{"id":13764,"date":"2026-10-18T17:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T12:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/?p=13764"},"modified":"2026-10-18T17:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T12:20:18","slug":"a-reread-of-mary-shelleys-frankenstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/?p=13764","title":{"rendered":"A Reread of Mary Shelley\u2019s Frankenstein"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Who Is Really the Monster?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like anyone imagining a classic Gothic horror, when I first came across this book, I was expecting a story about an ugly, giant monster. But it is so much more than that, or rather, the exact opposite of what I expected. I loved it the first time for its rich writing, but rereading it now blew my mind all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Mary Shelley in 1818, the novel centers on Victor Frankenstein, a young, rich, ambitious, and brilliant scientist obsessed with the secret of life. He finally manages to bring a creature to life by merging different pieces together. But the second he looks upon his own “hideous” creation, instant regret sets in, and he runs away, leaving the creature entirely alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gifted with human characteristics, the creature desperately needs love, companionship, and belonging. Instead, he faces constant cruelty and rejection just because of his looks and ultimately learns to react to that isolation with violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As I read through it this time, I noticed the story is far less about the monster and far more about the creator himself. I love how Shelley doesn\u2019t start with Victor, but with Walton. She describes his thirst for adventure and his adamant journey to the far north so we can understand Victor\u2019s ambition. And when Victor\u2019s story shifts into a first-person narration directly to Walton, it brings you so close to the speaker. At that point, I wasn’t just the reader anymore; I was the listener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brings us to the ultimate question: Who is the real monster?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally, a traditional story sides with the hero and defeats the monster. But here, Shelley forces us to rethink everything. Do we point fingers at the one yearning for love, or the one who abandons his own creation over an ugly exterior?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creature trying to adapt to a world that constantly rejects him is the most heartbreaking part of the book. It makes you wonder: was he a product of his environment, and is society ultimately responsible for his actions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beyond the emotional weight, the book brings up a massive theme of ethics. It serves as a warning against the unchecked pursuit of scientific curiosity, which is something we can totally see today with AI, gene technology, and cloning. It proves why I love classics so much: a book written over two centuries ago still speaks directly to our modern world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the final pages, Frankenstein leaves you with deep philosophical questions and a stark reminder that actions really do have consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if you ask me who the real monster is, the answer isn’t simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a question everyone should explore for themselves by reading the book at least once in their life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who Is Really the Monster? Like anyone imagining a classic Gothic horror, when I first came across this book, I was expecting a story about an ugly, giant monster. But it is so much more than that, or rather, the exact opposite of what I expected. I loved it the first time for its rich […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124777,"featured_media":13886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[208,210],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13764"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124777"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13764"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13888,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13764\/revisions\/13888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}