We created, with our very first student, Julian, a monster!
Seriously, he hooked and jabbed and feinted his way admirably through the Academy almost four years ago, raised the bar of expectation and performance to its highest level, and is still a beloved part of the Old's Cool family. And a student for life: his last assignment was to read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and write a 1,000 word sequel.
I'm reprinting his response below, but let's start with a brief refresher for those of you who haven't visited Mary's masterpiece since the last millennium.
The book is a frame story, written in epistolary form, and documents the fictional correspondence between Captain Robert Walton and his sister, Margaret Walton Saville. He's a failed writer on an expeditionary journey to the North Pole, ostensibly to expand his scientific knowledge, but really escaping failures and chasing dreams, when he all of a sudden sees a dog sled in the snowy smear being driven by a gigantic figure. Who's just as suddenly gone. A few hours later he and his crew rescue a bag of bones, half-frozen-to-death doctor named Victor Frankenstein, who was in pursuit of the monstrous man. As Victor recovers he recounts his story, which serves as the framework for the novel.
As you can see in the frontispiece from the first edition, printed in 1818, the novel, subtitled The Modern Prometheus, has an epigraph from Milton's Paradise Lost:
Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay/To mould Me man?
Did I solicit thee/From darkness to promote me?
Critics were divided about the book when it first came out, and when it was eventually revealed in the second edition (1821) that Mary Shelley had written it, and when she was just eighteen, there were more outraged tongues scoffing, mostly in envy at its popular worldwide success. Throughout the years, however, it's been hailed, and rightly so, as one of the greatest Romantic and Gothic novels, as well as a landmark in science fiction.
But I chuckled when critic and film director Guillermo del Toro called it "the quintessential teenage book", noting the feelings that "You don't belong. You were brought to this world by people that don't care for you and you are thrown into a world of pain and suffering, and tears and hunger" because he's pretty spot on and quippy. But that theme and those emotions are the essence and universal truth of the story, which makes it enduring and loved.
Read it now if you haven't picked it up in more than fifty years–it's really charming, a timeless tale about longing and belonging, and the unrequited love and loneliness at the bottom of it all is the only scary thing in the whole book because it's what we all are most afraid of.
Now, on to Julian's sequel:
To my Dear Sister 17XX,
After the unremarkable and unfortunate series of events, I have found myself on my journey back to you. Fervently I often think back upon the night that Victor Frankenstein had passed by. I cannot help but to feel a great unease when my mind recalls the tragic story of my dear friend, and his bastard. Lamenting over that night I can still vividly recall the monstrous figure as he stood at the edge of the ship's window. Arctic, resolute to end his own life, he had looked over at the corpse of his creator and it seemed as if a sudden realization had taken over him. Having spent his entire existence seeking acceptance and love from humanity the divinity of such compassion had always eluded him, it was a pity just to lay my own eyes upon him.
However, in his moments of despair, his expression changed and a fervent flame sparked in his eye, his countenance regarding these past moments seemed like nothing to him now. Without another word and at the very same moment that lightning struck, he jumped the ship with his newfound vigor. I stood there awestruck but in a rush of disbelief and curiosity I ran to see where the monster could have even gone. Gazing upon the endless fog and fractures of ice I look down to see nothing but a lone boot many meters away, as it plunged again softly into the stygian deluge. I stood there shivering. I still can’t tell whether it was from the frigid chill that blew into my quarters or the last look I saw upon the monster's face. A grin that spanned cheek to cheek bearing his blackened teeth.
And even though he had just spoken on the terms of his own untimely demise, I couldn't help but feel that his end wouldn't be by his own hand. No, a creature like that is cursed by his own depravity, cursed to look for hope once more in a place he cannot find it.
He realized that there was just one person who had indeed shown him any semblance of pity and tenderness: the blind man he had encountered during his early travels.
With renewed vigor, the creature decided to seek out the blind man once more. He traveled for months upon the frozen escapades of the Arctic at speeds bewildering to man, enduring the harsh conditions of the bleached tundra all in hopes of finding himself a companion. A companion of which is surrounded by those who had turned to hate the creature, for all of its vileness and unholiness that he represented to man, Oh what folly! What folly it is to muse whether or not man could accept him. What folly it is to think that anyone could show him tenderness! These thoughts ravished the mind and heart of the depraved until he finally found the man's small cabin. He approached the door tentatively, unsure of how he would be received, but the man welcomed him warmly.
Over the next few days, the creature and the blind man talked for hours on end. They discussed literature, philosophy, and the nature of humanity. For the first time in his life, the creature felt a sense of belonging and acceptance after all his tumultuous endeavors. He realized that he didn't need the approval of society at large, but rather the love and companionship of a few kind-hearted individuals.
As the weeks turned into months, the creature continued to visit the blind man, and even helped him with his daily tasks around the cabin. He found a sense of purpose in helping others, and gradually began to shed the anger and bitterness that had defined him for so long.
However, their peaceful existence was not meant to last. One day, a group of hunters stumbled upon the cabin, and upon seeing the creature, attacked him with fury. Despite his attempts to reason with them, they refused to listen, and soon the creature found himself fighting for his life.
In the chaos of the battle, the cabin caught fire, and the blind man was trapped inside. The creature, driven by a newfound sense of compassion, rushed into the burning cabin to rescue his friend. In the end, both he and the blind man perished in the flames.
As news of the incident spread, the creature's actions were praised by some and condemned by others. However, those who had witnessed his bravery and compassion began to see him in a different light. They realized that despite his appearance, the creature possessed a kind heart and a deep capacity for empathy.
In the end, the creature's legacy was one of both tragedy and hope. Though his existence had been marked by pain and isolation, he had ultimately found purpose and meaning in helping others. His story served as a cautionary tale, a reminder that the pursuit of knowledge and power must always be tempered by compassion and responsibility.
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