“As the minuteness of the parts formed a great hindrance to my speed, I resolved, contrary to my first intention, to make the being of a gigantic stature, that is to say, about 8 feet in height, and proportionately large”. (44)

This quote is early in the novel and it is when I first realized that Victor Frankenstein is a selfish, arrogant jerk. I thought the story was going to be about a frightening monster, but the only monster in this book was the creator Frankenstein. Frankenstein acted like a God and created a human and abandoned him almost immediately out into the cold, cruel world to figure out everything on his own, it is no real surprise that he turned to evil. Victor Frankenstein cannot even be bothered to find the time to create a human with care. In this quote the “minuteness” or small “parts” are pieces of other human beings. That he cannot respect that this flesh used to belong to a live vibrant human being tells you everything you need to know about his personality, he is a true monster. I am not sure what Mary Shelley's goals were but I have to think she did this very much on purpose. Right from the beginning you knew the carelessness and flexible morals that Victor Frankenstein must have to make such a callous statement so early in the book.

“The prospect of marrying a Christian and remaining in a country where women were allowed to take a rank in society was enchanting to her”. (124)

It is easy to forget that Mary Shelley wrote this book in the early 1800s. The statement could be made today just as easily, and how sad is that? Women 100 years later in Middle East countries still have few rights. Safie had to literally escape her life to get away from her family's expectations of what should happen to her. I am sure this happens every day all across the globe, women leaving abusive situations in an effort to get someplace safe. I found this quote interesting also because Safie was able to go through the countryside even though she could not speak the language and still managed to find Felix and safety yet the creature could not find safety traveling basically the same roads. The creature could not find safety because he was not beautiful, like Safie was. People were willing to help her because she was attractive. The same people would run away in horror from the creature. Really he was just looking for a safe place to live his life just like she was.

 

“I had cast off all feeling, subdued all anguish, to riot in the excess of my despair. Evil thenceforth became my good”. (229)

Mary Shelley's writing style is very wordy, but incredibly descriptive. There are words that we do not use very often in this century but you understand their meaning immediately in context. There are so many books written in this time period that need almost a translation into English. Mary Shelley has managed to make her meaning known even through old-fashioned words like “thenceforth”. Her words almost feel heavy, as if you can live truly feel that drag on his body from his “anguish”. I liked all the extra words that she used because it made me feel as if I was in the action myself, the sense of melancholy and hopelessness of both the creature and Victor Frankenstein were palatable in the novel. This quote came to my attention because it reminded me that earlier in the book when the creature was reading Paradise Lost he said that he was more like the devil then an angel. The creature has come full circle and like the devil evil is what is expected of him. I find this quote to be utterly hopeless and I do not doubt that Mary Shelley was alluding to this earlier passage in the book without saying a single word. I like books that make you think and do not spell everything out for you. Gothic horror may be my new favorite genre of novel thanks to Mary Shelley.