Beowulf: The Man, The Myth, The Ego

In my own personal opinion, I do feel that Beowulf is selfish for his excessive desire for fame. I feel that he has lost touch with his original intentions of upholding his family name, and acting purely for good. He has entered as state of mind, where his own personal glory and ego has taken over his actions. He inflicts pain on his enemies in excess, and aims to shock and awe his audiences, when actions of such amplitude are often unnecessary. I feel that if Beowulf regained his connection with his younger (more focused, and good intentioned) self, he would be the greater man. Without his mind in the right place, he will never be able to be the legend he wishes to become. Beowulf...you disappoint me.
To say that Beowulf is not a great figure of action and battle, however, would be foolish. He surely IS a "hero", just possibly not the "hero" he imagines himself to be. In the case of how Beowulf dealt with Grendel and Grendel's lovely mother, I personally would have handled the situation slightly differently..without inflicting more pain and death that was necessary. To me, the fact that he sees himself as such an astounding hero, and god among men, makes him less of a hero, and more of the generic human being, longing for fame.

The Fifth Child Book Cover...

In my opinion, the book cover that is listed at the very bottom of the choices would fit the story best. The image shows Ben with his hands pressed up against his window, almost as if to suggest to the viewer that he is in some need of escape, be it from the asylum, from his family, or from the world that he is trapped in within his own mind. Ben is shown here as a young child in need. He appears to be longing for something in this photo. He appears to be in desire of what is beyond the window, and yet Lessing does not show us what he desires. This image definitely leaves the viewers mind to wonder and image what it is that Ben is longing for. That is the main reason why I feel this image is the best choice for a cover of The Fifth Child. My second choice for the photo would be the copy of the cover that we used in class. I think the close up view of Ben's face shows and intamacy and a much more personal and human side to Ben.

Thoughts on the opinion of Christopher Schildt...

"There is a bit of the creature in all of us", says Christopher Schildt, and I agree with him wholeheartedly. Schildt believes that Mary Shelley was not writing so much about the SPECIFIC topics of Frankenstein, so much as the topics of "suffering and loss and pain". This is indeed a field of expertise for Mary Shelley. Having grown up in a life where she experienced the destruction of family, and the deaths of so many loved ones at such a young age, I agree with Schildt that she was definitely able to draw from personal life experiences (in more ways than one) while writing Frankenstein.
Much like Mary Shelley herself, Victor Frankenstein and his creature experience incredulous amounts of personal loss and grief throughout the story. Victor loses William, Justine, Elizabeth, Henry, etc. The creature had no one to begin with and no one to turn to on this planet that would associate with him or guide him in his early days. By my definition, Victor, the creature, and Mary Shelley were all ostracized in their lives, which leads me to believe that by no stretch of the imagination is Shelley's story more purely based on these horrible and trying emotions. I agree with Christoper Schildt that as we all know, "there is a bit of the creature in all of us".

Original Thoughts On Frankenstein Thus Far...

This post is designed for the sole purpose of discussing my thoughts so far on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein novel. After reading the text through chapter 19, I have found this novel to become more and more of a page turner as it progresses. I have particularly enjoyed Shelley's writting style, in that she narrates the story through a means of multiple perspectives. This style puts a nice feel to the book, because all the more information can be attained, and the reader can not only attain this information itself, but can attain the emotional standpoints of each character on a more individual level. My personal favorite perspective this far has been that of the creature. The creature describes his very short life, in a mannor that reminds the reader that in his day to day life, this creature has absolutly no outside experiences to draw on. Every single experience for him is a new one, and his story is fascinating. The fact that he was able to teach HIMSELF a language, and mannors, and other societal norms to follow (in only 2 years), seems slightly farfetched, yet impressive nonetheless.
This brings me to what is, in my opinion, the most intriguing point in the story thus far...Victor Frankenstein's decision. To create, or not to create. This is the crucial question. The creature decides that due to the fact that he is lonely, he is violent, and due to the fact that humans will not accept him, he will always be violent and miserable, unless he has a mate of his own kind. He appeals to Victor that since Victor made the irresponsible decision of creating him, his wellbeing, and the wellbeing of those around him are now Victor's responsibility. "I am alone and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create." (Creature 133) The creature raises a very valid point, however as in all cases, with one valid perspective comes another. On the flip side, to create ANOTHER monster is only to double the mess that he has already made. To create another monster is only to play God once more. What will Victor's better judgement lead him to?