The cuddly bear within!

So if you’re a senior who is going to stop trying at all work after the APs, say “I.” I think the monster got kind of soft towards the end of the story. This blog is trying to get at the fact that there is a little monster on the outside of all of us but on the inside we all have a cuddly bear or what have you. Personally mine is a squirrel but that’s a story for another day. In Chapter 24 Walton hears a strange sound coming from his cabin on the ship, only to find the hideous monster weeping over the body of his creator, who he hated. So why now would the monster be doing this, well it’s because that was his only friend. As sad as it sounds the monster was hated by his “parent” but the monster still felt connected and therefore grieved at his passing away. So this establishes the fact that society never truly knows how a person is on the inside until it gets the chance to see that person when “the chips are down” so to say. We truly get to know a person’s characteristics when they are in a bad or just hard situation because it’s in these situations where we show our true colors. This stands true for the monster because underneath that green ugliness, he too had a cuddly bear within. Now go out and find that cuddly bear in you!

Alastair loves his woman, yes its pertinent!

I honestly have been sitting here staring at the screen blankly for about 30 minutes… yea I got nothing… nothing but women, or a woman, on my mind. This reminds me though that Victor and the monster have that in common with me! Both Victor and the monster had a special bond with women that each sought to fill the voids in their lives. Victor often said that Elizabeth was is only joy, in this same manner the monster says it is his soul right to a female companion. The monster even uses his own “desperate loneliness” to guilt victor, as his creator, into creating the monster a bride. Both of these men view women as peace and happiness, the kind of joy that no other source may bring them. Equally binding, each man has his struggles with society that he can set aside when he is with a female companion, except the monster never gets his chance to. So needless to say, my love for Alexis is linked to the fact that I absolutely despise school this close to the end of the year and I need relief from stress, but mostly just love...don't judge me!

Frankenstein and ground squirrels, UNITE

So once again I feel the need to introduce my blog with a random topic… how about ground squirrels? Did you know that they can chew rattlesnake skin to create a paste and then rub it one themselves to deter rattlesnakes from attacking!!! Another motif I noticed in the novel was that of abortion. At one point in the novel the monster says “I the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on.” This proves first that the monster is an intelligent being but also has feelings. Fancy that, a monster with feelings. The monster has this understanding that he has been left alone by his master and, although he hates him, still longs for his companionship but feels like he is an abortion. The monster knows he is ugly and that society shall never accept him, thus linked with his master’s hatred, he makes the connection he is not wanted. This sorrow turns into anger and he transforms into the monster, which I think could have been avoid if Victor would not have been a fool and used his noodle.

Frankenstein, why can't we all just love?

I would like to start with a random question that has no pertinence to this blog, would you rather be known as the school's "Bad bully who loves Dora the Explorer" or be known in school as "The nerdy freak"? Ok so personally I feel that everything these days is up to society. I mean yes one can go off and deviate from the norm but how cool does that really make you? In the monster’s instance society did not accept him and prejudged him. Not one person truly took the time to get to know how the monster was on the inside; instead even after he saved a girl from drowning, her boyfriend shot him. It is because of this blatant hostility from the society that the monster was born into that he was turned evil.

Frankenstein, super freak!!!!

So I was actually paying attention to some of the discussions in class today and came up with this. Nothing really ties together or makes too much sense in the book, for example the monster being eight-foot-tall but having limbs from humans. Now I might be going out on a limb here, that was a pun get it, but it does not make too much sense for normal human limbs to make a creation reach eight feet. I also noticed that in the novel Victor talks about the skin almost not covering the entire body, this puzzled me. Unless the limbs were stripped of skin for some reason there should most definitely be enough skin to reach around the body comfortably correct? Finally, why did Victor not just take an entire corpse from the grave or mortuary, why hack them up…freak.

Frankenstein, super freak!!!!

So I was actually paying attention to some of the discussions in class today and came up with this. Nothing really ties together or makes too much sense in the book, for example the monster being eight-foot-tall but having limbs from humans. Now I might be going out on a limb here, that was a pun get it, but it does not make too much sense for normal human limbs to make a creation reach eight feet. I also noticed that in the novel Victor talks about the skin almost not covering the entire body, this puzzled me. Unless the limbs were stripped of skin for some reason there should most definitely be enough skin to reach around the body comfortably correct? Finally, why did Victor not just take an entire corpse from the grave or mortuary, why hack them up…freak.

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Personification – With the use of personification or the giving of inanimate objects a human form or characteristics, Shelley uses personification to give life to nature just as Victor gives life to the monster. The giving of a human form to an inanimate object also ties to the greater theme in Frankenstein of creating life and playing the role of God. The quote “…partially unveiled the face of Nature, but her immortal lineaments were still a wonder and a mystery.” (Shelley, 25) reinforces the bonds between man and nature. The strong affiliation that Shelley feels toward nature can be attributed to the amount of time she spent outside as a child. Shelley was forced to give human characteristics to nature due to the lack of human companionship as a child. Just as Shelley sought this human companionship in nature, the monster also looked for camaraderie from those who would not judge him.

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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.

I found betrayal to be a consistent theme throughout Invisible Man. The narrator was betrayed by a number of white men to include by Dr. Bledsoe with the fake letters of recommendation, by Mr. Brockway with his belief that the narrator was involved in union activities, by the doctors who use shock therapy on the narrator, and even by the white policemen that shoot Clifton for selling dolls on the street. I found it interesting upon reflection that the narrator was betrayed by an almost equal number of black men to include by Brother Wrestrum who accuses the narrator of selfish motives, by the leaders of the Brotherhood who exclude the narrator from secret strategy sessions, and even by Ras who sends his mob out to beat up the narrator. In the racially charged environment of the times, I was prepared for the deception by the white men, but I was caught off guard by the betrayal of the narrator’s fellow African Americans. My sensing is that the betrayal by his fellow African Americans completes the impression of desperation that the narrator must have felt. Faced with complete isolation and surely feeling vulnerable, I understood better the narrator decision to exclude himself from society by going “underground.”

To dream or not to dream, that is the question. Certainly, the Invisible Man is a spoof of sorts on the American Dream. How many times have each of us been told that we can be whatever we want to be, just work hard. While likely more true today than back in the 1920s in this country, the Invisible Man reminds me that “opportunity” throughout the history of our Nation has been a relative term at times. As Americans we can be quick to highlight our philanthropic endeavors and benevolence for the downtrodden, yet one need only consider the plight of African Americans, Native Americans, and even the Japanese Americans at certain points in our history to realize that our track record is somewhat suspect. The importance of this realization for me is twofold. First, we ought to appreciate the journey our Nation has taken over the last 234 years. Second, a tangible portion of the American Dream is influenced by how we treat each other. For me the answer to my question above is certainly to dream…and to allow those around me to dream as well.

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Upon reflection I have come to appreciate Ellison’s use of the first person narrative when he wrote Invisible Man. Considering the novel details the journey of a nameless black man who eventually comes to see himself as indiscernible or made to be insignificant by society, Ellison’s telling of the story from inside the narrator’s mind exposes his feelings and way of thinking. In this way, it is easier for the reader to observe how the narrator changes his perception of himself. Of course the challenge is that all of the other characters do not have a mechanism to disclose their inner thoughts. Rather, their actions and words are filtered through the prejudices and interpretations of the narrator himself. I personally would enjoy knowing what some of the other characters truly thought of the narrator, such as the war veteran.

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Although it took me a bit, I realize now that the name Ellison gave to Reverend Homer A. Barbee is actually an allusion or reference to Homer, the famous Greek author. The fact that both the Reverend and Homer were blind strengthens my supposition. Interestingly, just as the Greek author Homer espoused the feats of great heroes in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Reverend Homer A. Barbee promoted the deeds of the college’s Founder as if he were some sort of god. In speaking of the Founder, the Reverend states “You have heard his name from your parents, for it was he who led them to the path, guiding them like a great captain” (p. 120). Ellison uses this allusion to Homer to make fun of the praise the college has bestowed upon its Founder almost as if he himself were Achilles or Odysseus. The fact that the Reverend’s grand oration occurs in church helps draw out the spoof on the god-like Founder.

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In Chapter Six, Ellison uses an effective simile or figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things to highlight an important realization for the narrator. After attending the chapel service as directed, the narrator meets with Dr. Bledsoe who was very upset that he took Mr. Norton to an old slave quarters on his tour. Although Dr. Bledsoe promised Mr. Norton that he would not punish the narrator, Dr. Bledsoe goes back on his word and tells the narrator “You’ve got to be disciplined, boy” (p. 141). The narrator screamed at Dr. Bledsoe vowing to fight him. Dr. Bledsoe berates the narrator and tells him that “you’re nobody, son. You don’t exist – can’t you see that?” (p. 143). The narrator states “for three years I had thought of myself as a man and here with a few words he’d made me as helpless as an infant” (p. 144). This simile has the effect of highlighting the narrator’s dependence on the white man just as a baby is dependent on his mother, but it also signals a realization or rebirth of his outlook that his grandfather maintained that the black man could get his way by placating the white man.

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Ellison concludes Chapter One with a wonderful example of foreshadowing where he hints of what is to come in the action of the novel. On the very evening that the narrator received the calfskin briefcase that contained “a scholarship to the state college of Negroes” (p. 32), he had a dream that he was at a circus with his grandfather. In his dream, his grandfather told him to open his briefcase whereupon he found an envelope. After opening several more envelopes, the narrator finds an engraved document that he is ordered to read aloud. The document states, “To Whom It May Concern, Keep This Nigger-Boy Running” (p. 33). The effect of this foreshadowing is to prepare the reader for the chain of consequences that will unfold resulting in the narrator’s broken dreams. The briefcase and scholarship must certainly represent the narrator’s aspirations with the foreboding dream representing the despair that will befall him.

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I was fascinated to see Ellison use an allusion or reference to the Sirens in Greek mythology in describing the naked blonde woman that danced immediately prior to the battle royal. Ellison stated, “She seemed like a fair bird-girl girdled in veils calling to me from the angry surface of some gray and threatening sea” (p. 19). Of course according to Greek mythology the Sirens were described as winged maidens who would sing to passing sailors from rocky cliffs and in this way lure the vessels into treacherous waters where they would be crushed. The narrator says he was “transported” be her dancing as if he were being drawn to her like a Greek sailor to the call of a Siren. The effect of this allusion highlights to the reader the seductive danger of the blonde, white woman. I suspect however, based on the disturbance that she caused among the “big shots,” that the allusion not only predicted the narrator’s peril but also that of the rich, white men gathered in the room.