Poetry Please

"My heart palpitated in the sickness of fear, and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me: Like one who, on a lonely road Doth walk in fear and dread, And, having once turned round, walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread." pg 58 Shelley shakes things up a bit by inserting a poem into Frankenstein's fear, dread, and exhaustion from his creation. We get a glimpse of Shelley's life surrounded by poetry from her childhood to adulthood with her husband. Frankenstein quotes a stanza from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere, in Seven Parts" linking Shelley's knowledge of poetry to the romantic writing still prevalent in the time period in which the story takes place. This romantic writing style calls for dramatic poems, eloquent language, and respectable nature between women and men. The poem surely captures the necessary tone of dread which Frankenstein feels as he attempts to flee from the so-called monster he has created. I enjoy reading the language and how proper people addressed their writing and each other as well as the poetry of Shelley's day and age. For me, reading stories written so long ago adds to the beauty of literature: It's a chance for me to explore the lifestyles of previous generations and decades which is fascinating to me. It's thrilling to explore a story where the characters are making discoveries and the author introduces us to other literature of the time.

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.

A Whole New World

"Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose- a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye." pg 16

At the beginning of the novel, we are given a focus on which to concentrate. Walton tells his sister that he has a steady purpose (to find the passage to the North Pole), and with this purpose his life is calm. Reading over this quote, I discovered some major irony going on! Here, Walton expresses that by following his dream and pursuing to fulfill his hard earned education he may help mankind. It just so happens that on his voyage north-bound, the crew stumbles upon Frankenstein. IRONY! Frankenstein began his life and creation of the creature with the same aspirations Walton lived by: to put his studies to work in a discovery which might better mankind. Another ironic point surfaces as Frankenstein loses his mind to the obsession of his scientific discovery; whereas, Walton describes his goal of discovery as "tranquil."

The image below describes the passage Walton and his crew were searching for.

Some Parallels

pg. 191 "One seemed totally indifferent to the people around him- simply eating and then smoking and staring off into the distance." To connect the theme of universal human behavior, Nettie describes a white man who sits indifferent to the Olinka people. In a way, Alice Walker links this white man to Mr. ____ who sat for so long on his porch while Harpo and Celie tended to the fields. He was indifferent to his family and home life as he starred off into the distance. I feel like there is a distinct parallelism between Mr.____ and the white man to show that their indifference, which is worse than hate because indifference is defined by a lack of care, shapes the way they are viewed and the way they view others. pg. 247 "But all things look brighter because I have a loving soul to share them with." Nettie describes her marriage with Samuel in such a way that invokes pure happiness. Likewise, Celie finds this same sort of happiness in her early relationship with Shug Avery. One major theme is the strong relationship between couples, especially between women. Nettie and Celie keep a sisterhood alive through years of mail; Shug and Celie keep a friendlier than friends type of relationship both of which epitomize love. Either way, both sisters realize the beauty of relationships.

Splish Splash I Was Taking A Bath

pg. 184 "The birds sing just as sweet when us leave as when us come. Then, look like as soon as us turn back on the main road, they stop. By the time us got to the cemetery, the sky gray." Here, imagery depicts the tone of the scene. I found this chapter completely ironic because these beautiful flowers and trees line the drive up to the house, a place of gloomy memories from Celie's past. Yet when she drives up with Shug, knowing she will see Pa, the beauty consumes her. For such an ugly cruel man, Pa knew how to keep a pretty, lively looking house. We don't see anything else about birds singing (giving a positive connotation), so automatically there seems to be some tension as she arrives at and leaves the house. As soon as she enters the real world past the house of her childhood, the world turns gray and gloomy again. Celie so yearns for color in her gray world! Luckily, she finds that inevitably in the pants she makes and connection upheld with Nettie.

Pivotal Moment

pg. 178 "Dear God, That's it, say Shug. Pack your stuff. You coming back to Tennessee with me. But I feels daze. My daddy lynch. My mama crazy... You must be sleep."

My initial reaction to the letter Celie read from Nettie indicating that "Pa is not our pa!" startled me so much that my mind starting racing backwards remembering all that had previously happened. And then I turned the page to one of the most significant chapters- short and sweet. Celie writes her shortest letter to God yet. Her short, choppy syntax depict perfectly the chaos and daze she finds herself in. Again, Walker throws a curve ball! Shug's demand that she pack her stuff offers a subtle foreshadow to an event that might alter the course of the story...

pg. 202 "You a lowdown dog is what's wrong, I say. It's time to leave you and enter into the Creation. And your dead body just the welcome mat I need."

As Shug announces Celie's departure, I imagine the shock that hovered in Odessa's dining room. This scene is the climax of the story for several reasons. First, Shug gets her way. A woman whose determination and strong will often gets the best of her, she helps liberate Celie from her devastating life with Mr. ____. Second, this is the first time Celie stands up for herself to any man. Through this declaration, theme also comes forth. It is in leaving her current life that she can truly enter into creation. Creation doesn't necessarily mean God's world but all the beauty there is to behold which she's missed over the years due to being under a man's thumb.

Our Happiness is HIS Happiness (:

pg. 194 "But if God love me, Celie, I don't have to do all that. Unless I want to. There's a lot of other things I can do that I speck God likes... I can lay back and just admire stuff. Be happy. Have a good time."

Favorite line of the book (well one of many- I'm not the best at choosing!). I relate so well to Shug on some levels. For instance, her need for adventure and travel and not wanting to be tied to one place, her passion for people and standing up for what she believes, her admirable sense of pride in herself. I view God in this way too. I don't always have to be looking for Him but can make him happy by appreciating all around me. I think God fins happiness in our own enjoyment of everything He has given us. Walker intended for us to reflect on our own views of God in light of Celie and Shug.

Techniques such as these unexpected surprises allowed me to realize and concoct a more direct theme. I believe Alice Walker found life and people to be unexpectedly marvelous. She adds personal scenes all throughout the novel to inspire thought of how little we know about the people who surround us.