Rationales Alphonse Frankenstein

Rationale 1: When introducing Alphonse Frankenstein into the story I had a lot of things to consider. Though he was not outwardly given a full character profile, I did think he was given enough of a personality to create a fully fleshed out and emotional being. I introduced and rationalized my description of Alphonse’s character in many different ways. To begin, Victor introduces Alphonse into the story as a very recognized man with a “well received” reputation. We see this in the following statement said by Victor: “my father had filled several public situations with honor and reputation. He was respected by all who knew him for his integrity and indefatigable attention to public business’’28). Thus readers understand Alphonse is first and foremost a man of high esteem. In my introduction of Alphonse I also over emphasized him as a family man. We see this through Victor’s story about the marriage of Alphonse and Caroline: “As circumstances of his marriage illustrate his character, I cannot refrain from relating them”…(30-32). The story victor shared with us explicitly informs readers of the good heart his father has, and thus reinforces the disposition and love for family Alphonse cherishes. I also made it clear that Alphonse Frankenstein is not the fondest supporter of science. I wanted to ensure people did not believe him to be a fan of the art due to his need to send Victor out of the house, and through his obvious ignorance of Victor’s studies. In fact Alphonse says outright to Victor: “do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash” (40). Therefor my claim to ensure people understand Alphonse is not supportive of science is directly reinforced by a statement from Alphonse himself. Through quotes and descriptive analysis Alphonse Frankenstein is now seen as a kind hearted, loving, anti scientific man, who wants only the best for his family.   Rationale 2: My rationale for causing Alphonse Frankenstein to see the creature at the sight of poor William’s death is as follows. I believe it will allow a very nice story to unfold, and a sense of irony to overpower the novel. What I find most exciting about Alphonse’s sighting of the creature is that we the readers are now one step ahead of Alphonse. We know exactly who the creature is, and who created him. Alphonse Frankenstein on the other hand has no idea who created the monster, or that his very own son in the root cause of his problems. Therefor Alphonse’s plea for help when calling upon Victor immediately appears ironic since Alphonse spoke to negatively of scientific knowledge earlier in the novel: My father had taken the pains to explain to me that the principles of Agrippa had since been entirely exploded and that a modern system of science had been introduced which possessed much greater power that the ancient, because the power of the latter we chimerical, while those of the former were real and practical, under such circumstances I should certainly have thrown Agrippa aside and have contended my imagination, warmed as it was, by returning with greater ardor to my former studies. (38) We are hereby reinforced with the fact that Alphonse Frankenstein does not like science at all, as it pained him to even discuss the subject in the first place. Thus making Alphonse’s plea for a scientific explanation of the creature very ironic. I also find irony in the fact that Alphonse has no idea who created the creature, yet we know very well who and how he was created. Thus it is exciting for readers to watch a new layer of the novel unfold, and allow new dynamics to appear in the relationship between father and son. In the end in order to save his family’s appraised reputation and good fortune, along with proving his own sanity, Alphonse was forced to search for answers using very uncharacteristic methods. Rationalizing this move to be extremely intriguing and allow for a high level of creativity and irony to unfold within the game.   Rationale 3 My justification for writing a letter to the Jury of Justine’s trial, is in response to Justine coming to Alphonse for help in our online Frankenstein Game. In the game Justine outright states she wanted help from Alphonse by saying: “My dear Alphonse, you have known me well, and you have trusted me enough to serve you and your family for many years. You know better than anyone else that I am incapable of such a crime. I beg of you, do not believe the wicked things they say about me. You and the rest of your family know the true Justine. I implore you to look beyond the opinions of the public, and think about the young girl you took in when I was in need of help.” Alphonse’s next move would naturally be to plea to the jury that Justine is innocent. Since she reached out to Alphonse asking for his help, to prove her innocence. Additionally Alphonse even believed the girl to be innocent according the original text: No one would believe it at first; and even now Elizabeth will not be convinced, notwithstanding all the evidence. Indeed, who would credit that Justine Moritz, who was so amiable, and fond of all the family, could suddenly become so capable of so frightful, so appalling a crime. (79) Therefore my decision to have Alphonse plea for Justine’s innocence is further justified, since he himself is not “convinced” of the crimes she was charged with. In my letter to the jury I made reference to things I wrote previously in the game, such as: “everyone thinks of me a madman” and “They all believe me to be going crazy”. By staying true to the character profile I created earlier in the game, I found it easy for Alphonse to be writing to the jury. I found it easy because he was not only trying to prove Justine’s innocence, but also his own sanity. Since without Justine’s knowledge of the creature Alphonse would be considered a mad man forever. Through Justine’s witnessing of the creature, her and Alphonse would be able to work together alongside Victor to save both their “lives”. I can also firmly assume Victor would support his father in the pursuit of the creature, and help “save his life” for two reasons. The first reason being the common knowledge that victor is the creator of the creature. The second reason being Victor does not believe Justine to be the murderer of William. We know this because of the following thought Victor has: “I was firmly convinced in my own mind that Justine, and indeed every human being, was guiltless of this murder” (80). Thus we have confirmed knowledge that Victor does not believe Justine to be the murderer of his brother, and that he would definitely help his father hunt down the true murderer with Justine at their sides. Finally, as I have previously stated, Alphonse is a family man and would stop at nothing to secure the good reputation of his name. Therefore until he reclaims the good notion of his name he would fight for it no matter what it takes. Alphonse is a “good man with a simple heart” and only wants what is best for his family. Thus writing a letter to the jury exclaiming Justine’s innocence was the best possible thing he could have done. Attempting to secure the lives and reputations of Justine, himself, and most importantly, his family.   Works Cited: 1) Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley – University of Virginia Library – 1996