Frankenstein Blog 2

In the next part of the book Victor describes his childhood. He explains how he and his sister were so different, yet they fit perfectly together: "Harmony was the soul of our companionship, and the diversity and contrast that subsisted in our characters drew us nearer together." It seems like one of the very few friends Victor has happens to be his sister, which is kind of sad. Victor says that he would intentionally avoid people and his "temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature they were turned, not towards childish pursuits, but to an eager desire to learn, and not to learn all things indiscriminately." This shows that Victor is extremely intelligent and way more mature than other children his age. He has a great love for science, but his father knows little about science, so Victor has to explore on his own: "My father was not scientific, and I was left to struggle with a child's blindness, added to a student's thirst for knowledge." Victor talks about going to college and how he must fend for himself and make an effort to meet new people and interact. However, he gets very involved in his schoolwork and returns to his old ways of being anti-social, perhaps even worse this time around. I think in a way it's admirable that Victor is so wrapped up in his studies and isn't so concerned about being social and going out and having fun. But at the same time, I think it's unhealthy for a college student, or anyone for that matter, to devote their entire being to studying and learning and working on his creation. When he finally finishes his creation he is scared of it: "Oh! no mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived." It's ironic that Victor put all of this hard work and passion into this creation and it ended up being less than his expectations and he actually becomes terrified of his work. he becomes so stressed out about his creation that he becomes ill. This shows that Victor is already becoming obsessed with his work and it is just going to get worse and worse.
I think the book so far is alright in terms of what is going on but in terms of language I think Shelley is right on. The complex words she uses shows how intellectual Victor is and how passionate he is about science and his creation. It can be a little hard to follow at times but the word choice fits perfectly with the character. The fact that a woman wrote this story makes it even more interesting. Women at this point in time were thought of incapable of doing a lot of things, so Shelley writing a book of great importance is very empowering and refreshing. I hope the story gets more eventful as it goes on.