Frankenstein

I just finished reading Frankenstein, and I think it is now one of my favorite classics. It's nothing like you would think it would be from watching horror movies. The monster is not actually called Frankenstein, and nowhere in the book does it say he is green or that he lurches around like a zombie. He is actually portrayed as quite agile and strong.

The book could better be described as a tale of morality. Percy Shelly, the husband of the author, explained the moral of the story as this-"Treat a person ill, and he will become wicked. Requite affection with scorn;-let one being be selected, for whatever cause, as the refuse of his kind - divide him, a social being, from society, and you impose upon him the irresistible obligations - malevolence and selfishness. It is thus that, too often in society, those who are best qualified to be its benefactors and its ornaments, and branded by some accident with scorn, and changed, by neglect and solitude of heart, into a scourge and a curse."

I love this quote because I think it says so well what happens when we treat people badly. I am a reasonably nice person, but I think I could have been a better person if I would have been treated more kindly. When people "brand you with scorn" it changes you. It makes you defensive, angry, scared, "malevolent and selfish". I would not call myself "wicked", but I can easily understand how being badly mistreated can turn a person wicked.

Like most classics, the book takes some effort to read since it is not in the language we are used to today. However, I found it to be well worth the effort. Very touching and enlightening. I am even considering reading the journals of Mary Shelly, the author, just because I am fascinated by her life and by her ability to write such a book at the age of 18. But her life was very tragic in its own right, so I think I am due for something more lighthearted. In any case, Frankenstein is a good read and I highly recommend it.