Author: Lupe Pacheco

One of the main ideas I got from this novel is that as the saying states “we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.” After reading the first two volumes of the novel, I felt like the main character Frankenstein was the true evil person for causing such misery in the monster’s life. At the beginning of the novel, we see how Frankenstein refers to his creation as devilish and malignant, but these assumptions were only made based off the monster’s appearance. How could Frankenstein know if the monster was indeed devilish if he had not taken the time to discover his personality? He automatically assumed the monster was bad because of his looks, but as we further read we get clues that he was not. The monster longed for a love and affection from someone like any other human being. After being rejected from society, he then began to feel negative emotions against humans for their bad treatment. He then searches for Frankenstein and demands a woman who will give him the love and affection he desires. He stated “You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being” (Shelley 156).  All the monster wanted was to have someone at his side whom he could be with.

Although at the beginning I felt like Frankenstein was evil, I changed my view after reading the third volume because of the huge sacrifice he made. After the request for a female, Frankenstein was torn between two consequences that could rise from his decision. On one end, he could make the woman and make the monster happy or he could choose not to and live in fear of the monster’s vengeance. If he would have chosen to make the woman, he would have sparked the reproduction of the monster’s kind in the world. He realized this when stating, “a race of devils would be propogated upon the earth” (Shelley 174).  In my opinion, Frankenstein chose to make the right decision because if he would’ve granted the monster his wish, he would have condemned the world to suffer from his mistake. Although innocent people suffered as a result of Frankenstein’s decision, he sacrificed them for the well-being of the rest of the human race. It was because of this that I began to feel compassion for him and no longer viewed him as evil.

From the reading, I understood that when we judge people based on first impressions, we can be wrong. I initially thought Frankenstein was evil, but after further analyzing his character I changed my mind because he sacrificed the people he loved the most for the well-being of the rest of the world.

Close relationships can be formed between two people that find similarities in ideas or simply enjoy each other’s time regardless if they are in the same family. Our friends sometimes become an important part of our life because we spend so much time with them. When I was in high school, I spent so much time around the same people that I had friends whom I had known since the second grade. In Frankenstein, the speaker Victor expressed how he also had close relationships with his cousin Elizabeth and friend Henry Clerval.  He described his relationship with his adored cousin by saying “Elizabeth Lavenza became my playfellow, and as we grew older, my friend” (Shelley 66). Because Elizabeth came into Victor’s life when he did not have any other siblings, she was his first real friend. They played and laughed together every day. As he grew older, Henry also became Victor’s friend. With the words, “we were never completely happy when Clerval was absent” we know how important Henry was to Victor.  Their friendship brought much happiness to them both.

Despite the close relationships that Victor had with Elizabetha and Henry, he decided to attend a university in Ingolstadt. At the time of his departure, he felt lonely but his desire for knowledge was his motivation. When Victor made his major discovery, he became extremely busy that he began to isolate himself and not respond to his friend’s letters. At the beginning, his friends were one of the most important parts of his life. However, when he dedicated himself to his project, he put his friendships to the side.  When he stated “The summer months passed while I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one spirit” we know Victor was fully engaged in his project (Shelley 81). When we find something we are really passionate about, like Victor, we can spend night and day working on it without stopping.  With a full agenda, it becomes more difficult for one to find time to spend with our friends. Many people may believe that Victor was inconsiderate by not finding time to communicate with his once beloved friends, but in my perspective, his reason for not doing so was valid. He found himself so intrigued and busy trying to complete his goals, that he was not left with any time for himself. Many college students can experience similar scenarios in which they do not communicate frequently with friends because they are extremely busy at their university. In my opinion they should not be judged because they are seeking knowledge.

When we are children, we are sometimes told stories that have been retold throughout our family’s generations. Because we can retell stories, hundreds of them are centuries old but are still known today.  These stories we hear can sometimes spark our imagination. In Frankenstein, the author Mary Shelley lets the reader know that she was inspired to write this novel after hearing and reading about ghost stories during one of her summer vacations.  She expresses her feelings towards these stories by saying “These tales excited [me] in a playful desire” (Shelley 12). During her vacation, the season was cold and rainy so, for entertainment her and her friends would gather around a fire and tell these stories. Her intrigue for them led her to write this Frankenstein.

The letters Mary Shelley incorporated into her novel were written by the character Robert Walton. He wrote those letters to his sister in order to keep her informed of his voyage to the North Pole. He tells her of his encounter of a stranger in the middle of the iced sea and how he took him onto his boat. Later in the letters, Walton says that the stranger was going to tell him his story. I found it interesting that Mary Shelley would incorporate storytelling so much into her novel. After reading the letters, I realized a connection between Mary Shelley’s experience with storytelling and the way the letters were framed. Walton’s sister read the letters written of her brother’s stories just like Shelley read and listened to other people’s ghost stories. In addition, we know Walton will later become the writer and listener of the stranger’s stories when he states “He then told me that he would commence his narrative the next day” (Shelley 26). When he writes about the stories, not only does he become the listener, but his sister does to. I believe Shelley intended to portray the oral tradition of storytelling through Walton and the stranger in a unique way.

A photograph is defined as an image that is captured by a camera. When a photograph is taken, the image produced only displays a minor representation of the actual scene. In Natasha Trethewey’s collection of poems “Bellocqs Ophelia” she expresses the life of her character Ophelia based on the photographs of prostitutes taken by E. J. Bellocq. Trethewey was able to write an entire collection of poems based on simple photographs. There is a saying that states “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Trethewey proves this saying to be true because she was able to look beyond the visual representation she saw. She found the true inner state of the women in the photographs by only looking at the moment captured. In Trethewey’s conversation with Rosemary Magee, she stated that photographs inspire her to write poems because she knows each holds a deeper meaning. She believes that poems are the tool to express those deeper meanings and utilizes them entirely to make her thoughts heard.

Throughout her collection ,she constantly refers to photographs to emphasize the partial true they display. She states “I’ve learned the camera well-the danger of it, the half-truths it cant tell…” (Trethewey 30) to let the reader know that she is aware that photographs can be deceiving and not show reality. However, she also implies that it is up to one to look for that reality in a photo and not only believe what we see. Although the photographs of Ophelia are made to portray her as a perfect woman living a great life, her reality is the opposite. “I wear my best gown for the picture…Behind me, Bellocqs black scrim just covers the laundry- tea towels, bleached and frayed, drying on the line” (Trethewey 40) she states. Some pictures only show unreal scenes that are assembled to expose specific things while hiding others.

The photographs weren’t the only things that were misleading in Trethewey’s poems. On page 39 her poem reads “I’m so foolish that I don’t know this photograph we make will bear the stamp of his name, not mine.” The photographer Bellocq was the person who received all the glory and fame for his images while the model went unnoticed. Ophelia was the person who made the pictures have expressions through her poses, but yet the praise went to Bellocq. As a result of these things, we cannot always believe what we see and must look for deeper meanings.

During the time of the Great Depression this nation underwent a series of changes. Many of its wealthy and middle class people lost everything they had and fell to poverty. Because the wealthy could not resist to such unforeseen conditions, some preferred to commit suicide rather than live the miserable life that encountered them. The people who were already in poverty fell to suffer from even worse conditions than they had previous to the depression. In Charlie Chaplin’s film “Modern Times” the crisis that the Great Depression caused is revealed through its characters. Charlie, a factory worker whose boss had cameras installed in every corner of the factory to ensure the worker’s effectiveness, suffered from the work overload caused by his boss.  At a time of despair, business owners solely cared about beating their competition and maximizing profits despite the fact that people did not have a cent to buy food. The cold heartedness, ignorance and greed of the wealthy can be seen in the film through the rough treatment the factory workers received.  At a time like the Great Depression, the nation’s people needed to be united to defeat the continuous struggle against poverty, but instead the wealthy continued to only care for their own profits.

The harsh life that individuals encountered during the Great Depression led them to take actions that they may not have even considered under distinct circumstances. The woman, who was left homeless after her father died, stole from bakeries in order to feed herself.  Her hunger forced her to steal in order to survive. Like her, many others were faced with the same situation. The conditions to live in the society were so dreadful that the character Charlie preferred to live in jail because, while imprisoned, he at least had his meals and shelter secured. The agony had to be unbearable for someone to prefer confinement to liberty. The distress that the people suffered during the depression is simply unimaginable to most people today. The people in our society sometimes do not take the time to reflect on the positive things in their life and take them for granted. We should take the depiction of life during the depression to motivate us to be more appreciative of our lives.

The paper that we consistently use has a long restless process involved in its making. The paper that we sometimes waste by balling up and throwing away has the sweat of the restless people producing it embedded. We do not stop to think how much work is involved into making the “blank” paper in front of us. In Melville’s “The Paradise of Bachelors and the Titarus of Maids,” the labor required to make paper is exposed. The machines that were used to make the paper were referred to as “iron animals” (1271) as they did not operate themselves, but rather by humans. The women that worked in the factory had their lives taken by their labor for the machines. “Rows of blank-looking girls, with blank, white folders in their blank hands,” was the description that provided the setting to the paper mill. It was evident that the women working did not have a life outside of the factory. Their life had no purpose beyond their labor in the paper mill and that is why they are described as blank. The blankness in their life was reflected upon the blank paper that they processed.

What caught my attention the most was that the women in the paper mill were referred to as girls. At first, I thought that the workers were indeed girls until the narrator questioned the boy who was giving him the tour of the paper mill. His response was that “the fact of their being generally unmarried” did not give them the title of women, but rather girls. In today’s society, a female is no longer considered a girl after they reach the age of sixteen. After, they become teens and then woman. The factory wants only steady workers that work twelve hours a day year round. The women who worked their basically had to decide if they wanted to have a family or job. That to me was extremely inconsiderate on the employer’s behalf because every person is born with the right to one day have a family if they choose. The women in the paper mill had to decide if they wanted to work to make a living or create a family. The employer’s conditions were extreme and unfair because the women were turned into maids of the machines. The machines were kept running by the service that the women provided, but yet the machines seemed to reeive more appraisal than the women. The women and their labor were unappreciated which I think is morally incorrect.

At the age where our minds and lives begin to blossom, we hear a particular phrase repeatedly “You can become whatever you want as long as you work hard.” When we are born our minds are basically an empty slate. We were neither familiar with the world we were born into, or its ideals. As we began to grow, we discovered that there was this object called money and that it could buy us whatever we wanted as long as we had enough of it. A numerous amount of people have an ambition for money and that ambition can lead them to break the laws of their country. In “Life in the Iron-Mills” Hugh Wolfe became annoyed at his miserable life of working in iron mill and, as a result, decided to keep the money that his cousin Deborah stole from Mitchell, the son in law of the mill owner in which Hugh worked. Hugh decided to not return the money because she was tired of living the life he was and thought he deserved to live more comfortably. Hugh questions why he did not live the life the wealthy did. The physician of the town told him that “A man may make himself anything he chooses.” I agree with the doctor because we are in control of our own lives so we can decide whether we prosper or fail.

Whether we come from a impoverish neighborhood or wealthy one, we have the ability to become doctors and lawyers as long as we put in the effort required to do so. Many years ago people like Hugh lacked the resources when they were young to obtain an education, and embark on a career path.  However, in today’s society there are an infinite number of organizations that are dedicated to helping people who lack the resources to attend a university and become successful. Almost every major corporation offers scholarships and grants to motivated students for them to be able to rise above their strained lifestyle.  If one is willing to work hard and not allow obstacles to stop one from becoming successful, we can change our lives and set it towards a positive change.

The author of the novel Neuromancer, William Gibson, forms a fictional world in which he creates men and women as equal according to Rebecca. I agreed with her assertion made after reading the beginning of the novel, but began to disagree as the plot developed. One of Rebecca’s main points was that the equality between men and women created by Gibson, was portrayed through the character of Molly. Although, I agree that Molly was a dominant character in the novel and that her role in the story was as important as that of the protagonist Case, Molly had a countless number of implants that gave her, her supernatural abilities. Gibson made Case the main character without any surgeries while Molly had to have numerous alterations done to her to get on the same importance level as Case. Case’s importance only came from his ability to enter the matrix and nothing else.

In addition, Rebecca states that” the women are at the same toughness level as the male characters” however, as the story unfolds, it is discovered that Molly does have a fragile feminine side. We are made aware that Molly was once truly affectionate towards a boy named Johnny. It appears that Johnny had broken through the ice, like Case did in the matrix, and made it through to the sensitive Molly. The weaknesses of Molly become apparent as the novel reached its conclusion which made my idea of her change. Molly was also not the only female character in the novel and the other weak females like Linda Lee contributed to the fact that women were not equal to the men in the novel .

One of the most important things that make a novel come together is a theme. Themes allow readers to express what they think the overall message of the novel is. In the novel Neuromancer, I have noticed a series of events that lead me to think that one of the main themes in this book will be betrayal. Although, many other readers may disagree with me, the novel has betrayal appearing in several key instances that affect the plot as a whole. Betrayal is first introduced in chapter 1 where it is stated that Case, the protagonist, decides to betray his employer and steals money from them. The fact that this first occasion was put in the very beginning of the novel, not only makes it essential, but gives us the background of how Case’s world really works. “A thief, he’d worked for other, wealthier thieves,”(pg 5)  lets us know that not only Case was stealing, but other people involved in the business were as well, and that it happened in a sort of chain reaction.

The second instance that supports my claim is when Linda Lee betrayed Case by stealing his Hitachi RAM and lying to him about Wage wanting to kill him. This occurrence caught my attention the most because Case had sincere feelings for Linda Lee and she betrayed him. In the other instances betrayal has occurred between people who do not care much for each other, but here Case truly cared about her.

In addition to these two examples, another betrayal is mentioned when Armitage states “God is my witness, we have been betrayed” (pg 194). Armitage tell Case that the General Girling has betrayed them and that the only thing left to do for them was to escape. Because betrayal has been a dominant reoccurrence in this novel, I believe it will continue to happen until the end of book and leads me to think that it will be one of the main themes in the novel.

After reading the first pages of the novel Neuromancer, I instantly became intrigued by the complexity of the technology involved in this novel.  The technology involved is not the only important factor because the correlation that it holds with science is also significant. The main character and narrator Case mentions another character named Julie Deane on page 12. He is 135 years old. My first question upon reading this was how was it possible for him to live that long and still live a regular life like any other forty year old? My answer came in the next line where it states that “genetic surgeons re-set the code for his DNA.” The way that technology and science can both function together to keep this man alive for so long is fascinating.  In class on Thursday, we discussed that technology could be defined as something that makes something easier to do. With this definition, indeed, technology and scientific concepts have granted Julie Deane his want to live after so many years.

Another question that arose throughout the reading, was why did Case want to go look for Wage after being told that Wage wanted to kill him? (pages 17-19) After Case went to look for him, I thought about him in a new way because he had to be really brave to go out and look for Wage instead of waiting for Wage to find him or simply hiding so that he could be safe.

After several events took place such as the killing of Linda Lee and meeting of Molly, I began to understand what the conflict in this novel was going to be. Several other questions have arisen, however, like why is Molly really working for Armitrage and who is Armitrage working for? I know that this novel will be an interesting novel to read based on what I have read so far and that it will continue to generate thoughts, questions and answers in my mind as I continue to read.