Chapter 5 Analysis

How is language used to describe the chain of events at the start of Chapter 5?

Shelley immediately creates the atmosphere by describing the atmosphere. Describing the night as "dreary" and emphasizing on it being a night in "November" suggests that she intends to use it as a symbolism, foreshadowing the melancholy. She continues describing that it was then where Frankenstein finally attained his accomplishment of the experiment. However, the fact that she describes it as the accomplishment of Frankenstein’s “toils” indicates a that she intends Frankenstein to have a sense of negativity towards the experiment. Furthermore, instead of describing Frankenstein’s excitement for obtaining and reaching the end of the experiment as enthusiastic Shelley describes it as an “anxiety” that has almost been channeled into “agony”. Creating an intensity of the negativity and horror in the atmosphere that Shelley created earlier on. 

Further on into the paragraph, Shelley uses the imagery of a flickering light such as “half-extinguished light”, and a candle that was “nearly burnt out” to describe the moment before Frankenstein sees his creation for the very first time. This gives an impression that she uses this to symbolize something promising. However, I see these imageries as a sign on false hope, something that signifies that all of the work, time and effort that Frankenstein has devoted to his experiment might be gone to waste. Furthermore Shelley also uses natural signs to highlight the atmosphere of the story. The time of November is usually when everything starts becoming bleak and dull. Times where animals go into hibernation or even die due to the extreme gelidity. Shelley uses the technique of pathetic fallacy to complement the situation. Bringing back the aforementioned use of imagery as a symbol of false hope, one might realize that the fact that Shelley set it at “one in the morning” with rain that “pattered dismally” further enhances and amplifies the impact of the distress and caprice. 

As the creation is introduced into the story as a character, Shelley’s initial description of it distinctly shows Frankenstein’s feelings of disdain towards his very own creation. She describes Frankenstein’s creation as a “creature” and the very existence of it as a “catastrophe”. For a reader that only knows everything that he or she has read so far, Frankenstein’s creation might appear to be some sort of monster that has a heart filled with detrimental intentions. Furthermore, Shelley describes it’s motion as being “compulsive” as if it’s a “agitation” to it’s limbs give an impression that Frankenstein might see the very movement and breath of his creation as a revulsion and disturbance. This continues further on as Frankenstein expresses his disdain towards his creation by referring to as a “wretch”. 

At this very moment, questions are raised regarding Frankenstein's personality. Some people might think that this is acceptable to not be able to accept his creation as it is because of all the hard work that he has put into bringing the creation to life. However, I think that this very part of the story is where Shelley decides to manifests the negativity to Frankenstein very own characteristics. As a reader approaches the part where Frankenstein meets his creation and where it is actually being introduced as a character, I realize that the language that Shelley uses to describe is contradictory. She first describes each different appearance of the creation such as his "lustrous black" hair and his teeth that are of "pearly whiteness, but all of that is then contradicted by her describing his "yellow skin" that barely covers his body and also the hair and teeth that created a "horrid contrast" with the creation's "watery eyes" that is surrounded by his "shriveled complexion". This gave me an impression that Shelley intentionally describes the appearances of the creation in such extreme polarities to create a sense of confusion towards the reader, making one wander if the creation is in actuality, frightful and hideous or "beautiful". However, I think that this is no confusion because at the very end of this paragraph, I realized that most of what Frankenstein was repulsed at was not the way his creation acted or behaved but merely the way he looked. This suggests that Frankenstein is a character whose shallow and superficial and is unable to accept his creation and jumps into conclusions of it being a "creature" or a monster and referring to it as a "wretch" just because it failed his expectations in his appearances.