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Similarities Between Frankenstein And The Nightmare Before Christmas

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Two separate stories can have more similarities than one may initially believe. For example, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Nightmare Before Christmas share similar literary elements. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a story that follows a skeleton named Jack (commonly known as the “Pumpkin King) who gets tired of the same-old routine he follows every Halloween. When he discovers Christmas town, he kidnaps Santa and takes over the holiday for himself. Little does Jack know how much trouble this will bring him and the citizens of Halloween town. Frankenstein is a retelling of Victor Frankenstein’s experience of seeking something unbeknownst to him. The story serves as a warning to Robert Walton's longing to know the unknown. Both of these …show more content…

He imagines it to be a place full of alluring sights, “I try in vain to be persuaded that the pole is the seat of frost and desolation; it ever presents itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight” (Shelley 51). Despite Walton acknowledging that the arctic is a frigid and lonesome place, he describes it as a place that is full of beauty. In The Nightmare Before Christmas directed by Henry Selick, the main character, Jack Skellington wanders into a forest where he encounters a magic door to Christmas Town. Once he opens the door, he realizes this scenery is very peculiar. He takes a brief stroll to admire the foreign sights, smells, and sounds. Jack is perplexed at what he sees in Christmas Town. Once he returns to Halloween town, he calls a meeting to explain what he witnessed. He can only describe what he saw as something as unrealistic as a dream (Nightmare 21:42-21:52). Jack knows absolutely nothing about Christmas town other than what he observed on his brief visit, yet, he believes that this place full of charming sights could …show more content…

In The Nightmare Before Christmas, before Jack Skellington finds Christmas town, he is filled with an overwhelming feeling of emptiness, ”An emptiness began to grow, there’s something out there far from my home. A longing that I’ve never known” (Nightmare 7:53-8:14). In this section of the story, Skellington describes the state of depression he feels as an emptiness or a piece of him is missing. He believes that there is something out there that may be able to help him, but he does not yet know what that something could be. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s best friend, Henry Clerval, is murdered as a result of his refusal to create a companion for the monster. Frankenstein is charged with the murder of Clerval and gets imprisoned. As a result, he becomes depressed. With all the suffering he has gone through, he no longer feels as if life is worth living. His feelings about life show no sign of improvement, despite being declared innocent later on by the court and being released. He claims the "cup of life" is forever poisoned (Shelley 187). Now that his best friend is gone, Frankenstein feels as if a piece of him is gone too. Both of these citations correlate to one another through how the character is feeling. The most important part of this, however, is how both of these bodies of evidence prove a connection through gothic imagery. Specifically, they connect by

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