Tone and Mood: Activity (Frankenstein)

Scene 2 : Victor Frankenstein, Creature. The creature is brought to life
It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my 
toils.  With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the 
instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into 
the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; 
the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly 
burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the 
dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive 
motion agitated its limbs. 
How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the 
wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? 
His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. 
Beautiful!  Great God!  His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of 
muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and 
flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed 
a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same 
colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled 
complexion and straight black lips. 
I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing 
life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and 
health.  I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but 
now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless 
horror and disgust filled my heart.  Unable to endure the aspect of the 
being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time 
traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep. (finally 
falls asleep)...I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my 
forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed; when, by the 
dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window 
shutters, I beheld the wretch-- the miserable monster whom I had created.  
He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be 
called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some 
inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks.  He might have 
spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain 
me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs.   

      In the first paragraph we can appreciate a serious and suspicious tone, because Victor is working at the night of a rainy day. Then, when he is creating the creature, with the most beautiful parts found in different bodies, the mood that I recieve is an excited mood. When he realized that joining all beautiful parts, it became a very ugly thing, tone and mood changes to a disliking and disappointed tone and to a gloomy and discontented mood. Finally, when says: "He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be 
called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some 
inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks.  He might have 
spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain 
me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs", the tone became a frightened tone, and the mood changes to a nervous mood.

Sentence Variety: Exercise

EXTRACT 2

"I continued for the remainder of the day in my hovel in a state of utter and stupid despair. My protectors had departed, and had broken the only link that held me to the world. For the first time the feelings of revenge and hatred filled my bosom, and I did not strive to control them; but, allowing myself to be borne away by the stream, I bent my mind towards injury and death. When I thought of my friends, of the mild voice of De Lacey, the gentle eyes of Agatha, and the exquisite beauty of the Arabian, these thoughts vanished, and a gush of tears somewhat soothed me. But again, when I reflected that they had spurned and deserted me, anger returned, a rage of anger; and, unable to injure anything human, I turned my fury towards inanimate objects. As night advanced, I placed a variety of combustibles around the cottage; and, after having destroyed every vestige of cultivation in the garden, I waited with forced impatience until the moon had sunk to commence my operations.”

            In this extract, there are predominantly PERIODIC SENTENCES. Examples:

- “allowing myself to be borne away by the stream, I bent my mind towards injury and death”.

- “unable to injure anything human, I turned my fury towards inanimate objects”.

- “after having destroyed every vestige of cultivation in the garden, I waited with forced impatience until the moon had sunk to commence my operations”.

            These sentences are periodic sentences because they create suspense, keeping the main clauses (darker ones) until the end; this encourages the reader to read on.

            But, there also are some LOOSE SENTENCES. Examples:

- “I continued for the remainder of the day in my hovel in a state of utter and stupid despair”.

-“My protectors had departed”.

            These are loose sentences because the main clause is at the beginning, without using a delay element.

            As you can see, the structure of simple, complex and compound sentences influence the effect of loose and periodic sentences. The loose sentences are commonly simple sentences, and the periodic sentences are commonly complex sentences.

            Finally, how do these sentences build the intended effect of the extract?

            These predominate sentences (periodic sentences) help to build a mysteriously paragraph, with the suspense by using the main clauses at the end.

Questionnaire of Frankenstein:

1.            In Frankenstein you can find many different elements of a horror story. What strategies and devices does Mary Shelley use to make the story scary? Use examples from the story.

            She uses words that show us horror, sadness, and agony. For example:

-“The anguish that was visible”

-“I am truly miserable”

-“Solitude was my only consolation”

-“Weighed down by horror and despair”

- “I was destined to become the most wretched of human beings”

            Also, in a horror story, there are black sceneries that make us feel a dark feeling. Mary Shelley use descriptions that help us to get this images and this dark feeling. Examples:

-“It was already dusk”

-“Could hardly see the dark mountains”

-“The storm appeared to approach rapidly”

-“The darkness and storm increased every minute”

            Also, in every horror story, there is a supernatural creature: a daemon, a ghost or a monster. Mary Shelley uses a monster created by a scientist call Victor Frankenstein.

2.    How does Mary Shelley go beyond the usual horror stories? Think of other horror stories and their plot.

            She goes beyond the usual horror stories, because in the normal horror stories, there's a monster or antagonist that already existed before, which makes attempts to cause suffering or harm the protagonist and causes scare in readers; instead of this, Mary Shelley, linking science to the story, creates a protagonist who invents his own monster, which eventually cause a lot of problems.

3.    Who is the actual monster in Frankenstein? Why?

            For me, the real monster is Victor Frankenstein, because he leaves alone his creature, without giving to it love and affection. The creature only needed a family.

4.    What were the motivations for Victor to create the creature? Use examples from the story.

            The motivation for Victor was the power of electricity. He saw the destructive power of nature when, during a storm, lightning destroys a big tree near his house.  From that day, he started to study and work with electricity, and to study anatomy (how is built the human body), because he was fascinated with the idea of creating life.

5.    What responsibilities did Victor, as the creator, have towards his creature?

            Victor’s responsibilities, as a creator, were giving care for his creature and giving love, but he didn’t do.

6.    Why did Victor abandon the creature?

            Victor is horrified by what he has created; he expected better results. He creates an ugly thing that spies him while he was sleeping, and immediately he abandons his monster, he is terrified.

7.    Why do you think Shelley had Robert Walton tell Victor’s story. Was this technique employed by Shelley as an effective way to tell the story?

            I think that Mary Shelley uses Robert Walton to tell Victor’s story because, she can add comments and personal opinions to the story, being Walton.

8.    To what extent is Victor’s story believable to Robert Walton?

            It is difficult to believe that incredible story, but he is forced to believe it by the evidence that Victor presents.

9.    Compare and contrast Robert’s and Victor’s goals and interests.

10. In the novel, Victor warns Robert that acquiring knowledge can lead to misery and destruction. What serious consequences might the acquisition of knowledge have?

            I think that the acquisition of knowledge can have serious consequences. You will think that you know everything and you will start to do experiments to treat to change life, and in your attempts, a little mistake can kill a human being or yourself.

11.  One of the novel’s conflicts is that the characters were unable to recognize the humanity of the creature. What qualities make us human?

            That we think, that we have brain and heart, that we can walk on two legs, and the most important, that we have feelings.

12. What qualities make the creature human?

            That the creature also has feelings. For example, he says that he hates all human beings, and he was sad because he didn’t know why he was created; sadness and hatred are feelings, so he really has feelings.

13.  Some critics use the story of Frankenstein as an argument against scientific technology that creates life forms; others argue that it is not technology itself but the use to which it is put that presents and ethical issue. What is your position?

14. Is the novel popular nowadays? Why?

            I think that the novel still is popular nowadays because is it has a lot of interesting aspects, like the horror and the science. Frankenstein is one of the earliest examples of science fiction and one of the most popular horror stories. Also, the novel is still popular today because the topics that appear in the novel are still discussed today, like the idea of creating life and compete in power with God (The Modern Prometheus).

15. How might you apply the story to today’s society?

            Victor is like all the scientists of the present that are investigating new things. The monster is like the son of this scientist, but the scientist doesn’t love him, and he started to be a rebellious boy.