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Del Abney

Dr. Holt

AP Lit

11 September 2021

One-Pager Write-Up

For my one-pager, I chose numbers three (the most important word in the novel), five (six

word memoirs), seven (two most important symbols), and eight (central conflict).

For the most important word in the novel, I chose ‘wretch’. It is one of the most repeated

words in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, along with words that could be considered synonymous or

related to it such as ‘creature’ ‘misery’ ‘miserable’ and ‘fiend’.

Next, I created my six word memoirs for the Creature, Victor Frankenstein, Robert

Walton, Mary Shelly, and myself as the reader. For the Creature, I chose to write “Who is the real

monster here?”, as it seems to sum up how he feels about Frankenstein - the Creature had no

desire to be created, but he was, and he was shunned by his creator for his existence. In the book,

the creature acknowledges his horrible deeds as just that, but he also focuses on the misdeeds of

his creator, Frankenstein, and how they drove him to the point of him committing such terrible

acts. For Frankenstein, I wrote “I made more than one monster,” as it seems to me that is how he

feels - like he made a monster out of the Creature and himself. Even though he never meant for

the Creature to become a monster, he is still responsible for its actions. For Walton, I chose “All I

want is a friend,” because that is the majority of what he talks about. Every character in a story

must be driven by a want, and Walton’s want is a friend to learn from, teach, and confide in, and

to be a confidant for. Ultimately, he gains this for a short while with Frankenstein before he dies.

For the author, Mary Shelly, I wrote “All creators are cruel, twisted beings.” After a quick
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Google search, I confirmed that Shelly was likely an atheist based on her writings and other

beliefs. While there is a large focus on the fact that Frankenstein never should have made the

Creature, there is also an emphasis on the fact that Frankenstein was a terrible creator. Finally,

for myself as a reader, I wrote “Is the world truly this mad?” This should probably read “Is/was

the world truly this mad?” for the sake of accuracy, but I wasn’t sure if that would count as an

extra word or not. In any case, the world that Shelley writes of is one of chaos and madness.

After some quick research, it appears that one of the events that inspired Frankenstein was the

research going into electricity in animals. In one accidental discovery, a surgeon touched a

scalpel to the nerve of a frog he was dissecting, and the frog’s leg jumped. While there were

scientific explanations at the time (thought they would be proved wrong later), some observers

believed that the frog was being reanimated. This, of course, was the lead up to Frankenstein - a

story of life after death that Shelley uses to warn us of the unnatural sciences.

The two symbols I chose were fire/light and ice/cold, respectively. While light and fire

may seem like two different symbols, it is my belief that fire is just a more intense form of light

as a symbol. In Frankenstein, light symbolizes knowledge, discovery, and exploration (its

counterpart, darkness, represents ignorance). In his letters to his sister, Walton writes “What

could not be expected in the country of eternal light?” and “the sun is ever visible… a region of

beauty and delight.” This emphasizes his faith in science and discovery. Later, when

Frankenstein discovers that he can create life through science, he says, “Until from the midst of

this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me—a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple”.

This shows that light is synonymous with knowledge. Fire, however, is more extreme. It

represents the power over life and death - something that can be used to heal or to harm. The

Creature discovers this when he flees from Frankenstein and starts to live by himself in the
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woods. Upon discovering fire, he says, “When night came again, I found, with pleasure, that fire

gave light as well as heat; and that the discovery of this element was useful to me in my food.”

Later, he discovers the darker side of fire. Pleased by the warmth of the fire, he says “I thrust my

hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain.” Fire is the method by

which the Creature claims he will destroy himself, as well. In addition to this, fire also connects

to the title of the book: Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus. In Greek mythology,

Prometheus was a titan who betrayed Zeus by gifting fire to the mortals, and was then punished

for eternity for his actions. In Frankenstein, Frankenstein plays the role of Prometheus, while the

Creature plays the role of the mortals, and the fire is the gift of life that Frankenstein gifts to the

Creature. The other symbol here, ice, is the opposite of fire. It smothers life by making it more

difficult to live: the monster purposefully taunts Frankenstein to the North Pole because it would

be more difficult for him to survive there.

Lastly, I identified and depicted what I believe to be the central conflict of the story,

which is knowing when something is going too far and how to take accountability for it if/when

it does. This also connects back to the myth of Prometheus - taking a calculated risk in order to

bring life and having to suffer the consequences for it. With writing Frankenstein, Shelley also

warns us of going too far in our scientific achievements, and to be careful where we tread.