Frankenstein- Chapter 8 Reading Journal

Overview:
Justine is put to trial and is found guilty of the murder of William. This is mainly because she confessed to the crime but she says that she 'confessed a lie.' This is important because you see how this tortures Frankenstein's character. Justine is then killed for the crime but even with the strong facts that place Justine there, Frankenstein is still convinced that his own creature killed William.

Point 1:
In 2 years, Frankenstein has met his creature twice so it is clear he has no idea what his character is like. He makes many presumptions about him which are based on only his imagination. Frankenstein first calls him a 'creature', then he calls him a 'monster' and finally he's labelled a 'demon.' As this book is mainly narrated by Frankenstein we know that there is no substance to the accusations. The connotations of the word demon are of the religious figure who is the most evil and sinful creature there is- this is a really cruel way of describing him. It is also odd because there is  no mention of Frankenstein being religious and usually religion and science aren't compatible. He also seems more haunted by things in the past which were merely scientific to him-'bodies deprived of life... had become food for the worm' but this is referred to when he says 'I...felt the never-dying worm alive in my bosom.' This shows an attitude change from seeing things from a scientific perspective to him talking from a traumatic perspective, therefore creating the book to be more gothic.

Point 2:
Chapter 8 ends with Frankenstein saying that William and Justine are 'the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts.' Frankenstein refers to himself as the murderer throughout this chapter- 'I, the true murderer'- expresses his certainty that he has created a monster who is a murderer. There is no proof to back up this certainty and it seems as though he is going off a feeling. This is unusual for his character because you would expect a scientist to work with the facts rather than on a whim. There is an almost a self pitying tone as he believes all that's gone wrong to be his fault, he says 'the tortures of my own heart' which uses romantic language, thus creating it to sound slightly melodramatic. He also calls them the 'first' presumably suggesting that there will be more victims that the creature will supposedly kill. A common element in a gothic novel is that all the main characters die so we can make an educated guess that Frankenstein, Elizabeth and probably the creature will die.