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.
15 Comments
Lindsey Audretch
4/15/2015 06:48:22 am
I believe that nature is a very powerful thing and that Mary Shelley saw it as a destructive force because she was talking about how Victor created a creature from nature or out of the things that come from nature and it destroyed a lot of things and killed a lot of people so that is in a negative way but in the end she saw it more as positive because you find out that everything was more Victor's fault then the creatures like how the creature was saying that Victor had left him and he had to learn speech and walking and other things all on his own so you kind of have sympathy for the creature more than Victor at the end of the story and you see that nature doesn't have to be so bad if it's treated right.
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Jessica McElwee
4/15/2015 10:28:20 am
I believe that Mary Shelley saw both restorative and destructive forces. Maybe more destructive because of how the monster killed lives and he was created with parts of nature. The positives being that the creature wasn't exactly to blame for everything, it was Victor. The monster taught himself how to speak the language which was the positive of nature.
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Selina Sunderman
4/15/2015 10:57:30 am
I believe Mary Shelley saw nature as both a restorative and destructive force. I'm leaning more towards destructive than restorative but she uses both a lot. I would say more destructive, because the creature killed a lot of people and he came from per say "parts of nature", really just body parts and other things stitched together. For the restorative part, the monster pretty much didn't have anyone there for him and had to teach himself and feed off of other human beings to learn the ways they do thugs and speak the way they did in order to "fit in". Also, with this being a fictional story, knowing that this wouldn't happen( gosh, I hope not), there is always the bad guy and in this case Victor Frankenstein would have to be put in the hot seat, since he did the wrong thing in running away from his creation and not facing what he made actually come to life before his eyes,
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Jenna Gressler
4/15/2015 11:12:08 am
I believe Mary Shelley uses nature as more of a restorative force in Frankenstein, this is because on several occasions she has used it as a type of cure for characters in the book. For example, the first time Victor becomes ill Henry uses nature to help restore is health and make him happy again. The monster also talks about how nature helped him calm his nerves while telling his story. Shelley uses nature as a destructive and restorative force throughout the story, however I believe she uses much more restorative forces.
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Daniel Hodges
4/15/2015 11:22:41 am
Since this is a romantic novel, nature plays an integral aspect of the story's plotpoints. And while Shelley uses nature in both constructive and destructive ways, I believe she uses nature more as a positive force. My opinion is due to the way Victor utilizes it. After he creates the monster and becomes ill, Victor finds pleasure in scenes of nature to evoke feelings of calmness. This use of nature as a source of tranquility acts as a argument against science and industrialization.
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Lydia Cox
4/15/2015 12:59:03 pm
Nature plays a huge role through out all of the novel. Mary Shelley uses it as a destructive and calming force, but I think she uses it to be more destructive. She puts characters into nature but then has them constantly be unable to escape the monster or the idea of the monster. For example, when Victor and his family move to a more secluded area in the mountains and in tranquility with nature he sees the monster on top of the mountain. This example from the book shows how even in nature Victor is not at peace and his creation will always haunt and he will be unable to escape the consequences for his thirst of knowledge.
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Sir Lucas Bauer Namie III, Esquire
4/15/2015 09:46:52 pm
Mary Shelley absolutely is arguing that nature is a destructive force as opposed to a restorative one. Frankenstein is ripe with examples of the terrible strength of nature. The most poignant example is Victor's inspiration for using electricity to power his life-giving inventions: the lightning bolt that splits the tree in half, and again when a lightning bolt illuminates the Creature in Geneva. Furthermore, the repeated deaths of those that Victor holds dear; first his mother, then William. This reflects the ability of nature to completely tear families apart.
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Jessica Essert
4/15/2015 10:07:13 pm
I think Mary Shelley saw nature as a more restorative force in Frankenstein. When victor is stressed from the guilt of the monster he goes into nature and feel better. He is restored to health in the beauty of nature. There are moments when nature has been destructive but it does much more to heal than it does to destroy. Nature created the creature and nature helped Victor calm down.
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Gabi Lepof
4/15/2015 10:12:34 pm
I believe that MAry shelley thinks nature is a destructive force. I think Mary Shelley favors a destructive force over restorative force. The monster was created with parts of nature and the monster comes off to people as destructive when really he is just looking for a friend.
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Meara Huheey
4/15/2015 10:57:04 pm
I think that Nature is both and that Shelley uses both equally. Nature, like life, can either raise you up or push you down. In the book she uses nature (rain) to fortell misfortune. She also uses nature to restore the characters and make them happy again.
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Emily Schutte
4/15/2015 11:44:56 pm
I believe that Shelly favors nature as a restoration factor more than the other. She centers Victors recovery's around nature. He finds peace in the mountains that surround him and the peace in the outdoors.
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Emma Sexton
4/16/2015 12:43:59 am
Mary Shelly saw nature as both a destructive and restorative force in the book Frankenstein. The destructive force of nature Mary Shelly uses in her book in the creature. The creature was created by Victor Frankenstein using dead body parts and once the creature came to life Victor freaked out and ran away. This lead the creature to feel lonely and decided to go find Victor. The creature ended up killing Victor's younger brother, William, by strangling him. Then the creature finally has a talk with Victor and asks Victor to create him a companion and to make Victor say yes the creature says that it will be Victor's fault if he continues to kill people or if he goes away.
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Taylor Wilp
4/18/2015 11:02:28 am
Mary Shelley sees nature as more of a destructive force I believe more than a restorative force. She uses the creature as the destructive force. The creature was first made out of dead body parts. After Victor Frankenstein was scared and ran away from the monster that made him feel lonely and abandoned. The creature then, in order to gain attention, started killing people including William and even Henry Clerval later in the book. Then the creature demands that Victor creates him a companion or else he will start on a killing spree and blame victor for all the deaths. On the flip side Mary Shelley does use nature as a peaceful force when Victor tries to collect himself after stressful situations.
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Jenn Somtrakool
5/1/2015 01:32:15 am
I think that nature can be both restorative and destructive. It was restorative in Frankenstein because you can create shocking and life changing things that is different from what is considered normal. But it was destructive too because the creature that was created destroyed and ruined Victor's life by threatening him and killing those around him. I think Mary Shelley believes that nature is more destructive than restorative because in the novel, the creature was depicted as an evil and dangerous object because he was lonely. Which shows that nature can hurt you emotionally too.
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Kylee
5/20/2015 10:40:21 pm
I think Mary Shelley used nature in a restorative force in the book, "Frankenstein." Although the monster was a very destructive kind of person, he only went with what he learned through reason. Through the use of nature and logic, the Monster had to adapt to being different from the other people. He did not look like the others. He did not act like the others. And he definitely did not fit in with all the stereotypes stirring about. Another clear example of nature being used as a restorative feature is how Frankenstein, who is completely overwhelmed with stress because of what the monster is capable of, goes out into the nature and feels at peace. This shows that through nature, tranquility was met and maintained. Although the monster was very destructive and harmed the lives' of many people, he came to peace through nature and Mary Shelley did a great job of showing this.
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