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Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” divulges how society shapes the creation of power and oppression.
The time Marry Shelly wrote her book “Frankenstein” there existed a flourishing scientific world. Inventions and experiments in scientific discoveries regarding the future of science and life dominated society, especially for those regarded to have intelligent minds in the community. The idea of bringing to life those who had died was also entertained. Gothic writing styles dominated Marry Shelly’s “Frankenstein” novel. Fiction, horror, death, and romance were all evident in the novel. Gothic elements such as terror and revenge at some points were encountered in the novel. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein reveals how society shapes the creation of power and oppression based on the race through the use of tone, mood, foreshadow, and characterization.
Mary Shelley uses tone and mood to illustrate the creation of power and oppression in “Frankenstein,” as a result of horrific events, the tone oscillates between remorse and anger on the part of the narrator. On the part of the reader, suspense builds since the reader is, in most cases, left hanging on the events that will unfold.
The oscillation between remorse and anger between the narrators
Victor compares himself to the devil in Milton’s Paradise Lost, where he says that “like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in the hell.” ” (page 194). He was regretting because of him being over-ambitious. He was angered by his act of bringing a creature that is doing a horrible thing to his loved ones. The monster also compares itself has Satan for the way it is discriminated against since no one accepts it, even Victor, his creator. This makes the monster remorse and gets angry to the extent of killing Frankenstein’s friends. When Victor learned that it was the monster he created that killed Williams, he remorse and felt hungry, but he couldn’t tell anyone. When the monster demanded that it should be provided with a female companion, Victor at first agreed, but when he thought of how the monster has been horrible, he was angered and destroyed the female creature he was building. When the monster kills Elizabeth Society’s power and oppression turns him into a monster, Victor is angered by the act of the creature he created himself, and he shoots the monster intending to kill it. The creature has caused a lot of damage to Victor, and he plans to kill it as he regretted his act of creating the monster. These oscillations between remorse and anger between the narrators created anxiety and fear in the novel as the outcome of the anger was to be experienced.
Builds suspense on the part of the reader
The whole novel is full of uncertainty. When the monster Victor was developing is described to be 8 feet with white eyes and yellow skin the mood of the reader is directed to scary as the description does not reflect a human being but a ghost, hence the reader is left in suspense on how the monster will relate with the normal human being. After the creature awakes, Victor runs away; the reader is left in suspense as the narrator doesn’t say what makes him run away, which leaves the reader wanting to hear what the monster does after it wakes up. When Victor destroyed the female creature the monster had demanded, the narrator doesn’t tell the reader the reaction of the monster, and the reader waits to hear the reaction of the monster. The novel is full of suspense, and even as the novel ends, the reader is left in suspense as it is not clear whether the monster died or not.
Mary Shelley uses foreshadowing built on the narrators’ disposition toward regret to illustrate the creation of power and oppression in “Frankenstein.”
Examples of explicit foreshadowing towards the tragic events to come
Victor explicitly foreshadows tragic events that will come later by saying things like “Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction” ”(page 23). This foreshadowing was clear that evidence that Victor had failed and seemed to have no alternative to clear the mess he had brought due to being over-ambitious. The death of Justin was foreshadowed before it happened; the events that had happened earlier on the narrative had foreshadowed that Justine’s guiltless will not protect her. The death of Elizabeth was foreshadowed when the monster promised vowed that” I will be with you on your wedding night” (page 149). After Victor destroyed the female mate, the person Frankenstein was to marry was Elizabeth; hence the monster was vowing to destroy Elizabeth to revenge.
Examples of foreshadowing heightened through different references/beliefs
Foreshadowing is also enhanced through references to fate, destiny, and omens. The punishment of Victor was foreshadowed at the of his scientific pursuit when it was stated that it was the force of nature that pushed him into his scientific pursuit, and it is believed that when one temper with forces of nature retribution by nature will follow him.
Mary Shelley’s use of characterization illustrates how society shaped Frankenstein and shifted him from a protagonist to an antagonist. When Victor was creating Frankenstein, it was for good, and he never thought that society’s power and oppression would turn him into a monster.
Victor Frankenstein creating Frankenstein for the greater good
When victor was creating Frankenstein, he had a good motive that it will be a big step, and he will be recognized for his great idea. Victor thought that his achievement would secure a lasting reputation. He never considered thinking of any negative consequence that can be as a result of the Frankenstein. Victor was over-ambitious and decided to go for his ambitions secretly. He never consulted anyone for advice as he wanted people to hear his success as a surprise and be glorified for an excellent job. Victor wanted to create a morally human.
Society’s power and oppression turns him into a monster
When Frankenstein was created, he was as good as a normal human being. Frankenstein wanted to have a human connection, but when it tried to be in a relationship with people, they avoided him and ran away. When Frankenstein realizes that it will never have a good relationship with a human being, he decides to revenge. Even Victor, who created Frankenstein, had turned against him as Victor even denied him even a chance to have a female mate. This made Frankenstein feel oppressed and started killing Victor’s family and friends.
Victor Frankenstein’s ambitions never came to be achieved, although he completed forming a life, he failed to control the life he made. Because of Victor being over-ambitious, he then starts regretting his action as the Frankenstein he had created had turned into a monster and was killing his friends and family members. The Frankenstein turns into a monster because of the oppression and unacceptability he receives from human being he wished to have a good connection with. And as a result, he turns a monster and starts killing people to revenge. Victor never achieves his ambition, and as the novel comes to an end, Victor even has another ambition to destroy Frankenstein, which was his first ambition. If victor was not over-ambitious, his friends and family could not have died, and even he too could not have died.
Work Cited
Mary Shelly: Frankenstein’s Creator: The First Science Fiction Writer. Conari P, 1998.