Saturday, May 12, 2012

Explain how you as a reader responded to the monster based upon his acts of kindness and his acts of cruelty. Be specific.Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

In Shelley's Frankenstein, two
central issues are nature vs. nurture and the irresponsibility of science.  The reader
is, most likely, supposed to understand that Victor's lack of nurturing and his
practicing irresponsible science, lead to the monster's committing of atrocities.  And
the atrocities come back on Victor, of course; they affect him directly--they ruin his
life.  This emphasizes the atrocities and shows the direct result of Victor's
behaviors. 


A reader's reaction should somewhat follow
these lines of thought.  One cannot help feeling sympathy for the monster's situation,
but at the same time being horrified by his actions.  That's part of the point of the
novel.


Your personal reaction is, however, subjective.  I
cannot write about your personal reaction.  You might, for instance, feel strongly about
the monster's desire to learn, and your reaction reflects that.  On the other hand, you
might have a brother the same age as the boy the monster kills, and react strongly to
that.  Maybe you're a mystery buff, and you really like the unravelling of evidence
against the monster concerning the boy's death, and that's what interests you.  Or maybe
you don't like the somewhat sappy, idealistic portrayal of Victor's perfect marriage,
and you secretly think the wife gets what she deserves--after all, it is just
fiction. 


In other words, your reaction is what it is, and
no one can really describe that but you. 

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