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Frankenstein
Mountaineers · 10th–12th
I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers—their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions; but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification. Alas! I did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity.
My organs were indeed harsh, but supple; and although my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, yet I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable ease. It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows and execration.
Read the second passage aloud. Each time he admits a fault, a “but” or a “yet” follows close behind. What does that pattern do to his plea?
Narration Tell the chapter back, from the night he lies awake on his straw to the spring that ends it.
1. He used to steal part of the cottagers’ food at night, and then he stopped. He could have left the stealing out of the story he tells Victor. Why does he put it in?Character
2. Felix keeps finding his woodpile filled “by an invisible hand.” The creature does the work at night, while the family sleeps. What does he get from giving in secret?Moral reasoning
3. His first words are names of things, like “fire” and “bread.” He can also pick out “good, dearest, unhappy”, but he cannot use them yet. What would it take for him to use them?Theme
4. When he saw himself in a pool, he “started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I”. What had he expected to see?Inference
Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time you know of, when someone learned a new language, or a new way of talking, to be let in somewhere. How far did the words take them?
At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification.
It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows and execration.
I looked upon them as superior beings who would be the arbiters of my future destiny.
Nothing could exceed the love and respect which the younger cottagers exhibited towards their venerable companion.
1. When he pictures meeting them, he imagines they will be “disgusted” at first. He plans to win them over with words after that. How sound is that plan?
2. He once hoped he could make the family happy again. When he tells Victor about it, he breaks in to call himself a “foolish wretch”. Yet the chapter ends on “bright rays of hope.” How should a reader take that hope?
3. The cottagers speak of a “good spirit”; at the pool the creature calls himself a “monster”. Which name is truer?