Week 1- Frankenstein

When I hear about Frankenstein, the first image that pops into my mind is the green 9 foot tall monster with a giant forehead and bolts sticking out of his body. I had skimmed through the book once before as a child, but I had skipped most of the book and only read whatever parts I could find with the monster in it. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Frankenstein was actually the name of the scientist and not the actual monster itself. I was also surprised to learn that the monster was not some mindless creature moaning about and destroying everything in his path. I actually grew to sympathize for the monster, whose isolation drove him to commit evil acts. He didn't ask to be brought to this world, but he was, all for the sake of Frankenstein's curiosity, and when he succeeds, the monster is tormented for being ugly and monstrous. Throughout the story, the monster commits many acts of evil, but only out of spite for his creator. When even the creator can't take it anymore and dies hunting down the monster, the monster's reaction to the death was only sorrow. Not having anything to live for, the monster sentences himself to exile and death. Reading the story was a much different experience from any of the movies or what media had me believe the story of Frankenstein to be like. There weren't so many cliches in the book like the movies. Although both shared gothic traits, the book was no where near as cheesy as the majority of the movies.