The Downfall of Frankenstein

Obsession: When Frankenstein goes off to school a new found part of himself opens up and sends him on a trajectory to self-destruction. Frankenstein becomes obsessed with his work. He no longer notices the changes of the seasons. He becomes completely cut off from his family and neglects contacting them for months as he becomes completely absorbed in his work. His mental and physical health declines without adequate sleep or human interaction. Frankenstein lots his connection with reality. The pursuit of creating life out of dead body parts became the reason for his existence. Unhinged and falling deeper and deeper towards insanity without the connection of his family, Frankenstein set himself up for his demise.

Fear: Despite the intensity with which Frankenstein pursued his project, when he finally sees the product of his creation, he reacts with fear. Frankenstein immediately rejects the monster, leaving to go find solace pacing in his room. He abandons his monster, who now needs to navigate the world around him on his own. The monster has a tendency towards kindness. Had he been given the kindness of his creator; the monster would have been able to find his place in society. However, Frankenstein acted as a coward and deserts his creation. The monster struggles to find his place in the world, each person acting with the same fear Frankenstein did when they see him. Thus, the monster finds himself to be an outcast, where he becomes more and more vengeful left on his own. Frankenstein let his fear get the better of him and thus created the perfect enemy.

Grief: As Frankenstein loses more and more people in his life, he falls deeper and deeper into grief. Like with obsession, he loses his sense of reality. However, he in now completely without the medicinal support for a family. Frankenstein’s grief allows him to become lost, his sense of purpose in life has been completely lost. Thus, Frankenstein is more susceptible to the rage he feels towards the monster. With no more human ties, he lacks the stability he needs to value his own life enough to keep himself healthy. Frankenstein’s grief paves the path towards his vengeance and, ultimately, his downfall.

Revenge: Frankenstein’s anger towards the monster drives him to his end. Frankenstein decides that he must enact revenge over the monster to satisfy his grief. He commits to chasing the monster until one of them is dead. Frankenstein’s last objective in life is to see his monster dead to avenge all the death his creation caused. In the end of the story, Frankenstein describes how his body begins failing him in his relentless pursuit. However, his determination remains to continue his drive until the very end. Eventually, Frankenstein is failed by his body and pulled ashore by Robert Walton. Weakened immensely by his journey, Frankenstein eventually succumbs to his illness. He drove himself to his end.

Frankenstein went from a young and robust university student. He was bright and had everything ahead for him. He became obsessed in his work and drove himself to exhaustion in his work. In his weakened mental state, he was not able to cope with the creature he created. Thus, he drove his creation to murder. Frankenstein grief drove him to a relentless pursuit for revenge. In the end Frankenstein drove himself to his physical and mental end. He died seeking revenge on the monster he created.

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I decided to create an image to represent the downfall of Frankenstein. This is accompanied by quotes from the text and analysis of how each factor led to his death. The image has the factors leading to his downfall encompassed in a grey cloud. This is meant to symbolize the weight of these factors. They are like a grey cloud building up over Frankenstein’s head throughout the text until it becomes too big and crushes him. There are arrows indicating direction through the cloud. This indicates the progression of his demise. He starts out obsessed then feal fear, grief, and ultimately ends himself with revenge. The smaller arrows connect the factors to quotes illustrating them in the text. In the top left-hand corner of the image is a yellow flag. This is meant to symbolize Frankenstein at the beginning of the text: young, innocent, and full of life. There is a big white arrow directing the viewer to begin looking at the cloud. At the end of the cloud is another arrow leading to a gravestone one the ground to the right of the cloud. This is there to symbolize Frankenstein’s death at the end of the text. Underneath the cloud is a silhouette of a man with his head held in his hands. This silhouette is obviously sad and worn down. This man is meant to symbolize Frankenstein in his journey to the bottom. Weighed down by his grief and vengeance, we see Frankenstein so reduced to this man in the picture. This is what Frankenstein felt inside during many instances in the text. Underneath the image are four paragraphs going into detail of how these factors brought about Frankenstein’s death. The quotes are meant to give context and the paragraphs the explanation.

This piece gives a visual way for an audience to visualize the events surrounding Frankenstein in this text. Since this is an older work of British literature, it tends to be a lot to take in. The wording is long and the story skips across multiple times, places, and perspectives. This can make the text unpalatable and difficult to pick apart. In reading the text, we can perceive how Frankenstein brings about his demise, but may not be able to render it visible as it gets lost in the language of the text. With this I tried to make Frankenstein’s part of the story easier to understand. I pulled out quotes so people could clearly see what was happening in Mary Shelley’s own words. I also provided analysis so people can see my perspective on the events in the text. Overall, I think this piece simplifies and makes Frankenstein’s demise easier to see and understand.