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Short Response Prompt For Frankenstein

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1.4.4 Test (TST): Frankenstein Test English 12 Sem 2 Points Possible:45 Name: Noelle Niederman Date: 1. Short-response prompt (15 points) Read the following passage from Leo Tolstoy's 1886 story "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" In the passage, two sisters argue about whether it is better to be well-off in the city or poor in the country: An elder sister came to visit her younger sister in the country. The elder was married to a tradesman in town, the younger to a peasant in the village. . . . "I would not change my way of life for yours," said [the younger sister]. "We may live roughly, but at least we are free from anxiety. You live in better style than we do, but though you often earn more than you need, you are very likely to lose …show more content…

One way Shelley portrays Frankenstein as more monstrous is through his actions. Frankenstein's decision to create life without thinking of the consequences is shown as a selfish and reckless act, while the creature's actions, while at times violent, are driven by a desire for acceptance and understanding. Shelley's choice of language reinforces this contrast, with Frankenstein's actions being described as "madness and horror" while the creature's actions are described as "a sense of justice." In the passage, Frankensteins creation asks for forgiveness after murdering his creator. He describes frankenstein as “Generous and self-devoted” which is ironic considering the actions that lead to the creations murder of frankenstein. Henceforth, this scene is another factor that furthers the idea that frankenseins creation’s violent actions were not mindless, but to seek justice for his creators monstoris actions. Some argue the creature's violent actions make him more monstrous than Frankenstein, but it is crucial to remember that the creature's violence is a response to the cruelty and rejection he experiences at the hands of others. To contrast, Frankenstein's actions are driven by a desire for personal glory and achievement rather than noble or empathetic motives. In summary, by analyzing Shelley's language in the passage, it suggests that Frankenstein is portrayed as more monstrous than his creation. Despite counterclaims that the creature's violent actions make him more monstrous, Shelley's language presents a convincing case that Frankenstein's absence of empathy along with his selfish motives are more monstrous than the creature's violent

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564 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Shelley showcases the theme that people are inherently good. This theme is conveyed through the monster’s character because he can not be classified as either good or evil. This is crucial in the plotline because morally ambiguous characters are considered to be more like real humans. They have their own problems and are not perfect, so the audience sympathizes with those characters. The monster was raised in an environment that modified his moral integrity, which causes the audience to see his character in a different light.

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491 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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1376 Words | 6 Pages

After reading Frankenstein, there are many contrasting arguments on the development of the monster. Opposing the view of “tabula rasa”, it’s more accurate to state that the monster was born with righteous intentions. Through the reversal of the monster's intent, his self-devised desires, and how his personality was altered by others actions, Mary Shelley makes the reader realize that people are born inherently good in order to show how a corrupt mankind and society converts them into sustaining evil. The first instance where Mary Shelley proves this to be true is through how the monster’s intent changes. In the beginning of his chapters, he states that he yearns to be a part of the human’s society.

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687 Words | 3 Pages

The novel Frankenstein brings to light many problems and situations that shed light on the faults of mankind. Cruelty was a huge factor in the novel; throughout Frankenstein is cruel to his body and to his creation. When he first makes the creature he runs from it, leaving the creature to fend for himself; even when reuniting with the creature he continues displays cruelty. The creature, in turn exhibits Victor cruelty right back. Within Frankenstein cruelty can be attributed, often affecting both Victor and the creature; serving as a crucial motivator and revealing their anger, pain, frustration till eventually both die.

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1218 Words | 5 Pages

The use of the word monster in the book also correlates to appearance, and when the creature is called a monster, he feels forced to act like one. After being rejected by society because of his appearance the creature cries to Frankenstein, “Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust” (Shelley 93). This shows that the creature internalized all of the hate he received from his appearance, to the point where he viewed himself as a monster. When he internalizes all this negativity about himself that stems from his appearance, and begins to see himself as a monster, he then begins to behave as one.

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1600 Words | 7 Pages

Therefore, the creation’s monstrous actions are in fact justifiable because of the psychological damages he faced from his creator’s abuse. An awful combination of the effects of child abuse cause an innocent creation to become a killer. Frankenstein is the real monster because the effect of his abuse destroys the joy of life for an innocent creation. Frankenstein’s apathetic nature also causes severe psychological damage to the

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1059 Words | 5 Pages

Amanda Hudson Graydon 2nd Period 2 December 2014 The Brain of a Beast Behavior of the mentally unstable is often mistaken for criminal behavior. Is Victor Frankenstein’s monster completely incorrigible, or is he simply misunderstood? Taking a closer look at the science of the brain and the psychology behind the monster’s actions can give an interesting insight as to why Victor is not to blame for his creation’s wrongdoings. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein creates a being that eventually kills three of the people that are closest to him.

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2539 Words | 11 Pages

The Creature in Frankenstein Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” is an inspirational work of horror and science fiction; it is the narrative of an unorthodox act of creation, of a monster which torments his miserable creator. The author puts forth ideas, and reinforces it through the development of the plot, that mankind is capable of both good and evil. Shelly demonstrates the ‘humanity’ of the creature; his actions and his inclination are like those of mankind. Indeed, even the negative aspect of his character, demonstrated through his quest for revenge, has a parallel in the actions of his human creator. In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” the creature is represented as being vicious and murderous but he is not inherently evil or malicious.

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987 Words | 4 Pages

The moment Victor Frankenstein successfully infuses life into his creation he is overcome with horror and disgust. Without further examination he is certain to have created a monster, not a human being (Shelley 35-36). However, despite his grotesque appearance, Frankenstein’s creature was not born malicious. During the first stages of his existence, unbeknownst to Frankenstein himself, his acts are motivated by innocence and virtue, which even earns him the title “good spirit” (79). Frankenstein did not create a monster.

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768 Words | 4 Pages

“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” The famous painter, Pablo Picasso once said this and its meaning can be further understood in various manners through this passage of Frankenstein. This quotation could allude to the idea that in order to create his monster, Frankenstein destroyed his innocence by making such a monstrous beast. However, it can also suggest that in producing this monster, Frankenstein destroyed all chances of future happiness in his life. This phrase thus hides behind its simplistic form, an underlying promise of misery that can be further perceived in this passage by the bitterness and anger of the monster’s tone in the comparison of himself to man.

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1290 Words | 6 Pages

The monster is also capable of wanton destruction when he burns down the DeLaceys’ house and dances “with fury around the devoted cottage”(123) like a savage. Finally, the monster seems to enjoy the pain he causes Frankenstein: “your sufferings will satisfy my everlasting hatred” (181) he writes to Victor. Were these pieces of evidence taken out of context, the reader would surely side with Frankenstein. But Shelley prevents such one-sidedness by letting the monster tell his version of the story. The monster’s first-person narrative draws the reader in and one learns that the creature is not abomination

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819 Words | 4 Pages

The monster continues by reassuring the creator of his independent intelligence and power over the creature by telling Frankenstein, “This you alone can do”. Here, the creature assumes a role of submissiveness and reliance on Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s monster gains the sympathy of the reader who, despite condemning the murder of innocent people, commiserate with the lonely creature who is in search of an acquaintance, which he will likely never find. The monster also displays power and aggressiveness over Frankenstein; “You are my creator; but I am your master; obey!” The monster wants to desolate Victor’s heart, not by killing him directly,

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1259 Words | 6 Pages

In Shelly’s text, the Frankenstein’s abandonment of his creation causes him to revert to monstrosity. The monster himself laments this stating that his “feelings of affection…were requited by detestation and scorn” from Victor, which prompts him to seek “revenge” against him by murdering his friends and family (140). Because these acts stem from Frankenstein’s abandonment of his monster, the blame for all subsequent evils falls squarely to Victor Frankenstein. However, in the film, the monster is not made evil by abandonment so much as the accidental placement of a “criminal” brain in the creature as opposed to a “natural” one, a mistake made by Frankenstein’s bumbling assistant. By placing the blame for his monstrosity on innate, accidentally created qualities of the monster, the film absolves the blame for evil from Frankenstein.

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766 Words | 4 Pages

Mary Shelley shows the endless amount of revenge and that it is driven by pure hatred and rage. The monster was not created to be vengeful, he was kind hearted but when he was poorly treated by Victor and then by the Delacey family, he turned cold. In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley displays the immorality and destructive effects that revenge can have through Frankenstein and his pursuit of the creature. Immediately after the monster had awoken, hatred thickened and would drive the plot to be all about revenge. The creature illustrates this hatred as he says to Victor, “Everything is related in them which bears reference to my accursed origin; the whole detail of that series of disgusting circumstances which produced it is set in view;

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1246 Words | 5 Pages

Frankenstein seems to show a prejudice towards his own creation; though he purposefully made the monster large to make it easier to add smaller things—such as nails and eyelashes—he chooses to look at his newly-awakened creation with repugnance. “For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley 35) This disgust motivates him to run away, thus abandoning his monster.

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