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Who Is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?

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In Mary Shelley’s early science fiction novel Frankenstein, a young genius tells his story of when, while he was obsessed with discovering the secret of life, created a living creature from pieces of corpses. It begins with a Captain Robert Walton, who, while on an Arctic sailing expedition, rescues a man with a very interesting story. This man, Victor Frankenstein, grew up in Switzerland with his father and adopted sister, Elizabeth, whom it was planned that he would marry someday. At college, Victor was interested in science, especially with the idea of life, and made it his goal while studying to discover the secret to creating life. This he did, after a few years at college, though the results were not what he expected. Instead of a perfect …show more content…

Victor was sure that it was his monster, who had not been seen since Victor created him. However, he was unsure whether people would believe him, and so their servant was declared guilty and killed. Victor then decided to take a vacation to the Alps, to try to recover mentally from the stress and despair he had been through. While there, he encounters his creature, who asks Frankenstein to not harm him until he has had a chance to tell his story. His creature’s story is at first saddening, as he tells of his lonely travels though Europe as he tries to find his creator, who fled at his creation. He found shelter behind the house of a small family, a grown man and woman, and their elderly, blind father. While staying there, he slowly learned to read and write while observing the people, though staying out of their sight. However, when he tried to introduce himself to them, they attacked him and drove him out. Then the creature’s story becomes less pleasant: hurt and seeking revenge, the monster tracked down Victor’s residence and killed the first person he met who was close to Victor, which was his younger brother. Additionally, he pinned some evidence on the family’s …show more content…

He then proposed that, if Victor would make another creature like him, a female of his kind, then he would happily take her and leave the rest of the world alone, and live in some obscure place for the rest of his life. Victor very reluctantly agreed, and so, when he returned home to his father and sister, asked to take another vacation to England. While in Britain, he asked his friend who has accompanied him if he might have a few months of time alone. While in solitude on a remote Scottish island, Victor began to create another creature, female this time. But as he was almost done, he thought of what could go wrong - perhaps the monster might break his promise, or the female, having made no such promise, would commit evil deeds - and he destroyed the almost-complete body. When the creature discovered this, he was extremely angry and swore revenge, telling Victor he will be with him on his wedding night. On his return home, Victor stopped in an Irish town to discover that his friend who accompanied him to Britain has been killed. Victor knew that it was the monster’s doing, and, after a brief bout of illness, returned

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