One of the main things I noticed in the reading (Frankenstein, Chapters 14-24), was the use of setting. When the monster eventually murders Elizabeth, he does so during a thunderstorm. This is also ironic because the monster was created during thunderstorm, and he also makes the mistake that will cost him his life (killing Elizabeth) in a thunderstorm. The setting of the Arctic for the final chase between Victor and the Monster is also very telling. It is yet again another ominous environment that warns the reader that this story will most likely not reach a happy ending. The setting is a very important theme in Gothic novels such as this.
I thought it was interesting that the Monster allowed Victor to rest and recuperate after killing his friend Henry Clerval. The Monster waits until Victor is healthy and somewhat happy, and even allows him to marry Elizabeth before killing her on their honeymoon. It almost seems here like the Monster is toying with Victor, waiting for him to be in a somewhat normal and unguarded state of mind before killing his wife. The psychic communication between characters here is similar to the dynamic seen between many heroes and villains in today’s movies.
“I had never yet seen a being resembling me, or who claimed any intercourse with me. What was I?” “Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.” Both of these quotes come from the Monster. By the end of the book, is it very easy to take Victor’s side. He has just basically had his entire family taken from him and is now dying himself chasing the Monster that did this to him. However, it must be realized that the crimes of the monster were mostly a result of his sheer loneliness. It doesn’t help that the only chance of him having a mate was destroyed right in front of him by his creator. There must be sympathy for the Monster, who spent his whole life alone and being chased.
