10/24 Analysis

This week's reading of Frankenstein connects with the Edgar Allen Poe event. Poe had a dark theme to his work, which goes hand in hand with the theme of Frankenstein. Poe wrote things with symbolism and truly viewed it as art. He thought that writings that do not have meaning are not actually art. Authors should be creative and have an overall thought out idea. 

This concept connects with Frankenstein because there is, obviously, a deeper meaning to the novel. Shelley attempts to access the secret of life through the character Victor. And Walton learns how dangerous a deeper curiosity for knowledge can be. Frankenstein, as a monster, embodies the rejection of society. Not just because he is so tall and ugly, but the way he was "built". His limbs were stolen and there are many chemicals that were used to create him. He is alive from "real" science mixed with dark and supernatural science. If you think about it, this makes Victor a monster as well because his ability to build Frankenstein is dangerous. Society views both Frankenstein and Victor as monsters in their own ways. The novel as a whole is similar to a monster because it has many voices pieced together to create the story as a whole. Frankenstein is similar to Poe's work because of similar aspects. This dark theme is consistent in Poe's writings. Shelley captured an outside society perspective, which was also present in Poe's work. 

I agree with Shelley and Poe's pushing the envelope. Society, in that time period, was very condemning and people did not have the same freedom we do today. Everyone was judged harshly and unless you did what everyone else did, you were weird. But I believe it is important to be different, otherwise you are boring. Both Poe and Shelley are trying to prove to society that it is okay to be different. Both the characters are proving this, but the overall themes in their writings do too.