Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
MOTIF: a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to a theme
One of the recurring motifs in this book is the idea of the slave and master and the reversal of roles that connect with that. I think the main reversal of roles that occurred in the book happened when Victor destroyed the other monster he was working on and the creature confronts him about it. The monster refers to Victor as a "slave" and says, "I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my creator, but I am your master;-- obey!" (Shelley 122). All throughout the book the terms "master" and "slave" are used. I link this relationship of changing roles and master vs. slave to any sort of minority group that is persecuted for a certain reason. They are put down so they eventually rise up and take over their master. The creature was tired of everyone else being happy so he rose up and reversed the situation he was in and demanded that Victor obey him. Victor never did obey him. Both Victor and the creature were slaves to their obsessions. Victor was obsessed with being the creator and making this monster. At the very end of the book, the creature admits that he was the slave, not the master, of an impulse, which he detested yet could not disobey (Shelley 164). He admits that he didn't want to kill all those people, but was merely a slave to his own hatred and misery.
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