters, Walton mentions that he wishes for “the company of a man who could sympathize with [him]; whose eyes would reply to [his]” which mirrors the creature’s own desire for “ ‘a companion … of the same species … with whom [it] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for [it’s] being’ ” (Shelley 7, 153). These events have different results however because Walton finds a friend in Frankenstein while the creature is friendless throughout the novel and at the end it kills itself.

10. Literary Devices • Doppelganger – In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein has a doppelganger, his creature. Throughout the novel, the creature becomes Victor's doppelganger as he becomes increasingly lonely, much as Victor did when he isolated himself from society to do his research. This becomes increasingly apparent once the creature begins to stalk Victor after he promises to create another creature to be the original creature's companion. Shelly likely made the creature Victor's doppelganger in order to help show a more extreme version of the loneliness and isolation that Victor suffers from.

11. Literary Devices • Situational Irony – The entirety of the novel serves as an example of situational irony, as Victor has toiled endlessly to create his masterpiece, yet once his dreams come to fruition, he is revolted and disgraced by the monster that he has created. Shelly most likely used this ironic situation as a cautionary tale as for why scientists should be careful in their attempts to create artificial life.  • Tone – Throughout most of the novel, there is a very dark, somber, and desolate tone that is created through Shelly use of imagery. Shelly likely uses this tone to add a layer of depth and emotional impact to the plight of both Victor and his creation, as they slowly became more and more separated from the society that they are surrounded by, and become increasingly more isolated.

12. Works Cited • Novel: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley • Images: • http://www.google.com/imgres?biw=1680&bih=816&tbm=isch&tbnid=ZwEcStwxgREnaM:&imgrefurl=http://www.megomuseum.com/galleries/frankenstein/&docid=6nG6-U6W3B3DAM&imgurl=http://megomuseum.com/legend/monsters/type2frankenstein.jpg&w=368&h=700&ei=prxUUr6ZGozw8AT-yICoBA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=434&page=1&tbnh=148&tbnw=80&start=0&ndsp=50&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:91&tx=56&ty=99 • http://www.google.com/imgres?sa=X&biw=1680&bih=816&tbm=isch&tbnid=ghaPGNIucBquOM:&imgrefurl=http://www.officialpsds.com/Frankenstein-PSD36315.html&docid=b9dTfA_yxMH2mM&imgurl=http://www.officialpsds.com/images/thumbs/Frankenstein-psd36315.png&w=343&h=400&ei=V7tUUtCRH4ak9ATbwoCYDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1004&vpy=276&dur=32&hovh=242&hovw=208&tx=82&ty=143&page=1&tbnh=155&tbnw=133&start=0&ndsp=44&ved=1t:429,r:19,s:0,i:145 • http://newbiefictionwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/frankenstein.jpg • http://www.chemistry-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/TAXDAYFrankenstien.gif • http://retirementsingularity.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/FrankensteinSmile.jpg • http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Karloff,%20Boris/Annex/Annex%20-%20Karloff,%20Boris%20(Frankenstein)_12.jpg • http://img1.etsystatic.com/013/2/5545296/il_570xN.445103001_lhsa.jpg • http://eofdreams.com/data_images/dreams/letter/letter-03.jpg • http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/multimedia/dynamic/00342/TLSSaler_342518h.jpg • http://www.imaginarybirds.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/fondation-john-koban-Roman