Frankenstein - Final post SPOILER ALERT

I recently had to read “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” for one of my other classes, and I have to say that it surpassed my expectations. Now, we have all read books where, upon watching cinematic interpretations of them, we have been horribly disappointed by the artistic liberties taken. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, for example, are one of those situations where I and probably the majority of people are at least familiar with the story before we read it. It has become such a common reference that many of us, upon being asked if we are familiar with the story, respond with a resounding “of course!” having never actually read it.

The same can be said of Frankenstein. However, this story is so much cooler than everyone “knows” it to be. So I thought I’d point out some of the things that I find to be common misconceptions about the story of Frankenstein.

1 – Frankenstein is a doctor, not a monster. After reading the story, I have no idea how this misconception even occurred. Frankenstein is the name of the doctor that creates a nameless monster, not the name of the monster itself.

2 – Frankenstein’s monster is actually kind of the good guy. The operative phrase here being “kind of.” I think it would be a stretch to call the monster a good guy. But he is certainly not the mindless killing machine that is depicted in most Hollywood movies. In fact, Frankenstein’s monster is actually quite intelligent, and he definitely has good enough reason to be pissed off.

3 – Any and every movie depiction of him is not even close. I have seen him in “VanHelsing” as this goofy and awkward half robot. In many movies…too many to mention…he is depicted as a weak creature that is frightened of the world, or the victim of pursuit. Least of all is he a blonde, handsome, six-packed vampire slayer, such as depicted in “I, Frankenstein.” Aaron Eckhart with a few stitches on his face is hardly what I think Frankenstein was seeing when he said “Horrible wretch!”

In any case, read this book. It’s amazing.