Developing Characters in Frankenstein

I got a new book... btw.... Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

People say it's really gory, but it really isn't.... well at the end there is a lot of murder.

In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, each of the main characters develop from a way of innocence to having a corrupt mind, particularly The Monster. A creation made by old body parts, chemicals and a spark of life, The Monster was an outcast on a world he strived to be accepted in. When The Monster's creator, Victor Frankenstein, first brought him to life, The Monster was 8-feet tall, impossibly strong, yet had the mind of a baby. Frankenstein, horrified by his creation, leaves The Monster by himself. Not knowing how to converse with any other and knowing that his appearance would only scare any person he tried to approach, he fled to a cottage. There he overheard conversations of compassion and acceptance, thus making him try his best to be the same. After he got rejected by the family he's been looking after for, his heart turned cold and was filled with pain and loneliness. The Monster became a monster filled with grief and relieved his sadness and anger with killing.

Mary Shelly is able to develop The Monster by inputting feeling and personal thoughts of The Monster into the story. The story of The Monster is told in a narrative by The Monster himself, starting from the moment he could think. Mary Shelly repeatedly emphasized the fact that The Monster was abandoned and lonely, only searching to be accepted into society. Then after countless experiences of assault and insult, his heart grew cold. The Monster described his situation in great detail, an image could be formed inside the readers head. The point where The Monster transformed into a killer was when he tried reaching out to a blind man for acceptance, then the man's family came in and physically beat The Monster out of the home. The Monster described his will for revenge and his hatred towards his creator. Therefore, Mary Shelly develops the character, The Monster, by showing his emotions in great detail, from an innocent mind to a grown-up revengeful mind that is corrupt with loneliness and frustration.

One Topic

The classic novel, "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner has many diverse topics, but one topic that stood out was order within chaos. At the very end of the novel, Luster and Benjy were in a carriage heading back to their home in Jefferson, Mississippi. Luster, a teenage black servant, was driving the carriage then deviated from his regular course. Benjy, a mentally disabled 33-year old man, took notice of the unfamiliar surroundings then started bawling. Once Luster turned back to the familiar course, Benjy saw "post and tree, window and doorway and signboard each in it's ordered place." The word "ordered place" emphasizes the familiarity and neatness of the surroundings and how Benjy immediately recognizes the path they are headed and are leading even though the carriage was full of moaning and yelling seconds before. The return to familiarity could signify how the Compson family was still heading in the same direction, their downfall. Therefore, in the midst of disarray, uniformity comes and changes the problem until it's back on course.

Setting

So, I'm supposed to finish my book by this week. Easy enough, right? Except one thing.... I forgot my book at school...

I'm a genius, I know. I went to a library and checked the book out again and... Oh my goodness, this version is so much more helpful. In the little book flap summary there is the setting. I'll tell you now.

The story is in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi.



This is just a little update, so if you are going to buy or borrow this book, get the version with the Appendix.

The Sound and the Fury (Exposition)

           This book doesn't have the easy "My name is Benjy and my 3 siblings and I are the protagonists of the story." exposition. (Yes, I dramatized a little). 

It seems like the rising action starts at the first word of the novel. With this being the case, the location and major characters were hard to figure out...

Honestly, I am still not completely sure about the location of the story because I cannot find any reference or just missed where the place was named... therefore, according to the internet the story was taken place in an imaginary city in Mississippi. Jefferson, Mississippi to be exact, which is in the wonderful Yoknapatawpha County (also made up). Tonight, I'll be reading it again... hopefully I'll be lucky and at least find something small. Happily, the setting (as in time) is easily revealed in the chapter title "April Seventh 1928."

Unfortunately... throughout the chapter it frequently and unexpectedly goes into the past; when the narrator is a child.

The narrator in the first part is a 33-year old man named Benjy, short for Benjamin. In the flashbacks, it is revealed that he is the youngest of four siblings, Quentin, Caddy (short for Candace), Jason and Benjy himself. These four siblings are all a part of the Compson family. The Compson family is a high class, wealthy family. 

From the memories, it seems like Candace is a caring, elder sister who also strives for what she wants.

As for Jason, his way of talking is sharp and mean, even to his own mother. Quentin is a complicated character in my view... he sometimes cam be gentle and shy, but also can be a fighter.

The story starts with Benjy and Luster, a black teenager. Luster was watching over Benjy while looking for his lost quarter that he was going to use to go to a minstrel show that night. While searching for the quarter, there were many events that triggered Benjy's memories. Through this, a lot of the Compson's family past has been revealed. Soon enough, the memories turn into the main story and the real-time action is unimportant. The date of this part never changes when the flashbacks happen, so it is like everything is happening on April Seventh 1928 (in Benjy's mind, of course).

So this is a basic summary of the setting, major characters and my opinions of the exposition...

Hopefully by the next post, I'll be a little more in tune with the book...

The Sound and the Fury (Intro)

Picked my first IRB (Independent Reading Book). I've gotten a warning saying that this was a complicated book, but I think I can do it.... I hope...

(This is the actual copy I borrowed)

It's supposed to be about 3 brothers and their obsession with their sister...

At least that is what I saw as a little summary. 

I might need intense concentration, focus and patience... but,

I can do this...

"For all his concern with the South, Faulkner was actually seeking out the nature of man. Thus we must turn to him for that continuity of moral purpose which made for the greatness of out classics."

-Ralph Ellison

"For range of effect, philosophical weight, originality of style, variety of characterization, humor, and tragic intensity [Faulkner's works] are without equal in out time and country."

-Robert Penn Warren

(Quotes found on the back cover of the book)