Journal Entry for Introduction

William Frankenstein’s character dies very early in this novel and there is not much information about him other than physical description.  I wanted to stay away from just describing him physically as that would not give me much to work with later on. For my move, I close read all of the passages that included or mentioned William. This led me to two observations that influenced the information that I decided to include in Williams introduction.

One aspect about William that I noticed is that he seems to be the opposite of Victor in many ways. Physically, William is described as having “lively blue eyes, dimpled cheeks” (25) while Victor is described countless times as being extremely sickly throughout the creation of his creature and the aftermath. Even Victor confesses that he is not in the best health as he says, “Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever and I became more nervous to a most painful degree; a disease that I regretted the more because I had hitherto enjoyed most excellent health, and had always boasted of the firmness of my nerves” (36). Victor’s increasingly declining health is highlighted through the comparison of the healthy William. Yet the comparison does not stop there. William is described as having “one or two little wives, but Louisa Biron is his favorite” (45). He is very friendly with the ladies while Victor, although he says he loves her, does not spend much time with Elizabeth. Victor isolates himself in his work as “the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me to also to forget those frends who were so may miles absent” (35). As Victor isolates himself, William seems to have many little playmates. A last comparison I noticed is the length of their lives. William lives a very short and sweet life while Victor unfortunately lives a long and bitter life. I wanted to hint at these comparisons in my introduction of William by mentioningso I mentioned how sickly Victor is and how William likes to spend time outside and feels healthy. I also mentioned how William has many playmates including Louisa Biron. While it was difficult to mention how the lengths of their lives would ultimately differ, I said that William wanted to be with Louisa when he was Victors age. I would like to reference these similarities in later moves although at the moment, I am not sure how.

Another part of William that I wanted to include was his pride that he felt towards his father. When William faces the monster, he says, “My papa is a Syndic-he is M. Frankenstein- he would punish you.” (109). This stuck out to me that he looked up to his father. To include this in the introduction, I mentioned that his father gets rid of all of the monsters under his bed as he thinks his father will do when he faces the creature. William telling the monster that his father will come save him to me shows a pride and love for his father as well as courage to say that to a terrifying creature at such a young age.

As I analyzed Williams character the best I could, I thought the best way to introduce him was to hint at a comparison between Victor and William as well as to show his pride and love for his father and family.  Mary Shelley presents the character of William Frankenstein as a foil to the main character of Victor Frankenstein in her novel Frankenstein. By providing contrasting details and characteristics of both William and Victor, a deeper understanding of Victor can be established.