Reading Frankenstein was a really interesting experience. I love the way it explores humanity and how prejudice forms our opinions of others and how prejudice can form an identity for us. The differences and similarities between Victor and the creature were fascinating to witness. I especially loved reading through the perspective of the creature and seeing how his disposition changes, but not at its core, due to the response he receives from others.

"For while I destroyed his hopes, 1 did not satisfy my own desires. They were for ever ardent and craving; still I desired love and fellowship, and I was still spurned. Was there no injustice in this? Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all human kind sinned against me?"
 

"Think you that the groans of Clerval were music to my ears? My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy; and, when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change, without torture such as you cannot even imagine."

I love the inherent humanity in the creature. He is only seen as a demon and a wretch due to the beliefs that Victor holds towards him. He is shunned because he is a mirror of Victor's own desires and the passion that has gotten away from him. Whenever Victor looks into his creature's eyes, he feels a shame he can't bear, and it's so tragic.

The relationship between Victor and the creature is another thing I absolutely loved about the book. It reminds me of the Doctor and the Master from Doctor Who. They are two beings that are eternally tied to one another, and to lose the other would mean they lose some of--or all of--their purpose in living. They may hate each other, but they also don't know who they are without each other.

The appreciation and love for life in this book bursts from its seams. We often see Victor lament over his suffering, and then find moments of respite where he feels the beauty and power of nature deep within his soul. I love how Shelley writes this; this love for living is something that brings Victor and the creature together, as the creature puts,  ""I am satisfied: miserable wretch! you have determined to live, and I am satisfied"". Even after all that Victor has lost, he still lives and wants to live.

"Alas! why does man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only renders them more necessary beings. If our impulses were confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly free; but now we are moved by every wind that blows, and a chance word or scene that that word may convey to us."

The book ends in death, and the creature's final words made me cry,  "Light, feeling, and sense will pass away; and in this condition must I find my happiness. Some years ago, when the images which this world affords first opened upon me, when I felt the cheering warmth of summer, and heard the rustling of the leaves and the warbling of the birds, and these were all to me, I should have wept to die; now it is my only consolation.  Polluted by crimes, and torn by the bitterest remorse, where can I find rest but in death?"

Overall, it was a bit too dramatic for my taste, but I really enjoyed reading this book and thinking about this book.