List the words on pages 82 and 83 that Victor uses to describe the creature. Skip a line, and then explain what those words reveal about Victor's attitude toward the creature.
Volume II, Chapter 2, Pages 79–85
1 These sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving. Although they did not remove my grief, they subdued and tranquillized it. In some degree, also, they diverted my mind from the thoughts over which it had brooded for the last month. My father was pleased, and Elizabeth overjoyed. 2 “My dear cousin, you see what happiness you diffuse when you are happy; do not relapse again!” 3 The following morning the rain poured down in torrents, and thick mists hid the summits of the mountains. I rose early, but felt unusually melancholy. The rain depressed me; my old feelings recurred, and I was miserable. I knew how disappointed my father would be at this sudden change, and resolved to go alone to the summit of Montanvert. I remembered the effect that the view of the tremendous and ever-moving glacier had produced upon my mind when I first saw it. It had then filled me with a sublime ecstacy that gave wings to the soul.
4 Alas! why does man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only renders them more necessary beings. If our impulses were confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly free; but now we are moved by every wind that blows, and a chance word or scene that that word may convey to us. 5 “Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander and do not rest in your narrow beds, allow me this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the joys of life.” 6 “Devil! Do you dare approach me? And do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head? Begone, vile insect! Or rather stay, that I may trample you to dust! And, oh, that I could, with the extinction of your miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so diabolically murdered!”
7 “I expected this reception. All men hate the wretched. You, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life?” 8 “Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil! Come on then, that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed.” 9 “Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it." 10 “Remember, thou hast made me more powerful than thyself. But I will not be tempted to set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.”
11 “Begone! I will not hear you. There can be no community between you and me; we are enemies. Begone, or let us try our strength in a fight, in which one must fall.” 12 “How can I move thee? Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably alone?” 13 “You, my creator, abhor me; your fellow-creatures spurn and hate me. The desert mountains and dreary glaciers are my refuge. I have wandered here many days; the caves of ice, which I only do not fear, are a dwelling to me. 14 “If the multitude of mankind knew of my existence, they would do as you do, and arm themselves for my destruction. Shall I not then hate them who abhor me? Listen to my tale. The guilty are allowed, by human laws, bloody as they may be, to speak in their own defence before they are condemned. Listen to me, Frankenstein. You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature. I ask you not to spare me: listen to me; and then, if you can, and if you will, destroy the work of your hands.” 15 “Cursed be the day, abhorred devil, in which you first saw light! Cursed be the hands that formed you! You have made me wretched beyond expression. Begone! relieve me from the sight of your detested form.” 16 “Hear my tale; On you it rests, whether I quit forever the neighbourhood of man and lead a harmless life, or become the scourge of your fellow-creatures and the author of your own speedy ruin.” 17 For the first time I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were.
How does Victor attempt to deal with the creature? Why do you think his strategy changes?
What is at least one other way Victor could have opened his first conversation with his creature? What do you think prevented him from starting the conversation that way?
7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."
18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
19 So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh;
22 and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
23 Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
How does the Creator in Genesis feel toward the man? How do you know?
What role does the man play in the world that God created in Genesis?
Victor was hoping to find the creature in order to
Victor mentions that sometimes he would rather die than continue with this suffering. What do you think is keeping Victor going at this point in the story?
Volume II, Chapter 2, Pages 79–85
6 “Devil! Do you dare approach me? And do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head? Begone, vile insect! Or rather stay, that I may trample you to dust! And, oh, that I could, with the extinction of your miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so diabolically murdered!”
7 “I expected this reception. All men hate the wretched. You, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life?”
8 “Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil! Come on then, that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed.”
9 “Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it."
10 “Remember, thou hast made me more powerful than thyself. But I will not be tempted to set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.”
11 “Begone! I will not hear you. There can be no community between you and me; we are enemies. Begone, or let us try our strength in a fight, in which one must fall.”
12 “How can I move thee? Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably alone?”
13 “You, my creator, abhor me; your fellow-creatures spurn and hate me. The desert mountains and dreary glaciers are my refuge. I have wandered here many days; the caves of ice, which I only do not fear, are a dwelling to me.
14 “If the multitude of mankind knew of my existence, they would do as you do, and arm themselves for my destruction. Shall I not then hate them who abhor me? Listen to my tale. The guilty are allowed, by human laws, bloody as they may be, to speak in their own defence before they are condemned. Listen to me, Frankenstein. You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature. I ask you not to spare me: listen to me; and then, if you can, and if you will, destroy the work of your hands.”
15 “Cursed be the day, abhorred devil, in which you first saw light! Cursed be the hands that formed you! You have made me wretched beyond expression. Begone! relieve me from the sight of your detested form.”
16 “Hear my tale; On you it rests, whether I quit forever the neighbourhood of man and lead a harmless life, or become the scourge of your fellow-creatures and the author of your own speedy ruin.”
17 For the first time I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were.
Based on your reading of Genesis, what is one thing Victor should have done differently to fulfill "the duties of a creator towards his creature" (85)?
Volume II, Chapter 1, pages 71–78
1 Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows, and deprives the soul both of hope and fear.
2 Justine died; and I was alive. The blood flowed freely in my veins, but a weight of despair and remorse pressed on my heart, which nothing could remove. Sleep fled from my eyes; I wandered like an evil spirit, for I had committed deeds of mischief beyond description horrible.
3 I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe.
4 This state of mind preyed upon my health, which had entirely recovered from the first shock it had sustained. I shunned the face of man; all sound of joy or complacency was torture to me; solitude was my only consolation—deep, dark, death-like solitude.
5 “Is it not a duty to the survivors, that we should refrain from augmenting their unhappiness by an appearance of immoderate grief? It is also a duty owed to yourself; for excessive sorrow prevents improvement or enjoyment, or even the discharge of daily usefulness, without which no man is fit for society.”
6 I could only answer my father with a look of despair, and endeavour to hide myself from his view.
7 Often, after the rest of the family had retired for the night, I took the boat and passed many hours upon the water. I was often tempted, when all was at peace around me, and I the only unquiet thing that wandered restless in a scene so beautiful and heavenly, to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities for ever. But I was restrained when I thought of the heroic and suffering Elizabeth, whom I tenderly loved, and whose existence was bound up in mine.
8 At these moments I wept bitterly, and wished that peace would revisit my mind only that I might afford them consolation and happiness. But that could not be. Remorse extinguished every hope. I had been the author of unalterable evils; and I lived in daily fear, lest the monster whom I had created should perpetrate some new wickedness. I had an obscure feeling that all was not over. When I thought of him, I gnashed my teeth, my eyes became inflamed, and I ardently wished to extinguish that life which I had so thoughtlessly bestowed.
9 I wished to see him again, that I might wreak the utmost extent of anger on his head, and avenge the deaths of William and Justine.
10 Our house was the house of mourning. My father’s health was deeply shaken by the horror of the recent events. Elizabeth was sad and desponding.
11 “When I reflect, my dear cousin, on the miserable death of Justine Moritz, I no longer see the world and its works as they before appeared to me. Misery has come home, and men appear to me as monsters thirsting for each other’s blood. Alas! Victor, when falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure themselves of certain happiness? William and Justine were assassinated, and the murderer escapes. But even if I were condemned to suffer on the scaffold for the same crimes, I would not change places with such a wretch.”
According to Victor, which of the following was affected by the death of Justine?
Yes | No | |
|---|---|---|
Family life | ||
Work life | ||
Mental health | ||
Bodily health | ||
Schoolwork |
What does Victor mean when he says, "I had been the author of unalterable evils" (74)?
Why does Victor say that he "was the true murderer" (75)?
Which of the following is the best paraphrase of this sentence? "If mine had been a sorrow to be chased away by any fleeting circumstance, this excursion would certainly have had the effect intended by my father" (76)
Select the elements shown in each text.
Frankenstein | Genesis | |
|---|---|---|
speaks kindly | ||
creates a companion | ||
attempts violence | ||
provides food and other comforts |
Volume II, Chapter 2, Pages 79–85
1 These sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving. Although they did not remove my grief, they subdued and tranquillized it. In some degree, also, they diverted my mind from the thoughts over which it had brooded for the last month. My father was pleased, and Elizabeth overjoyed.
2 “My dear cousin, you see what happiness you diffuse when you are happy; do not relapse again!”
3 The following morning the rain poured down in torrents, and thick mists hid the summits of the mountains. I rose early, but felt unusually melancholy. The rain depressed me; my old feelings recurred, and I was miserable. I knew how disappointed my father would be at this sudden change, and resolved to go alone to the summit of Montanvert. I remembered the effect that the view of the tremendous and ever-moving glacier had produced upon my mind when I first saw it. It had then filled me with a sublime ecstacy that gave wings to the soul.
4 Alas! why does man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only renders them more necessary beings. If our impulses were confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly free; but now we are moved by every wind that blows, and a chance word or scene that that word may convey to us.
5 “Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander and do not rest in your narrow beds, allow me this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the joys of life.”
6 “Devil! Do you dare approach me? And do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head? Begone, vile insect! Or rather stay, that I may trample you to dust! And, oh, that I could, with the extinction of your miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so diabolically murdered!”
7 “I expected this reception. All men hate the wretched. You, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life?”
8 “Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil! Come on then, that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed.”
9 “Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it."
10 “Remember, thou hast made me more powerful than thyself. But I will not be tempted to set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.”
11 “Begone! I will not hear you. There can be no community between you and me; we are enemies. Begone, or let us try our strength in a fight, in which one must fall.”
12 “How can I move thee? Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably alone?”
13 “You, my creator, abhor me; your fellow-creatures spurn and hate me. The desert mountains and dreary glaciers are my refuge. I have wandered here many days; the caves of ice, which I only do not fear, are a dwelling to me.
14 “If the multitude of mankind knew of my existence, they would do as you do, and arm themselves for my destruction. Shall I not then hate them who abhor me? Listen to my tale. The guilty are allowed, by human laws, bloody as they may be, to speak in their own defence before they are condemned. Listen to me, Frankenstein. You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature. I ask you not to spare me: listen to me; and then, if you can, and if you will, destroy the work of your hands.”
15 “Cursed be the day, abhorred devil, in which you first saw light! Cursed be the hands that formed you! You have made me wretched beyond expression. Begone! relieve me from the sight of your detested form.”
16 “Hear my tale; On you it rests, whether I quit forever the neighbourhood of man and lead a harmless life, or become the scourge of your fellow-creatures and the author of your own speedy ruin.”
17 For the first time I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were.
Part 1: What effect did the family vacation have on Victor at first?
Part 2: Which sentence best supports the answer to the previous question?
Victor decides to go for a walk and there he encounters
Who says what?
1. The creature
2. Victor
Reread paragraph 12 (the last paragraph on page 83 of the graphic novel). What is the best paraphrase for the creature's statement in this paragraph?
At the close of this passage, it seems clear that the creature is about to
In paragraph 7, the creature asserts that “All men hate the wretched.” Do you personally agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.