Yes, I'm talking to you

"I see by your eagerness and the wonder and hope which your eyes express, my friend, that you expect to be informed of the secret with which I am acquainted... I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to your destruction and infallible misery." pgs 51-52

One clear benefit of writing a frame story becomes the ability of conveying messages to the audience through the narrator. For instance, since Victor Frankenstein, as the novel's second narrator, relays his story to Walton, he indirectly speaks directly to the audience. As he warns Walton of the indefinite tragedy that will arise if he continues down the same path, Frankenstein also foreshadows much misery to come. This interaction sets both a tone of suspense for the evident unknown and sheer wonder as to how Frankenstein created his "monster."

The frame story set up gives Shelley leeway and the flexibility to utilize different characters as different narrators, offering glimpses from opposing viewpoints. Walton, Frankenstein, and Creature thus far have exposed the readers to the continuous eloquent language but drastically different personalities and objectives.

Back to Back

I found it interesting that O'Brien ordered the chapters "Enemies" and "Friends" back to back.

Even a title of "Enemies" couldn't bestow in my mind the absence of brotherhood between the men in O'Brien's unit, Alpha Company. While Lee Strunk and Dave Jenson got into a costly fist fight, the violence of the fight didn't cause the men to be enemies. For me, the men weren't enemies, but Jenson felt like he was in a constant battle with "skittish feelings." "The distinction between good guys and bad guys disappeared for him" (page 60) and he began behaving in bizarre ways. The enemy is the feeling of guilt and fear and restlessness.

In "Friends," it's obvious from the get-go that the pact between Dave Jenson and Lee Strunk would somehow be tested. Foreshadowing one of them getting hurt, O'Brien shares the story of how the pact was made and finally how it was tested. At the end of the chapter, we see on the surface Jensen's selfish reaction to hearing that "Strunk died somewhere over Chu Lai" (page 63), but digging deeper (as is always O'Briens purpose) we see that the weight wasn't lifted upon hearing that his friend had died and would be relieved of the war. Jensen felt relieved by knowing he didn't have to make the decision of whether or not to keep Strunk going.