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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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763 Words | 4 Pages

Victor is going to his honeymoon house with Elizabeth to celebrate their marriage and admires the scenery around him while rowing to the house. In this scene of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack discovers the Christmas door and goes in. He sees the environment and begins to sing about his fascination with the new world. He feels the snow and the happiness and wants to learn more about the magic. Jack begins to feel happy and rejoicing in this new land (13:54-18:39).

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749 Words | 3 Pages

Accompanying feelings of horror and terror, Frankenstein “feels the bitterness of disappointment” once he realizes the outcome of his ghastly concoction (Shelley 49). His one major mistake, the monster, catches up with him, driving him full of revenge and turning him ill (Shelley 190-193). Sadly, these selfish New Age-like characteristics lead to Frankenstein’s

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488 Words | 2 Pages

It is clear by analysing these stories that both protagonists were first abandoned by their creator and then once again by society. Shelley and Burton both effectively incorporated the techniques of setting and mood to portray moments of abandonment in both Edward and the monster’s lives. Consistent within various chapters of the Frankenstein novel, are scenes of the monster wandering around alone in different environments, portraying him to be a creature disregarded and abandoned by society. The diverse use of both change in setting, and mood of language, effectively displays the moments of abandonment that the monster is experiencing and hence allows the audience tio sympathise with his emotions.

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1086 Words | 5 Pages

How does Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands utilise characterisation, imagery and foreshadowing to demonstrate the theme of abandonment and its consequences? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands both explore the ideas of being misunderstood and rejected by society. Through his curiosity in the field of science, Victor Frankenstein envisions the creation of a being, not knowing what it would later become as a result of his neglect and lack of care towards it. Victor’s passion for science and his ambition to create his ‘monster’ causes him to feel guilt and regret, eventually resulting in his demise. On the other hand, Edward Scissorhands experienced a positive upbringing, with his creator

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1146 Words | 5 Pages

Disgusted, he runs off and tries to ignore everything. Not only does he display PTSD, but also some of the first signs of depression. He begins to feel immense guilt and sorrow for what he has done. At first he tries to remember his youth to push away his depression and self-hatred as he says, “I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollections of childhood, before misfortune had tainted my mind, and changed its bright visions of extensive usefulness into gloomy and narrow reflections upon self. ”(Shelley, Frankenstein)

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886 Words | 4 Pages

It is about a monstrous creature that was created and abandoned by its creator. After being abandoned, Frankenstein tries to integrate in the society, but he is completely rejected. On the other hand, Grendel is a story written by John Gardner. The story is about a monstrous character that battles to have a meaning in life and live like the rest of the people. He was confused about his identity and this made him to seek friendship from the people around him, but they rejected

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533 Words | 3 Pages

Victor Frankenstien most likely was triggered into a major depression by an adverse life events which would be the birth of the creature, the death of his mother, William, Henry, Justine and Elizabeth. The amount of death so close to victor would drive any sane person to the edge. There is no life without love, and those to share it with. Isolation can lead to depression, in the case Victor Frankenstein this proved to be true.

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1278 Words | 6 Pages

When Henry dies Frankenstein says, “ Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life?” (218). Since Frankenstein did not take care of the creature, the creatures growing resentment grows into bitter revenge and kills those around

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987 Words | 4 Pages

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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901 Words | 4 Pages

Frankenstein is a book written by Mary Shelley about a man named Victor Frankenstein and his life and how it came to be. He had created a monster and brought it to life by studying and learning natural philosophy. Mary Shelley brought the emotions forward from the main characters by the amount of detail she put into the book. Most of the detail was brought in by the suffering that happens throughout the book caused by Frankenstein’s monster. The monster in this story is a tragic figure that is the main cause of suffering that occurs to everyone.

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1213 Words | 5 Pages

Frankenstein describes that the death of Henry Clerval, who is perceived as just a close “friend” almost kills him and brings to make him hallucinate so much that Frankenstein confesses to three murders he in fact did not commit but the creature did. Malaya Nordyke writes in the Writersalon, “the death of Victor’s mother may have made a radical impression on Victor’s perception of women. … the incident may have made Victor subconsciously relate women to weakness and death. His fear of feeling the loss that he felt from the death of his mother may have turned him away from women in general, thus driving him to create a model of stability, which to him meant male.” (Nordyke).

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1055 Words | 5 Pages

The most shared emotion in Frankenstein is loneliness. Robert, the seafarer, writes in letters to his sister Margret: "You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend". This feeling of loneliness despite

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402 Words | 2 Pages

Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" and Tim Burton's movie "Frankenweenie" both explore the idea of bringing life back to the dead. While both works share some similarities, there are also some significant differences in terms of their characters, themes, and storytelling. One of the most apparent similarities between the two works is the central idea of resurrecting the dead. In "Frankenstein," the main character Victor Frankenstein creates a human-like creature using various body parts that he collected from graves.

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782 Words | 4 Pages

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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656 Words | 3 Pages

Shelley describes the morning after Frankenstein creates the monster and runs away- "Morning, dismal and wet, at length dawned, and discovered to my sleepless and aching eyes the church of Ingolstadt…”. This dreary scene adequately depicts Victor’s miserable, downcast feeling toward the ugly monster he has just created. Shelley also uses the imagery element to bring into view Frankenstein’s painful emotions over the result of his creation. Immediately following the verdict of Justine’s death, a deep feeling of remorse washes over Frankenstein. "The blood flowed freely in my veins, but a weight of despair and remorse pressed on my heart, which nothing could remove.

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