Rhetorical Devices In Frankenstein

Though it is wise to doubt rhetoric and what is presented as fact, people are often convinced by both. Victor warns Walton against believing what the monster says, instead he encourages him to believe the appearance of the monster. The thoughts and feelings of the characters, when written in this style, allows the character to choose what they say they think about. This allows the reader to see how the characters want to present themselves. As one’s personality is more reflected in their thoughts than in their actions, and because one’s actions either did or did not happen, it is better to discern a person's sense of self by how they present what they think. Victor fails to convince Walton to view the monster as instructed. Instead, he listens

Victor presents his childhood as idyllic and free from contempt, whereas, he presents his adulthood as the extreme opposite. He very strongly believes, or at least acts as if he believes, that his family and childhood were perfect, that he was the happiest child, his relationships as the epitome of mutual care for one another. This strikes me as naive because he presents such a binary between his childhood and adulthood. It is likely he views these times in this way to either support his point about the monster ruining his life or because people generally frame times of happiness and despair in the two extremes. Further, all the people murdered are presented as completely innocent and perfect. Additionally, he acts as if everything affects him so greatly and that there are rarely times of delight and anguish mixed with each other. Perhaps Shelley chose to present him in this way to say that he is an unreliable narrator who frames events according to what he should have been thinking. After realizing that he caused his brother’s death, Victor remarks on the guilt he felt, “No one can conceive the anguish I suffered...” (Shelley 50). Because he believes he feels so strong that no one else would understand, this shows ignorance of other people’s hardships. Further, it shows that people tend to believe they see reality as it is, and thus the feelings

When Elizabeth learns of Justine’s innocence, she tells Victor, “I never could again have known peace, if I had been deceived in my reliance on her… Now my heart is lightened. The innocent suffers; but she whom I thought amiable and good has not betrayed the trust I reposed in her, and I am consoled.” (Shelley 59). Through stating how Elizabeth is consoled knowing that she hasn’t been deceived, Shelley points out that Victor is deceiving everyone because he is the creator of the murderer. Justine and the family’s ignorance of this fact represent how sometimes the person you would least expect is to blame. Additionally, the father remarks “I had rather have been forever ignorant than have discovered so much depravity and ingratitude in one I valued so highly” (Shelley 52). This is indicative of why people hide from those they love - to protect them so they remain ignorant of reality while serving one’s own interest. These statements reveal that in civilization, people would prefer to remain ignorant than be enlightened to facts which disrupt their view of reality and destroy their