Frankenstein Theme of Language and Communication

Frankenstein is full of questions of communication and language. The story itself is built as a story within a story within a story. Letters form the frame for personal narratives. Communication itself is a point of questioning. Language is how we name the world. Yet the monster has no name. He does not fit into the world. There is no way to make sense of him, so he doesn’t get a label. We can’t name him "hero" or "villain", and likewise Victor can’t name him at all. Victor’s name, on the other hand, is highly ironic. He is anything but a victor. Yet his name firmly establishes him in certain traditions. The name is an allusion to Paradise Lost, aligning him with the figure of God "The Victor". Additionally, the monster’s coming into being is transformed once he acquires a language. He is angered into criminal acts because of language, but he also comes to understand his good nature because of it. Language advances his capacities for both good and evil. One does not negate the other. Language at once gives and takes away his humanity.

Questions About Language and Communication

1. How does the first person narrative affect the way we understand what happens to Victor and with whom we sympathize?
2. In what ways are the specific books that the monster reads influential in forming his identity and concept of self?
3. What is the possible significance of Victor’s name? How does understanding the meaning behind his name affect the way we read this story?
4. What function does Safie play in terms of the development of communication in this novel? We knew she was there for something.

Chew on This

Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.

Acquiring language not only gives the monster a sense of his own humanity, but it forces him to come to terms with his alienation from society as well. Language possesses the same good and evil duality that the monster does himself.

The namelessness of the monster establishes him as that which cannot be named, and therefore, that which cannot be understood. His namelessness is the reason that he is alienated, rather than his ugliness.