45 pages • 1 hour read
Mary ShelleyGris Grimly's Frankenstein
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | YA | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Life and Death
Life and death, or creation and destruction, are the central motif in Frankenstein, emphasizing themes of The Cost of Unthinking Ambition and How Misery Makes a Monster while also driving the protagonist’s actions. Frankenstein’s mother dies when he is still in his youth, and this experience of loss engenders an obsession with mortality and a desire to overcome it. He wonders where life stems from, how the inanimate can be made animate, and “how the worm inherit[s] the wonders of the eye and brain” during the decomposition process (34). He thinks of nothing else, preoccupied with the thought of being the first person to solve the mystery of life: “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world” (36). Frankenstein’s hubris is evident in this passage, where he frames himself as a savior to all humanity.
As he works in his lab to put his ideas into practice, Frankenstein takes on the appearance of a grim reaper, complete with a dark black robe and a skeletal look on his face—a major indication that Frankenstein’s preoccupation with creating life will lead only to destruction. The rest of the novel bears this out. Ironically, Frankenstein despises his own creation, and as he begins to lose his family, he looks forward to his own eventual death. Likewise, the monster sees life as a series of painful experiences and believes that the only way out of this pain is through death. When Frankenstein dies, the monster becomes overcome with guilt for his own actions and the pain he caused and decides to go die in isolation, away from those he hurt.
Significantly, Frankenstein creates a living being out of the body parts of deceased humans. This blurs the lines between life and death further, but it also renders literal the implication that death—or, at least, the grief that death causes—makes monsters. This is true of Frankenstein, who loses everyone he loves at the hands of the monster’s vengeful rage and then descends into vengeance himself.
Light and Dark
Like life and death (with which they are closely associated), light and dark function as a dualistic motif in Frankenstein, both visually in the illustrations and in the narrative itself.
Frankenstein’s scientific life begins with The Need for Purpose and a desire to do what no other man has done. Knowledge (and the pursuit of it) is often associated with light, but in Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein, the lines between light and darkness blur, suggesting the ambiguity surrounding Frankenstein’s scientific endeavors. Whenever Frankenstein is working on his creation, night falls around him, but the full moon shines clear. The darkness of these scenes contributes to an ominous atmosphere, hinting that Frankenstein’s work will not benefit humanity as he believes and that he himself is on a downward moral trajectory. By contrast, the moon represents the ever-present truth, which follows Frankenstein throughout his life. Each time Frankenstein is confronted by the reality of his actions or by the monster himself, the moon is there to remind him of Taking Responsibility for One’s Choices: “The moon gazed on my midnight labors, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding places” (37). Here, the implication is that there are “hiding places” one should not shed light on and that the moon recognizes this if Frankenstein does not.
This idea becomes particularly relevant in connection with the related motif of fire. The subtitle of Shelley’s novel refers to Frankenstein as “the modern Prometheus,” alluding to the Titan who stole fire for humanity but suffered horrible punishment as a result of his transgression. The idea that light can be both life-giving and destructive mirrors the nature of Frankenstein’s experimentation and finds physical embodiment in images and descriptions of fire. These fires, which contrast with the darkness of the surrounding night, serve as a symbol both of destruction and of the anger and rage that exist within Frankenstein and his monster. The monster, for example, burns down the family’s cabin after they reject him.
Light and dark surface in myriad other ways as well, facilitated by the visual medium of the graphic novel. Frankenstein wears dark clothing throughout Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein, suggesting his moral arc. Gris Grimly’s color palette also relies heavily on juxtaposing black with pale beiges and yellows. The color that predominates in the background tends to correspond to the chapter’s mood; both Henry and Elizabeth’s deaths are followed by several largely black pages, evoking Frankenstein’s despair.
The Swiss Countryside
The natural world plays an important role in Shelley’s Frankenstein, and the European countryside is a particular motif in Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein, where it illustrates and often alleviates Frankenstein’s moods. Frankenstein grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, and Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Switzerland, overlooks the city. At first, the Swiss countryside serves as an escape and a way to placate Frankenstein’s ever-growing gloom and grief. After making the monster, he takes a leisurely trip with Henry, and they relax together as they observe the mountain range and absorb nature’s beauty. Later, Frankenstein visits the mountains with his family, again in an attempt to rearrange his mental state. However, the way that the mountains affect Frankenstein has changed, as they now loom over him rather than act as a source of comfort. When he visits them with Elizabeth on their honeymoon, Grimly’s illustration of Mont Blanc appears almost monstrous as it closes in on Frankenstein: “The sun sunk beneath the horizon as we landed; and as I touched the shore, I felt those cares and fears revive, which soon were to clasp me, and cling to me forever” (163). The monster kills Elizabeth that same night. In the end, Frankenstein cannot stand to return to Switzerland, as his beautiful home becomes the source of all his misery and painful memories. Instead, he follows the monster into the sterile Arctic landscape, which mirrors his own desolation and loneliness.
Related Titles
By Mary Shelley
