Thinking about what you have read so far in Frankenstein, reflect on the idea of nature as either a restorative or destructive force. Do you believe Mary Shelley favors one more than the other? Using specific examples from the text - argue whether Mary Shelley believes nature is a restorative or destructive force.
12 Comments
Kyle Goins
4/15/2015 05:01:13 am
I think that Mary Shelley uses nature as more of a restorative force. This is because in the book Victor Frankenstein feels that nature relaxes him and strengthens his spirit. Everytime he thinks of something devastating that has happened to him. He uses nature to keep his mind off of those types of things.
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Cara Roche
4/15/2015 06:42:48 am
I think Mary Shelley uses nature as more of a restorative force however she also displays natures presence while destructive acts occur. For example when the storm illuminates the monster at the site of Williams death. It is used as a restorative force after Victor created the creature and he was hysterical, Henry takes Victor outside to cheer him up. Victor also stops to admire nature on his journey back to his family which helps him come to terms with Williams death. As well as Victor and Henry's trip to England in which the sites help restore Victor even though he is mourning for Justine and William.
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Emma Girdler
4/15/2015 07:53:02 am
I believe that Mary Shelley uses nature as kind of a restorative and even a destructive force. It's a restorative force because when bad things happen to Victor, he ventures off into nature and finds his inner peace which takes his mind off of everything around him for a while. I also think that is can be a destructive force because the storms that happen typically mean something bad is coming up in the book. For example, when the storm illuminated the creature at the scene of William's death.
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Trevor Might
4/15/2015 08:02:31 am
I believe that Mary Shelley depicts nature as a restorative and positive force, as opposed to a destructive one. In 'Frankenstein', whenever forces of nature are shown in a horrific or negative light, they are usually just serving as an atmosphere to add suspense to the real threat, such as when the lightning illuminates the figure of the Creature in Chapter 7. On the other hand, there are countless scenes throughout the book where Victor is mentally restored by the beauty of mountains, glaciers, and streams, like in Chamounix.
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Kyle Boland
4/15/2015 08:10:48 am
I believe that Mary Shelley uses nature as a restorative force. This is supported when Victor falls ill after the creation of the monster. Henry takes Victor outside and we can slowly see Victor starting to appreciate life and regain some of his old values. The main cause of destruction is not nature, but is Victor himself; he created the creature and allowed it to kill those he loved. Victor is the cause of destruction and Nature is what helps him recover from the destruction. This can be seen after Justine's death, when Victor leaves on his own to explore places from his childhood. After each place he visits, he slowly gets better; he even starts to sleep soundly. Nature restores Victor after he creates the source of destruction
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Brendan Marchetti
4/15/2015 08:21:58 am
I think nature is a restoritive force because whenever Victor feels depressed or guilty about he has done and what he has created he goes into and nature helps to put his mind at ease it when he goes back to people or sees the creature that he starts to feel these emotions again. Nature helps to cure Victors guilt
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Rachel Lincoln
4/15/2015 09:46:01 pm
I think Mary Shelley uses nature more as a restorative force even though see it used as a destructive force sometimes. When spring comes the creature feels calm and appreciates all the new life. Nature is also very calming to Victor, many times in the book we see Victor isolating himself in nature. Nature is shown in a negative way mostly durring the storms, for example when the lightning strikes and Victor sees the creature after William dies.
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sophia
4/15/2015 10:05:33 pm
Mary Shelley sees nature as a reviving force in the book and uses nature to help victor when he is ill, but she also uses it to show that nature can reveal things. She uses nature to show the creature on the mountain and uses the lightening to shed light on the creature. But she also uses it when Victor is ill and being taken care of by Henry and Victor is empowered by nature and restored when he goes on walks with beautiful scenery
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Arin Schatzman
4/15/2015 10:38:23 pm
I think that Mary Shelley uses nature as a reviving force because when Victor is feeling guilty or ill,he retreats to nature and comes back feeling healthy. On the other hand, whenever the monster does some sort of evil deed, it involves nature, such as the lightning strike after William's death or the fire that burned down the family's house.
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Joe F
4/15/2015 11:45:02 pm
Mary Shelly favors more restorative in nature. Nature brought the monster back with the lightning, and when the monster runs away, nature took him and turned him into a kind monster (for the time) that cut wood for people and did kind things.
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Gabrielle Waters
4/20/2015 12:41:08 pm
Mary Shelly seems to favor nature as a restorative force more often than a destructive force. For example after Victor made the creature and went very ill from the fear, when he was introduced to nature he become happy and forgot his fear. This happened repetitively to Victor. Also the creature experiences this when he feels isolated or rejected. Nature makes these two main characters feel happy and forget all the bad even in the most horrid situations.
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Paige Dornheggen
5/1/2015 04:59:30 am
Mary Shelley uses nature as both a restorative and destructive force. It's restorative because Victor calms down by going on a walk in nature. It's destructive because of the lightening that lights up the Monster when Victor see's it. I feel that she likes to use them as a contrast but favors it as restorative.
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