Frankenstein Chapters 21-23 Analysis

Consider the tragic elements of anagnorisis and catastrophe as they relate to the events of this chapter.

Draw conclusions that lead to larger thematic questions. How does Victor's tragic anagnorisis and catastrophe relate to the human condition?

In the novel Frankenstein the theme is created through a series of anagnorisis and catastrophes. Throughout the book Frankenstein realizes things about himself he was once ignorant to and eventually understands the cause of his misery.

With each anagnorisis Victor finds out an important piece of himself. Overall victor is slowly realizing that he is the cause of everyones death and his own misery. In chapter 23 he discovers that his "only remaining friends were not safe from the malignity of the find." This shows that Victor has lost hope and has nothing left. The deaths of everyone he loved caused by a monster he created is finally sinking in. He now understands that his actions caused his life to spiral out of control demonstrating the theme that there is no chance of going back to the way his life once was.
This theme is also shown to the audience through every individual catastrophe. When Victor "saw that lifeless form of Henry Clerval stretched before" him, another piece of the plot was put together. It then clicked in his mind that the monster was not planning to harm him rather the monster was going to harm all of his friends. This specific catastrophe, or puzzle piece, added allows the plot to slowly come to a close. In the end it is emphasized that there is no going back and it can only get worse.
This theme made possible from anagnorisis and catastrophe can be applied to the human condition as a whole. A wrong decision followed by another sprinkled with lies in between can eventually dig a hole so deep it is impossible to recover. Demonstrating that like in Victors case after a while it is possible to ruin your life as well as that of everyone you love.

My Music My Brain

As a sucker for memories and all things nostalgic today I decided to look at old journals I wrote in middle school and junior high. In doing so I began thinking about all the music I used to listen to and whether it affected me or not.  When growing up is it the music you listen to that affects your mood or do you chose certain music because of the mood you are in. Now I can't help but wonder if middle school would have been any less depressing if my favorite bands were not Death Cab for Cutie and My Chemical Romance? Or did those emo bands simply help me through the awkward times that were growing up.

In elementary school my music choices were not so much my own rather then the songs that were popular at the time. In fact my sister put songs on my ipod for me because I had no idea how all that stuff worked. With this knowledge I guess it is safe to say that the music I listened to didn't reflect me at all rather it reflected my sister. Her favorite songs were my favorite songs because they were all that I knew. Thankfully I have a pretty up beat sister so if the songs I listened to did affect me it was in a positive way. I was quite peppy and happy in elementary school so maybe my music selection of  Aaron Carter mixed with Nsync did affect me in a good way.
By the time I went into middle school I started making up my own ipod playlists. Whether music was the cause or not middle school was rough. A couple hundred pre-teens with their hormones all confused stuck in one giant building causes lots of confusion and sad times. I also no longer listened to the peppy songs of my past. Punk rock was my new favorite genre and it felt like all other music just didn't fit me as well. That being said I don't think music was the cause of my problems rather it helped me deal with them. Peppy songs existed during the time I was in middle school I just chose not to listen to them and I doubt that forcing myself to listen to peppy music in middle school would have made any difference.
Now that I'm in high school I feel like everything is in balance. I'm still choosing the music I listen to and to put it simply, high school's been treating me pretty well. If you were to grab my ipod and put it on shuffle you could get any type of song from top 40 hits to slow chill and somewhat depressing. I have a song for every possible mood I can possibly be in and maybe that's proof that music doesn't influence a person so much as it fits what they are already going through. When I'm sad I listen to slow music, excited and I'm playing Katy Perry.
Now that I've gone through the three main time periods of my life I have come to a conclusion. These days people chose the music they listen to based on preference and mood. Sure there are the people who do not have a preference of their own and listen to whatever others are into but I feel like those people are few. Everyone has their own style and taste when it comes to music and if you ask someone simply why they are listening to the song they happen to be listening to they will say, "Because I like it." The music people listen to is what fits them at that given time and is not a cause of someone's mood rather it is an affect of it.

~Ilana's brain out!