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Imagery – In the novel, imagery or language that appeals to the senses is used to paint a vivid picture for the reader. Shelley employs imagery such as "I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs" (Shelley, 43). This quote allows the reader to brilliantly visualize the action taking place. Shelley’s use of imagery in Frankenstein alludes to her own vivid imagination, which was cultivated in her early childhood. Shelley’s use of imagery helps the reader “see” the horrific creature and therefore makes the novel more realistic. This imagery also has the effect of intensifying the emotions necessary for creating Shelley’s horror story.

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Apostrophe – Mary Shelley seems to be fond apostrophes, a literary device in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and was able to reply. In the novel, Victor often has conversations with those whom he encountered in his past but that are no longer alive. In one of these conversations with Henry, Victor says, ““Excellent friend! how sincerely did you love me, and endeavor to elevate my mind, until it was on a level with your own” (Shelley, 55). This illustrates how Victor is incapable of escaping his past and those who are a part of it. Interestingly, this theme can also be tied to the character of Frankenstein’s monster. Frankenstein was unable to move on from the torture inflicted on him by the village people. As a result of this torture, the monster proceeded to kill all those that he came in contact with that acted similar to those from his past.

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Oxymoron - The monster Frankenstein created, even though using human remains, resembles nothing close to a human. Frankenstein’s monster is portrayed as being a devil or “hellish” being. If society had accepted the monster maybe Frankenstein’s creation would not have been shown in this way. The monster says “I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph…” (Shelley, 206). This oxymoron shows the monster’s joy in inflicting pain on the society which shunned him and his creator. The same attitude as the monster can be seen in today’s society. Perhaps acts of violence such as the tragedy at Columbine could have been avoided if society was more accepting of those that were not exactly main stream.

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Metaphor - “I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollections of childhood, before misfortune had tainted my mind, and changed its bright visions of extensive usefulness into gloomy and narrow reflections upon self . . . I find it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys.” (Shelley, 21) Victor’s feelings are compared to a mountain river which continues as a theme throughout Frankenstein. The association of nature and human feelings in this chapter demonstrates Shelley’s love for nature-based metaphors instead of comparing items to other non natural objects. Instead of describing Victor’s feelings using dialogue with other characters Shelley uses a more natural and ”romantic” setting. In this way one is given a look into one of Shelley’s styles used often in Frankenstein. This glimpse at the way the rest of the novel will flow might even offer insights as to natures bond to man.

In Chapter 11, Ellison utilizes an oxymoron or a juxtaposition of two unlike things to create emphasis for the reader. The narrator speaks out saying that a "flash of cold-edged heat enclosed me" (p.232)and at this point begins fantasizing about what evil contraption he has been placed in. Later to his bewilderment he understands that the electrical impulses are to reduce the pain he is in, not inflict more as he previously proposed. For one of the first times White people are taking care of him and in his current condition he is very thankful. His previous instinct to free himself and flee from the White women and man most likely sprung from the betrayal of White people to him. It is in this way that he regained a little bit of confidence in what his grandfather had said to him about placating the White man long ago.

In Chapter 10, Ellison uses a metaphor or a direct comparison between Mr. Brockway’s face and a walnut to help the reader visualize the engineer. The narrator goes to the furnace room and meets the engineer, Mr. Lucius Brockway. Mr. Brockway believes that the narrator is there to steal away his job so he initially treats him with great suspicion. In fact, Mr. Brockway begins to send the narrator away, but stops and turns around. The narrator, describing this moment states, “Returning, he looked at me sharply, his withered face an animated walnut with shrewd, reddish eyes" (P. 208). With is metaphor Ellison does a remarkable job of capturing the scene. The reader can see the lines and crevices of a walnut superimposed over Mr. Brockway’s face and instantly sense his age, frustration, and uncompromising demeanor and yet a walnut is not threatening and even conjures up notions of cakes and cookies. In this way the metaphor has a dual effect of helping the reader see how Mr. Brockway is beginning to soften toward the narrator.

Out of curiosity I kept a list of all the stereotypes that the narrator was subjected to in the novel. By the end, I counted more than six labels that society placed on the narrator. These included the Pacifier (battle royal), the Savage (Sybil’s rape fantasy), the Criminal (blond man mugging), the Pimp (Rinehart disguise), the Good Slave (coin bank), and the Sycophantic Sloth (Sambo doll). Through experience the narrator found each of these typecasts to be inconsistent with how he saw himself. Although not using the same labels, I realized that society even at Roncalli still stereotypes people. Through preconceived prejudices we label classmates as Jocks, Geeks, Gamers, Brains, and Freaks just to name a few. Just as the narrator was made to feel insignificant or “invisible” to society, I wonder how many classmates we unintentionally make feel “invisible” by the labels we use and the way we treat them? Although the Invisible Man is set in the Deep South over 80 years ago, I realize its insights are as valid today as they were when first published.