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Comparing Frankenstein 'And The Vegetarian'

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Griffin Kane Synthesis Paper 5/13/24. In both Frankenstein and The Vegetarian, we witness the agonizing struggles of the Monster and Yeong-Hye, who constantly grapple with questions of identity and belonging. Their yearning for acceptance or freedom, respectively, is met with relentless rejection, highlighting society's harsh and judgmental influence. Despite their similar circumstances, both characters diverge in their reasons for facing it, highlighting the themes of alienation and rejection within contrasting societies. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Monster's journey to grasp its identity serves as a central narrative theme, reflecting the complexities of self-discovery amidst ostracism. At the onset, the Monster's emergence into …show more content…

This deviation from the norm not only sets her apart but also enforces further actions that are deemed inappropriate by societal standards, an example of this being Mr. Cheongs frustration with not having his physical needs met, as Yeong-Hye stopped being intimate with him, in which he eventually forces it on her. As the novel continues, Yoeng-Hye continues to rebel against society even further. During the scene of the family dinner, tensions rise as Yoeng-hye’s family members attempt to feed her meat dishes. Young continues to refuse to eat any of these offerings, then after several failed efforts, Yeong-Hye's father shouts, “Don't you understand what your father’s telling you? If he tells you to eat, you eat!”(Han Kang 43). As this conflict arises, Yoeng-Hye’s father becomes violent and begins attempting to force-feed Yoeng-Hye, though she continues to resist. Her father then decides to slap her across the face with extreme force, resulting in even more pain for Yeong-Hye. Her family then joins in as they all make an effort to force-feed her meat. As these tensions continue to escalate, Young Hye makes the rebellious decision to pick up a knife and slit her wrists open. This act of rebellion against society

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Samsong has to decide whether or not he is going to save the life of an old friend, and the Wife has to determine if she is going to stand up for her husband. While Samsong and Tokchae are walking, Samsong orders Tokchae to “go flush a crane” (Sunwon 589). At first Tokchae does not fully comprehend what Samsong is telling him to do, but after remembering how they used to flush cranes as children, he begins to crawl away through the weeds. Rather than Samsong leading Tokchae to his death, Samsong allows his friend to live. In The Wife’s Story, the Wife chooses to act differently even though their internal conflicts are still similar.

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Another example of describing how the monster genre has changed from its inception with Shelley to the present is how R has adapted to society as a new monster by trying to find his identity and regain his human-like qualities. Moreover, Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies embodies the new “monster” by the “monster” having a purpose and goal to change society as it was known and try to reapproach his human qualities. Last, the different fears that society faces explain how the critical readers learn about how the monster genre has changed from its inception with Shelley to the present. Furthermore, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it exhibits fear of the unknown, loss of identity, and loss of despair. In Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies, we are faced with the fear of the unknown, fear of the apocalypse, losing humanity, loss of freedom, losing purpose and dreams, human evil and darkness, loss of despair, loss of connection, and loss of past memories, histories, and

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Its influence derives from characters who depend on materialistic values to display prosperity, maintain power and stay healthy. Huong uses the characters’ meals to emphasize the conditions in which different echelons of society are forced to live and to portray the contrast in the character 's’ life styles. The authors first use of this representation is directed towards families who are at the bottom of the hierarchy and the characters financial struggles are illustrated through the quality of their food. For instance, when Chinh becomes ill with diabetes, Que makes great sacrifices in order to provide him with food and medicine throughout his illness. Huong’s oddly detailed description about their rapidly declining food supply provides insight into the harsh living conditions.

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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a classic novel that explores the consequences of cruelty, both towards oneself and others. Through the course of the story, the theme of cruelty functions as a crucial motivator and major social and political factor, driving the plot and the development of the characters. This essay will analyze how cruelty functions in the work as a whole, the impact it has on the characters, and what it reveals about the perpetrator/victim relationship. One of the most striking examples of cruelty in the novel is the treatment of the creature by his creator, Victor Frankenstein.

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An unsatisfied need for a sense of belonging transforms Frankenstein’s creature into the monster it ultimately becomes. Therefore, I argue that the predominant theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the need for social belonging

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Sticks and strangling will break bones, but words will leave irreparable emotional scars. In Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s epistolary novel, Frankenstein, the estranged Victor Frankenstein deprives his re-animated ‘creature’ of a name. The cruel manner Victor treats his “Adam” (Shelley 119) by withholding a name pushes the Creature further away from the belonging he so desperately seeks (148). As atrocities occur at the ashen hands of the Creature, names like “monster”(118) and “wretched devil”(118) bombard him from those he would seek refuge with . Nameless, the Creature is dehumanized and consequences of a negative perception, internally and from society, persist.

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Throughout this article Hsu uses Julia Kristeva’s definition of what she defines as the abject to explicate the symbolic meaning behind Frankenstein’s monster, which by its application asserts that the monster aggregates all forms of abjection. Hsu coincides with this notion by pointing out that it is by the monster’s constant rejection from society by its appearance that signifies it as being something that disrupts order (that of a societal one) and thus is what causes a sense of horror in both the reader and in Victor Frankenstein. Furthermore, it is Victor’s feelings of both obsession and repugnance towards the labors he undertakes to create this monster that expresses the abject being used ambivalently. Likewise, it is due to the monster

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In the novel Frankenstein,by Mary Shelley, the mysterious and unnatural origins of the character of Frankenstein’s monster are an important element. The Monster, having been created unethically and haphazardly, is at odds throughout the novel, resulting in his alienation from society and prolonged feelings of anger, desertion, and loneliness. Shaping his character, his relationships with other characters, and the meaning of the work as a whole, the Monster’s origins are what define him. The Monster faces rejection and violence every time he attempts to make contact with the new, foreign world he has been thrust into.

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The fictional horror novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is driven by the accentuation of humanity’s flaws. Even at the very mention of her work an archetypal monster fills one’s imagination, coupled with visions of a crazed scientist to boot. Opening her novel with Robert Walton, the conduit of the story, he also serves as a character to parallel the protagonist’s in many ways. As the ‘protagonist’ of the story, Victor Frankenstein, takes on the mantle of the deluded scientist, his nameless creation becomes the embodiment of a truly abandoned child – one left to fend for itself against the harsh reality posed by society. On the other hand, Walton also serves as a foil to Victor – he is not compulsive enough to risk what would be almost

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In The Vegetarian, Yeong-hye even could not sleep because of the bloody dreams. It is a long-term torment. At the same time, she needed to live under the pressure given by her husband, family members, her husband’s colleagues and the boss’s wife. No one supported her at all and it seems that she is the only protagonist and all of the other characters in the story are antagonist. Finally, she could not bear the pressure anymore and became mental disorder.

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