Frankenstein Or The Modern Prometheus By Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus tells a classical story of a man playing god and what it means to be human. It was first published in London in 1818 and the genre of the book is horror, although I would describe the book to be a drama rather than horror. The book is set

A young scientist calle Victor Frankenstein from Switzerland discovers the secret to life itself and manages to create a man and give life to it. Immediately after creating him he regrets it and is disgusted by his creation. He leaves his university and creation behind and goes back to his family. The creation spends a few years in solitude and learns to read and speak, but once he heads out to the world he faces nothing but disgust and fear. The monster is filled with hate and
Out of these characters I identify most with the monster, which might be surprising since one might think that the monster is evil or somehow less human. When the monster is created it has the same characteristics as a new born baby. He is seeing the world for the first time and is at a vulnerable state. As he is greeted with nothing else than hatred and disgust, no wonder he is himself turned to a hateful creature. If he had faced a more welcoming and friendly people, he might have actually turned out to be a friendly creature as well.

After reading the book I was quite impressed how such a young writer could write such a great novel. Mary Shelley uses interesting words and creates a complex setting, and still manages to keep the plot simple and interesting. The story is told through letters between Captain Robert Walton and his sister. Frankenstein’s narration comes in the second phase of the book and the final part of the book is told by Captain Walton. This allows the reader to see the story from many different perspectives and opinions. This has to be one of the greatest books I have ever