Thursday, April 21, 2011
The End.
Wow. The ending of this book was definitely eventful. I am almost positive that Waldon was quite relieved at hearing these words (the quote above) from the monster. Al least he knew that his life was not in anymore danger. Once Victor did not create a companion for the monster, i figured that his loved ones were going to die, but I figured that the monster would be out to get Victor too! I was surprised how compassionate the monster was at the end. He was sad to see that his creator had died and he just gave up on himself once he saw Victor had passed away. Since this was made as a "ghost story" or a scary story, I figured that at the end of the book the whereabouts of the monster would be left unknown so that people would be afraid of him seeking them out one day. Instead, the monster feels terrible about what he has done to his master and only sees it fitting that he takes away his own life in return.
Lastly, I just wanted to quickly point out the repeated action of the monster. When the monster was just created, he reached out to his creator while he was in bed. This is the action that scares Victor off and makes him run away. At the end of the story, the reader sees this action preformed by the monster for the second time, but Victor is already deceased, so no action is made in return.
Foreshadow
Before the reader learns of Henry's death, Shelley makes the reader aware that something is going to go wrong. "His remembrance creates," proves that Victor is speaking in memory of him and Henry's life. The reader now realizes the rest of the book is destined to go downhill. Not only does Shelley show that Henry will die, she also shows that this second creation will fail. This is because the monster promised Victor that if a female monster was not created for him then he would destroy him emotionally. The only way that the monster could do this would be to destroy the few people that surrounded Victor in his life. So, if the reader then knows that Henry will be murdered, the reader can infer that the monster will not stop there. Victor's creation was very serious when he spoke to Victor about making him a friend of "his type." Who will be killed after Henry? ... Alphonse? Earnest? Elizabeth? This element also creates a great amount of suspense for the reader.