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Frankenstein
Mountaineers · 10th–12th
My first thought was to discover what I knew of the murderer, and cause instant pursuit to be made. But I paused when I reflected on the story that I had to tell. A being whom I myself had formed, and endued with life, had met me at midnight among the precipices of an inaccessible mountain. I remembered also the nervous fever with which I had been seized just at the time that I dated my creation, and which would give an air of delirium to a tale otherwise so utterly improbable. I well knew that if any other had communicated such a relation to me, I should have looked upon it as the ravings of insanity. Besides, the strange nature of the animal would elude all pursuit, even if I were so far credited as to persuade my relatives to commence it.
Read your copy aloud. In these sentences Victor seems to argue with someone. Who is he arguing with?
Narration Tell the chapter back in order, from the letter Victor finds to his father's promise that the trial will be fair. Then choose the one sentence you think the chapter turns on.
1. His father asks Victor to come home with "feelings of peace and gentleness," not "brooding thoughts of vengeance". By dawn, Victor has decided to say nothing about the figure he saw in the storm. Is that silence the peace his father asked for?Theme
2. The storm lifts Victor's spirits, and he cries, "William, dear angel! this is thy funeral, this thy dirge!" As he says these words, a figure steals out from behind the trees. Why might Shelley bring the figure in at that moment?Author's choice
3. Ernest says the picture in Justine's pocket and her confused manner leave "no hope for doubt." After one flash of lightning, Victor decides, "The mere presence of the idea was an irresistible proof of the fact." Which certainty stands on firmer ground?Inference
4. Victor's father believes Justine is guilty, yet he hopes "that she will be acquitted." Victor says, "This speech calmed me." Why might a hope be enough to calm him?Character
5. A short note, Victor's father writes, "would be a cruel kindness," so he tells the hard news plainly. Victor later tells Elizabeth that Justine's innocence "shall be proved". Is that comfort a true kindness, or a cruel one?Moral reasoning
Make a Connection Think of another story, or a real case, where someone knew a truth that sounded impossible. How does that person's choice compare with Victor's?
A being whom I myself had formed, and endued with life, had met me at midnight among the precipices of an inaccessible mountain.
I well knew that if any other had communicated such a relation to me, I should have looked upon it as the ravings of insanity.
We have no trace of him at present, although our exertions to discover him are unremitted; but they will not restore my beloved William!
Is this to prognosticate peace, or to mock at my unhappiness?
Beloved and venerable parent!
No one would believe it at first; and even now Elizabeth will not be convinced, notwithstanding all the evidence.
1. At dawn, before he knows that anyone has been charged, Victor decides "to remain silent." At home he learns that Justine will be tried that day. Which of his dawn reasons still hold?
2. Through the cold, wet night, Victor comes to see the being he made as "my own vampire, my own spirit let loose from the grave". What, then, is his silence protecting?
3. Victor fears his story would be taken for madness. Does he owe it to Justine anyway?