The first time I read it was almost 10 years ago when San Benito High School was going to make my precious firstborn daughter read it! I was ready to protect her from this evil and ask the school to let her read a different book perhaps. I thought I should be armed with facts before I protested, so I read it first. I was so pleased after reading it that the high school was requiring it! I gave it my wholehearted approval.
The first thing that struck me as I read was how VERY DIFFERENT it was from what I thought it was going to be! I realized I had been deceived by the media images portraying what others thought of the book, not necessarily what was actually written. The story and the creature are nothing like the old black and white movie starring Boris Karloff, and especially not like VeggieTales’ FrankenCelery. Wasn’t there even a breakfast cereal? Franken Berry?
I realized that this is—sadly—very much how some people view the Bible. So few actually read it, but they base their opinions on it as if they were SURE of what is in it because of what others have fed them. Don’t be guilty of this! Let’s all read the originals whenever possible and make our own conclusions!
The second thing that struck me is how Mrs. Shelley illustrates the depravity of man all over again with the creature. I was reminded of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel in the garden. In this book the monster starts out knowing no evil, but as the story unfolds he learns it by experience and uses it because he “deserves” better. Oh how often we entertain sinful selfish thoughts because we disagree with how our Creator is dealing with us! We often act as the monster —a big selfish, scary, baby — doing damage to others because we can’t have our way. Unlike the creature we usually don’t resort to murder, although the news broadcasts often that many today do. While Viktor Frankenstein (he was a student, not a doctor) represents the exact opposite of what God is like in how He created and cares for us, the nameless monster is actually very like the human heart.
We are not God. We do not create the plants in our yard or the children in their cribs. Although we might have had something to do with them, they are God’s, created by Him and for Him alone. We are only given the task of caring for them for a little while. When we step beyond that and try to be God, we create only misery.
This book is full of descriptions of powerful emotions -- not only fear, suspense, horror and sadness, but ambition, longing, empathy, goodness and love. The author follows the feelings of the creature and his creator. I actually found myself almost evenly feeling for both of them.
Mary Shelley gives us no explanation of how Frankenstein creates the monster. That is obviously not the point on which she wants us to focus. Much higher spiritual, mental, and emotional points are explained. Because of this, I heartily recommend everyone read this book. It is not the horror story you may think it is. It includes no gory details. Frankenstein makes you think, which I suppose may horrify some people.
