While reading, I came across a passage that sounded eerily familiar.
"Are you happy while I grovel in the intensity of my wretchedness? You can blast my other passions; but revenge remains-- revenge, henceforth dearer than light or food! I may die; but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery. Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful. I will watch with the wiliness of a snake, that I may sting with its venom. Man, you shall repent of the injuries you inflict."" (Shelley 149).
Does anyone remember reading "Now Where Have I Seen Her Before?" from Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor? He talked about how characters have certain traits that are similar to traits found in other characters in completely different texts. With this in mind, I came to a conclusion.
The monster in Frankenstein is Celie from The Color Purple.
Both the monster and Celie were oppressed by someone who had authority over them. Eventually, both Celie and the monster became fed up with their treatment and vow that their oppressors will pay for what they have done.
"Until you do right by me, everything you think about gonna fail," sounds a lot like "I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery."
So what do you all think? Are there any other characters that share the same traits with the monster? (Make sure you use your evidence!)
Miss RAY!!!! You've just earned a place in my heart. I've read Frankenstein SEVERAL times and I never, ever, ever made that connection.
ReplyDeleteToni Morrison's Denver from Beloved shares traits with our unnamed creature; she is also a loner trapped by her parent's mistake. Denver cannot escape the sins of Sethe killing her sister to evade returning to slaver to be able to live her own life, and that forces Denver to languish for years in the haunted 124.
Another character similar to the monster was Carrie from the movie Carrie. She was ostracized from everyone including her mother. All she wanted was to feel loved and accepted. When she did not receive love and acceptance she killed her mother and the students at her school who threw pig's blood on her. This is similar to the monster because all the monster wanted was love and he threatened his creator when he was denied this wish.
ReplyDeleteA character that is exceedingly similar to Celie and the monster is Jason Bourne from Bourne Ultimatum, Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Identity. He is similar because in these movies Bourne is remembering the past from when they were basically molding him into a different person. They stripped Bourne of his original identity and they transformed him into a trained assassin to kill those who were a threat to their organization. Once Bourne recalled what happened when they took his identity and remembrance away from him, he vowed to himself that every single human being that was responsible would have to pay the price for destroying his life. This shows similarity between all three characters because they were all betrayed by someone who controlled them. They got fed up with the abuse and controlling ways of their master and decided that they will be remorseful for their indecent behavior.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteSo do I Chris. I never really thought about it until now.
DeleteAnother character that was ostracized is the female character from the Host. She wasnt going to just let them take over her body. Just like the monster who was sick of Frankenstein manipulating him.
ReplyDeleteLily Owens from Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees also shares similarities with the monster. She is oppressed by her father for many years after the death of her mother. While Lily doesn't physically tell her father that she's sick of being put down, she does take this 'enough is enough' stance in her actions. From the moment she leaves for Tiburon, Lily is saying that she is done with being pushed around and ostracized, all while dealing with the guilt of killing her own mother.
ReplyDelete