Frankenstein By Thomas C. Foster: Literary Analysis

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The book How to Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster, is continuously present in Mary Shelley’s classic novel, Frankenstein. A specific example of this can be found when analyzing the chapter “... More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence”; Foster gives humorous insight to understand the meaning behind violence and death in literature. Conveniently, the concept of life and death in Frankenstein is the most important driving force behind the plot. Victor Frankenstein creates the Monster who continuously feels out of place in the world. The Monster kills several people throughout the novel, and deaths create the problematic situations the characters are forced to overcome. William Frankenstein, the younger brother…show more content…
He is Victor's childhood friend. The monster kills Henry after Victor refuses to create a companion for him. The violence the monster felt came from his passion for the affection of another living being. When the prospect of this was taken from him he lashed out at the people Victor cared for. The monster then decides to take the life of Victors companion. He does this for revenge as that is the one thing Victor refuses the monster. The reason for these characters deaths is in Foster's words “to put stress on other characters.”(90) These deaths cross a breaking point in Victor's mind. When Victor has nobody left in his life he makes up his mind to kill the monster in an act of violent passion. He sets out to hunt the monster, but gets sick and dies on his journey. The monster comes to Victor's dead body, and is saddened by his foes death. With his foe dead and only chance of creating a companion gone he wanders off into the snowy north to die. These deaths were included to “end plot complications”.(90) The unfortunate demise of Victor is foreshadowed at from the beginning of the book. He often uses words such as fate or fatal to describe the end point of his journey. In the book Frankenstein, death and violence are what the plot turns on. Each death affects a main character in a different and strenuous way. This method of writing is explained in Foster's book in great
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