Frankenstein- Chapter 6 Reading Journal

Overview:
Chapter 6 begins with a letter from Elizabeth which mainly tells him of what he has missed but begins and ends with her wishing him to write to tell her that he's better. By this chapter, he is much better but still feels frightened of science. Instead of returning home, he decides to stay with Henry and you are told more about their friendship.

Point 1:
Frankenstein receives a letter 'from (his) own Elizabeth'. Even though at the beginning of the book he suggests that his possession of Elizabeth was just 'childish seriousness', it doesn't seem that he grew out of it and as he still seems to believe she is his possession. Elizabeth's letter creates a multi-voice narrative which allows the reader to see him from a different perspective. She says that 'one word from you, dear Victor, is necessary to calm our apprehensions', showing her affection for him as it is written in a worried tone. It is suggested that she loves him also more than a brother as she says 'the task of attending on your sick bed has devolved on some mercenary old nurse, who could never guess your wishes, nor minister to them with the care and affection of your poor cousin.' This seems more than a sisters duty and suggests that there is something more. However, there seems to be a bitter tone when she repeats the phrase 'since you left us' which can be interpreted as her feeling like he has abandoned her rather than the real reason of him leaving which was for educational purposes. She ends the letter by saying 'one word will be a blessing to us', yet it seems like she is writing for selfish purposes rather than writing from all the family, perhaps a misuse of the word 'us'.

Point 2:
Even after the heart felt letter from Elizabeth, he still does not return home. It seems that he still is not recovered as there is a semantic field of torture. He uses words and phrases such as 'tormented', 'slow and cruel death', 'writhed' and 'pain.' This enforces the idea that science which has been his passion, has turned into something cruel and has power or possession over him. This is similar to the possession he has over Elizabeth so this could bring in the gothic genre because it may be something supernatural that is torturing him for assuming possession of a person. His love of science stemmed from the nature that surrounded his home from a young age so it is interesting that he would be restored by nature when you would expect it to bring back memories. He describes himself as 'the same happy creature' which again reminds us of his own creature who he has abandoned and given no thought to, perhaps making the reader dislike him that he can be happy when he has done something awful.