Frankenstein Post Two

At the beginning of section two, chapter one, Victor Frankenstein is vastly devastated at the loss of both William and Justine. Frankenstein feels that he is responsible for both of these deaths and sobs at what he has done, more so of what he didn’t do: face the truth about creating a monster which he believes is the murderer of William. Justine fell victim to this injustice and thus Frankenstein feels her execution is also his wrong doing. After retiring to his house at Belrive, Frankenstein spends time after Elizabeth and his father have gone to sleep went out on the lake and "passed many hours upon the water" (Shelly 94). While he was adrift on the lake he allowed the boat to occasionally take its own course. Here on the lake, with "the only unquiet thing that wandered restless in a scene so beautiful and heavenly", Frankenstein found peace and tranquility as he escaped the horrors of Williams’s death and Justine’s execution (Shelly 94). By connection nature to tranquility, Shelly is trying to portray that nature can lift a human's spirits after suffering from a low period in their life.

Shelly's connection of peace and nature can be seen multiple other times throughout the section. At the beginning of chapter two, Frankenstein is embracing a journey into the mountain. It is here that natural scenes of the mountains and valleys gave "[Frankenstein] the greatest consolation [he] was capable of receiving" (Shelly 99). These natural wonders "elevate [Frankenstein] from all littleness of feeling; and although they did not remove my grief, they subdued and tranquillized" the sorrows of his losses (Shelly 99). From the context of the novel, it is apparent that Shelly's perception of nature can be concluded that she believes nature can be a mood brightener.

Not only does Dr. Frankenstein's mood become uplifted from nature, but also his monster's mood evolves into a happier one as well. Before the monster fled from Dr. Frankenstein's apartment, "on a sensation of cold, [the monster] had covered [himself] with some clothes; but these were insufficient to secure [him] from the dews of night" (Shelly 105). The monster, confused and unaware of his surrounding as a newborn child fresh from the womb, was "poor helpless, and miserable wretch; [he] knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade [him] on all sides, [he] sat down and wept" (Shelly 105-106). The monster was a train wreck; he had no idea the original era of his being, was isolated from his "family" and society as a whole, and had no shelter or "mother" to nurture him into society’s formalities. As he was sitting alone, weeping his eyes out, "a gentle light stole over the heavens, and gave [him] a sensation of pleasure" (Shelly 106). This light was obviously the moon as revealed from an author’s footnote. This natural occurrence provided a sensation happiness that motivated the monster to get up find berries for food and a cloak to warm him. Shelly's use of nature in the novel is clearly apparent that she is implying that nature can equate to one's happiness.

Clearly, Shelly's perception of nature is vastly expressed in the novel. The three examples I provided are only a few of which Shelly's message is presented. The use of the lake on which Dr. Frankenstein wanders, the mountains and valleys that he explores, and the moon that Frankenstein's monster gains strength from all clue to her main belief of nature: that the natural wonders of this diverse and interesting world can bring one happiness and relief from the tradgedies in their lives.