Blog 2

Frankenstein Response

After finishing the second half of Frankenstein I was excited to watch some scenes from the movie adaptations of the book. These opened my eyes to how much different the book is compared to the movies. One thing I noticed in particular was the interaction between the monster and the family. In the book multiple chapters are spent on this and they really get the reader to sympathize with the fiend. Through his own dialogue the reader is almost forced to feel bad for the monster, since all he wants is to interact with the family, even if it is just with the blind man. This works because interaction with people is something we take for granted, sometimes to the point that we often wish to avoid it. I definitely found myself feeling bad for him after his plan to make friends with the family failed to materialize. However, while watching the movie I did not develop these feelings as quickly since the old man takes him in immediately. Instead I found it humorous as Frankenstein gets around his fear of fire and learns to communicate with the old man. Then, when the hunters come by and take away his dream I did not feel as bad for him as I did in the book. Overall, I believe this is a testament to the ability of written stories to fully develop the characters and fully engage all of the audience’s emotions. Without scenes such as these, I believe the story loses part of its impact.