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| Image from English Club.com |
- What impact does the Creature's facility with language have on YOU?
- What role does the ability to communicate in language of some form have to do with your assessment of what it means to be human and alive, both in the story and in your own life's experience?
When the monster first told his story, I was shocked by how fluently and eloquently he spoke. I suppose I had the impression that since he was a monster, all he would do is grunt and not know proper language. However, this is not the case. The monster picked up the language quickly by the family he studied in the cottage and when he described his story to Victor he had a very pronounced speech.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that he was so well-spoken helped me to sympathize more for the monster, and even made him seem less of a monster to me. I think that this kind of language makes him seem more humane and more relatable. It takes away some of the ugliness and horridness of the monster.
When the monster first spoke, I was shocked just becasue he could talk. Like Amanda stated, I just assumed he would grunt and be able to speak properly. By speaking, the reader was able to not only hear the monsters story, but develop opinions about him on more than his actions and looks.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem I have with the monster his how he handled his feelings. With the cottegers, he did try to use words, but they only cared about his looks. Becasue of this, he had to express his anger through killing. I felt sorry for him because no one seemed to care about him and only wanted to run him out of their lives.
I don't think that the ability to communicate has to do with being human. Animals are able to communicate with eachother using their own "language." What makes humans unique, in my opinion, is that they have the ability to do more with their language, such as write stories and read pieces of literature. They are also able to learn other forms of language, such as french, spanish, german, english, etc.
In the story, "the creature's" use of language shows that he is human becasue he went from being able to make only grunting sounds to speaking perfect english, just like a baby into an adult. The only difference is that the monster went form the "baby" to the "adult".
The monsters ability to speak as both Amanda and Greg have said was extremely surprising, but it also was not out of the question by any means. The creature was created out of human parts, so obviously the ability to learn how to communicate was already there. Just because he could speak, doesn't make him human because other animals can communicate with one another as Greg said. It does make it easier to sympathize with the creature. Humans have the ability to analyze grand concepts and express them through written and spoken word. Humans create through language which is something that sets us apart from other species.
ReplyDelete@ Amanda " I think that this kind of language makes him seem more humane and more relatable. It takes away some of the ugliness and horridness of the monster." The power of language and communication can take us beyond appearances--I like that observation very much. Think about what we promote when we promote self expression; your plans to work in journalism will help to " take away ugliness and horridness".
ReplyDelete@ Greg "Animals are able to communicate with eachother using their own "language." What makes humans unique, in my opinion, is that they have the ability to do more with their language, such as write stories and read pieces of literature. " What one does with language is important; we don't know what animals do with their language, do we? However, humans were "prehistoric" too. Recording one's thoughts in history or engaging in creative self-expression does seem to set us aside. What if people don't express themselves? Are they less human?
@Mike So interesting that you link human biology with language. True, dogs do not have the biology to communicate beyond a bark. Love the words "grand concepts" and will promote that phrase this year ... we should all strive to do more than simply speak.
Keep up the good work as you think through these books!
When the creature spoke so eloquently and fluently I was, like Amanda, surprised at first because of the connotations of a "creature" is not being speaking like a human but just noises and not understandable language. I think it shows how different humans really are from other species in that language can really help us communicate to a higher level that help us understand deep emotions more than most other species. Also, like said above humans have the most advanced way of self-expression which shows how much not just speaking but writing and drawings have affects on humanity.
ReplyDeleteJust like everyone who posted already, I too was surprised at how well the creature was able to communicate through speaking. He was very clear and as Dr. G said, it did help te creature seem less ugly and more like a human. He was made out of human parts so he had the ability to speak and picked up the language rather quicky. I thought of it as a baby growing up, learning, and maturing into an adult.
ReplyDeleteHumans are defined by their ability to communicate in multiple ways. We are more developed than animals because of our writing system that allows us to comunicate with many people at once.
I think the author made the creature learn how to talk for a reason. It allowed him to express himself and get away from the grunts that made him seem like such a monster. Through language the creature definitely seemed more human. I honestly would not know what to do if I did not know how to communicate in language. How would you be able to share your thoughts and opinions? What if there was simply no way to? I think I would go crazy and not feel like a human or even alive.
ReplyDeleteThe creature being able to speak, and speak well, personally made me give him a little more respect, a little more credit. It was true testement to the fact that he wasn't just some screwed up and failed creation, he was a functioning being.
ReplyDeleteI believe that being able to communicate, especially effectively, allows for a better life in general. One is better understood by their peers and can illustrate their thoughts and ideas, as well as their wants and needs through language. People and things can be alive without ever uttering a word, but the capacity for speech and the active use of it, I think, sets humans apart and enhances life. If everyone still mumbled and grunted like little children, the world would not be even as close to as advanced as it is now, where the sharing of knowledge and ideas is done through communication.
By Shelley choosing to make the monster not only talk, but talk fluently and eloquently, the monster becomes more of a human. Like a poet giving objects or animals human qualities, the creature has human qualities helping the reader think of the creature as a human and help sympathize with the monster.
ReplyDeleteThe creature being able to speak, well definitely made me respect him more. It seemed that he was trying to prove that he could be a functioning member of society, like a real human.When people looked at the monster and saw a failure, I saw a creature learning to communicate well and fit in with humans.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to communicate as effectively as the monster could definitely allows for a better life. Being able to communicate with others your wants and needs, as well as any thoughts and ideas you may have, not only benefits you, but could help them as well. If none of us could ever communicate what we wanted, the world would be rid of a lot of new ideas, inventions, thoughts and opinions on just about everything.
I was also surprised by how well the Creature spoke and told his story to Victor which definitely made me sympathize more with him and also made him appear more human to me. The ability to communicate is such a key part of human life that without that ability, it's hard to think of them as human. For example, I don't think of things such as my pet fish or plants or anything like that as human mostly because they have no way of communicating with me.
ReplyDeleteJust as others have commented I too was shocked that the monster could speak. It shows that Shelley was using pathos to get the audience to be able to connect better with the audience. Also in movie adaptions I remember seeing when I was younger I remember the monster grunting and having a scary exterior. BUt Shelley gives the monster a human touch, making him more connectable to the audience.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Melissa that when the creature spoke it made me respect him more because he had been learning by himself to accomplish that. Obviously humans communicate by speaking, body language and our facial epressions but communicating isn't something only humans do. Animals have their own language such as birds chirping or dogs barking that allows them to communicate. This makes me think communication isn't necessarily a strictly human characteristic.
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked when the creature first started to speak. I feel like him being able to communicate like a human made him more human to me. The fact that he eagerly learned and practiced the language, and picked it up probably quicker than most humans do today, also made him appear more human in my eyes. I think that the need to express our wants, our needs, our desires and our ideas is a valuable part of being human; the creature certainly mastered the language.
ReplyDeleteFor me, language doesn't necessarily make the creature more human. Humans have many different languages, and not speaking another's native tongue doesn't make them any less human. It does, however, allow me to sympathize with the creature more, by being able to understand what he is feeling. Like Alex and Melissa, I also believe that the effort the creature put into learning English was very respectable.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that the creature spoke so fluently. When I hear creature I think of a monster that doesn’t talk but moans and groans. The way he spoke made me sympathize with the creature. The creature spoke like a human, but he wasn’t treated like one. There isn’t another species out there that speaks a language like humans do. Besides other things I believe that it is one of the characteristics that really sets our species apart from other animals. Also being able to communicate helps humans get across their emotions. Without the language the creature spoke he wouldn’t be able to express his emotions that way humans do.
ReplyDeleteI think that the eloquency of the Creature's speech contrasted to how he looked and was percieved by others. Up until that point it was easier to look as him as a monster, but after he spoke up for himself it was eloquent and very emotional and human that it is hard to sympathize with the Creature for the isolated, lonely life he lives because of Victor.
ReplyDeleteI was definitely taken aback by the Creature's fluent and eloquent way of speaking. Like Colleen said, one would automatically expect the speech of a creature to be reserved to unintelligible grunts and noises. I think the Creature's ability to use language was one of the most driving qualities of considering him to be human, so it definitely leaves a large impact on the reader's understanding of the character.
ReplyDeleteI think the ability to utilize some form of language is essential in order to convey our thoughts, desires, and emotions. Through language, the Creature was able to convey that he was lonely, and that he simply wanted a companion. Without language, I think there would be no reason to see him as anything more than a monster.
I think that the creature being able to speak was done so that he would have more of a personality, rather than just be looked at as some horrifying monster that is just out for blood. Had he not been able to speak, I think it would have been much more difficult for Shelley to give him a personality and explain the reasons for his actions. This impacted me because I thought of what it took for Shelley to develop her characters which in turn made me think about how much throught other authors put into their characters.
ReplyDeleteI especially agree with Jami in that with no language the creature would be just that; a creature. Language gives people personally, emotion, and thoughts. Without it we would all just be creatures with no zest for life.
Shelley defintely chose to make the creature able to speak for a reason. Because the creature could communicate well and had its own thoughts and opinions, readers are able to associate with him. If the creature could only make animalistic noises in attempt to communicate I feel our perception of the creature would be completely altered. The creature can speak and we are therefore given a window into his thoughts and his internal struggles. This makes it easy to sympathise with him.
ReplyDeleteI picture the creature as the big guy who stomps around and does the monster mash, like the perception little kids have of him. So when he speaks to Victor and is able to ask him if he every asked him to create him in the first place, I was shocked. From what I expected of a dumb sounding, stuttering, cave-man like monster I expected, he was almost a real, genuine person in that instance.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to communicate in language is one of then earliest signs of modern man. Not specifically 2012 man, but back to 3000 BC and when language was first documented. In the story it gives the creature such humanistic qualities that, as Amanda said, "takes away some of the ugliness". In my own experiences I find that expressing feelings and emotions gets better results with people rather than just bottling everything up inside.
I was surprised The Creature was able to speak as humans do. He was given human parts, with a human brain and a human voicebox, but seeing a creature be created by another man and have that creature be able to articulate thoughts is what makes it so surprising. Communication isn't unique to humans, as other mammals have ways of sending messages to eachother, but for The Creature to be able to pick up the complexity of a sophisticated human language is impressive. I don't think being able to talk makes something human however, it is the curiosity and understanding that goes with why one is on earth that makes one human.
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