3. This book is one of the great classics of literature. It’s impact on modern pop culture and the modern horror genre are outstanding. I am very glad I read this book. I adore all the little details in this book that make you wonder if it could ever be real. It’s told from Frankenstein’s point of view, but it is a letter a sea captain has written to his sister, tying the beginning and end of the book together with some excellent foreshadowing that changes the emotional color of the ending (Shelley, Chapter 1). By starting at the end, Mary Shelley changed the type suspense that the reader has to endure. I had to read this entire book knowing that Frankenstein survived all these horrors and was absolutely plagued by them. The story is from the …show more content…
If I had not known right off the bat how guilty he had felt for the creation he wrought on the world, I would have viewed Frankenstein as a selfish, almost conceited character. He is nowhere near a mad scientist, and this makes my heart hurt even more for him. Shelley even manages to make the reader sympathize with the monster. This creature is killing children and torturing his creator’s mind, but we are shown in-depth how hurt the monster had been at the beginning of his life (Shelley, Chapters 11-13). It’s a very strange emotional combination that worked wonders. While telling the story, the narrator is intentionally vague about how the monster is created (Shelley, Chapter 4). I think it’s brilliant to keep that a mystery. It is very true to character, as Frankenstein never wanted his work to be repeated, but it is also a very clever way to avoid having to attempt to explain something that science could not have even dreamed of at the time. That made me really relate to Mary Shelley. She kind of took the easy way out on that one. I get that. I also love that I truly understand the story of Frankenstein now. I feel like pop culture has changed what most people think the story is really