Connections

One large theme or issue raised throughout the book is empiricism versus relativism. Victor's family, especially his father believed that in order for something to exist, it must be proven through sense experience. Therefore, they did not believe in God. Elizabeth however, prayed to God and went to church every Sunday. This is also why Victor's father heavily believed in the power of scientific methods to solve everything such as finding a cure to Konrad's illness. Victor was amazed by the things alchemy promised that he was blinded into believing it without concrete evidence through experiments. It promised things beyond his wildest dreams such as making Elizabeth fall in love with him instead of Konrad that he was willing to take a chance. As the saying goes, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, while alchemy only offered extraordinary claims. A real world issue that was addressed in the novel is the fight for equality between men and women. There are countless times in the novel where Elizabeth is seen to be weak by male characters and she continuously tries to prove herself equal if not better.

Author Influences

Kenneth Oppel

The author's background in hands-on experience with studying mystical and dark creatures such as bats in real life influenced the writing of this work because he was able to more precisely describe unusual creatures like the lynx, named Krake, featured in the story which was Mr. Polidori's pet. His other series that I've read is the Silverwing saga which involved a fictional adventure involving bats helped with the way he described the darkness and nighttime events in the novel. Also the description of things like vultures and the almost extinct Coelacanth fish encountered in the novel showed his experience in detailed description of exotic animals.

Evaluate Bias

My personal bias affects the way I read the book by making me feel encouraged and excited throughout the way. This is because I crave these thought provoking and thriller type of stories. On top of that, I am really intrigued by the study of the sciences beforehand so when I saw that some science fiction was involved in the story, I immediately was drawn toward it. Also the study of alchemy was something that caught my attention when observing this book. Finally, I have read several other novels by Kenneth Oppel that I knew already what I was in for.

Rating

I would personally rate the book a four out of five. It was a great adventure to dive my imagination into but I also thought that it wasn't perfect. For example, it was mostly suspenseful all throughout the novel. There were not many moments where the characters were not worrying about something or afraid of something in the dark. I would personally have liked a little more low tension events in the story. I would definitely recommend it to another reader in my age group because it has a very mature yet mysterious mood and it certainly evokes curiosity in the reader. I feel that my age group is very attracted to mysterious and ominous stories in general.

Evaluating Effectiveness

In my opinion, the book is very believable because the novel evokes imagery constantly throughout the story. There are very little moments where I was not imagining the scene in which the words were describing. The author is very detailed with his words and very meticulous in his choice of words to make sure that the proper image is projected into the reader's mind. Also, the formality in the dialogue of the main characters really showed that they were raised in a wealthy, well-mannered household which made it more believable. Also, themes like the questioning about God's existence and equality between men and women relate directly to society's current state. Also, the fact that the author used real places like France and Geneva to describe the setting helps the fantasy with its connection to reality. The book is very engaging as well because it lets the reader imagine along with the characters. For example, we see a glimpse of Elizabeth's dream of marrying Konrad in the future and this readers can relate to when they too dream of marrying the one they love.

Literary Devices

One literary device found in the book is the theme of fear of the unknown because throughout the novel, Victor mentions the fact that he feels a presence around them that is quite unsettling. He feels like there is a second shadow around them watching their every step. This adds suspense to the novel and keeps the reader on edge. Another literary device used is dramatic irony when Victor confesses to the reader his love for their distant cousin Elizabeth. This intensifies the conflict because Victor later finds out that Elizabeth and Konrad had been secretly in love which further angers him and fills him with jealousy. He further emphasizes how Konrad gets everything and is superior to him. Another literary device is imagery when Victor states, "Another night spent tossing and turning, shivering and sweating. When awake I lay in the grips of terror; and when I slept, it was only in cruel snatches, and my dreams were foul." He says this weeks after Konrad fell ill. This evokes sympathy in the reader for the characters and shows how much Victor cares for his brother. This causes the reader to care more about the characters and their circumstances.

Symbolism is another device seen through Victor and Konrad's father. Throughout the novel, he symbolizes a God-like figure because he is very intelligent, powerful and influential. Everyone in the family looks up to him and takes advice from him. He also embodies hard work and determination which comforts the family through tough times. Finally, personification is another device used in the novel shown through "And for a moment the book seemed not a book at all but a living body, and instead of paper, I glimpsed pulsing viscera and blood and organs. I blinked again, not trusting my vision. But-and this was most strange and repulsive-the book seemed to emanate the smell of a slaughterhouse, of entrails and offal." This was when Mr. Polidori was using alchemy to try to restore the markings on the burned pages of the book containing the recipe of the Elixir of Life. It looked very similar to a surgery and through Victor's imagination, he thought it was a real live surgery of a person. This shows the mystery and darkness surrounding the practice of alchemy and reveals a parallel between real science and alchemy itself.

Writing Style

The writing style in this novel is very eerie and mysterious-like. The author always seems to keep secrets from the reader and it is felt throughout the book. When secrets are revealed the suspense usually builds up a little over intervals and when the mood is calm, the revelation comes spontaneously surprising the reader for maximum effect. It is a very ordered and predictable pattern found throughout the novel yet I feel it is a very effective way of delivering a story that hooks the reader from beginning to end. This style is especially useful in the book's genre which is thriller. Also, the author's choice of words often hint and foreshadow future events which gives the reader incentive to keep reading.

The novel is written in the first person point of view from the eyes of Victor. Here we see his subjective view of characters around him throughout the novel. He reveals many interesting ideas in his mind such as believing that there is no intelligent being watching over them or a God-like figure which shows his empiricism and his belief in the natural sciences. He also shares with the reader his feelings of inferiority to his brother and how he is better at everything than him. He describes how he is nicer, more handsome, better at their studies and better at fencing.

Summary

Victor Frankenstein is a wealthy sixteen-year old boy who lives in a massive century old chateau. Together he lives with his parents, his older brother Konrad and two infant brothers and his distant cousin Elizabeth quite comfortably with some of their hobbies including boating around the lake, fencing and horseback riding into the city.They live in the small town of Bellerive near Geneva. Chateau Frankenstein used to be a castle and held many secret passages and rooms. Victor, Konrad and Elizabeth stumbles upon a secret door that opes to a dark mysterious library filled with ancient books. They soon discover that they had found a long abandoned alchemy lab that belonged to their ancestor William Frankenstein and their father forbids them to go there again. Alchemy is considered a false science and is considered illegal. One unfortunate afternoon, Konrad suddenly faints from a fencing session with Victor and becomes critically ill. Their family summons the best of physicians throughout Europe to cure Konrad but nobody seemed to understand his condition. Victor, Elizabeth and close friend Henry sneak into the alchemy lab in which they called the Dark Library. Together they search through alchemy books looking for a possible cure and they find the recipe for the Elixir of Life which is said to heal and make anyone immortal. They find that the pages were burned and were written in an invented language called Alphabet of the Magi. They then seek the help of an old alchemist named Julius Poridori to decode and find the ingredients to make this elixir. Carrying the motivation to save his brother's life, the three of them embark on a perilous journey to collect the three ingredients and create the Elixir of Life. Along the way, Victor becomes more convinced that alchemy is a reality and not false science. Later, Mr. Polidori reveals his plan on using it on himself and only used Victor and company to collect the ingredients. They escape his lab and return home in time to give Konrad the Elixir of Life filled with hope that he will be cured. Konrad dies and Victor's dream of proving alchemy true is shattered.