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Frankenstein
Story by Mary Shelly
Summary based on Universal Pictures' Movie
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The story about Frankenstein is about a scientist who
tried being God by making a man. The story began at a graveyard. Henry
Frankenstein was a scientist. He had a helper, Fritz. Henry and Fritz
hid behind a tombstone. Soon, they started digging up a coffin. After they
dug they put the body on a cart. Henry said, "He isn't dead. He's
just waiting for a new life." He was planning to bring the
dead body back to life, but for him to do that, he needed a human brain.
Henry sent his helper, Fritz, to steal one from a medical school. Fritz
found two jars, each with a brain. One jar was labeled "NORMAL Brain."
He dropped the brain in the jar. The brain was ruined, so Fritz had to
take the other jar. The brain inside was that of a criminal, a murderer.
Fritz always obeyed Henry.
Fritz arrived at Castle Frankenstein.
It was located on a mountain in Germany. Henry got the brain and put it
in the body. Henry and Fritz got the life-giving machine ready. The machine
had to have lightning to make it work, so it was a storming night. That
stormy night there was a pounding at the door, someone was demanding to
be let in. There were three people at the door. One of them was Henry's
teacher from medical school, Professor Waldman. The other one was his friend,
Victor Moritz. The third one was Henry's lovely, beautiful bride to be,
Elizabeth. They had learned of his strange experiments. They thought he
had gone mad. Henry said, "You will see whether I'm crazy or not!"
The three of them watched Henry's experiment. The table was raised to the
top of the tower. There, lightning struck the body with a blinding flash.
The machine did its work. Henry lowered the table to see if his experiment
did work. Then...a finger, a hand, an arm moved. Henry screamed, "It's
alive." Elizabeth, Victor and the Professor tried to calm Henry down. Henry
said, "Now I know what it feels like to be God!"
Fritz and Henry left the castle
to hide the new "man" at an old windmil where nobody would disturb them.
The Professor begged Henry to lock up the creature. "He has a criminal
brain. He will prove dangerous." Henry just laughed. Professor Waldman
repeated his warning, "Evil will come of this. You made a monster,
he will destroy you! Think of Elizabeth." Henry just said, "Elizabeth
believes in me." Both of them argued. Then they heard the sound of
big footsteps. The monster was coming. He cam to the room. The creature
was so tall and large with deep sunken eyes. However, he did obey Henry's
simple commands. "He is like a child," said Henry. Fritz came in
the room with a torch. The bright flames made the monster crazy. He tried
to escape. He didn't obey Henry. Henry and the Professor went away, but
Fritz stayed. He hated the thing. Fritz began to torment the monster with
the torch. The monster got mad at him and began to kill him. A loud scream
came from the cell. Henry and the professor dashed down the stairs, but
they were too late. The monster had killed Fritz. Henry subdued the monster
with a hypo (a shot.) "It must be put to death," said the professor.
Henry saw his lifework spoiled. Elizabeth and Henry's father took the young
man away to help him recover. The professor couldn't resist examining the
monster before destroying him. He bent over the creature. He awoke!
The monster broke the Professor's neck. The monster ran away into the dark
countryside. They didn't hear anything about the monster for awhile.
There was a hut near
a lake. A woodsman lived in the hut. He had a daughter named Maria. Her
dad told her to play awhile. So she went to the lake to pick daisies. Then
a big figure came near her. She asked, "Who are you?" The figure didn't
answer. "Play with me," she said. It was the monster who came out of hiding.
Now his mind was like a child. They both played and toss daisies in the
lake. The monster didn't have any more flowers to toss in the water. He
thought, "I'll put pretty Maria in the water and she would float."
At the Frankenstein
castle, Elizabeth and Henry got ready for their wedding. Elizabeth got
moody. She said, "I am afraid. Why isn't Dr. Waldman at the wedding?"
"You're just nervous," said Henry. "Something is coming between
us," she insisted. Victor dashed in. "It's Dr. Waldman," he said.
Henry knew what had happened. He locked Elizabeth in her room for safety.
Then he searched the castle. The monster returned to his home where
he was "born." Elizabeth sat in her room. Soon the monster came in through
the window. The monster thought that Elizabeth was very pretty like
Maria. In the other part of the castle, Victor and Henry heard Elizabeth
scream. They both dashed to her room. They found her where the monster
dropped her before running away. She was still alive. She said, "Don't
let it come here." The woodsman found Maria. "She's been murdered,
drowned!" he said. "Justice will be done." Henry said, "I made
the monster with my hands. With these hands, I will destroy him." Henry
turned to Victor and said, "I leave Elizabeth in your care, whatever
happens."
The villagers went
into groups to search for the monster. One searcher took his dogs to the
rocks. The monster struck. Henry found him lying down, broken. "Over
there..." he said. "This way." Henry walked over the rocks and soon he
saw the monster. They were face to face. Henry knew he was going
to be in danger, so he went up toward him and put the torch right by his
face. This time, the monster was not scared of the flames. The monster
came closer to Henry trying to strangle him. Henry yelled. "Turn
the dogs loose," yelled the Burgomaster. Henry was in the monster's hands.
The monster went to the windmill. Henry and the monster were on the balcony.
The monster strangled him right in front of everybody. The creature threw
Henry off the balcony. One of the villagers said, "He's alive!"
"Take him to the village," ordered the Burgomaster. The creature was looking
down to see what was happening. No one was going to go to fight the monster.
A villager said,
"Burn the mill down! Burn it down." The mob was throwing torches in the
mill. It was a good thing there was dead grass in the mill. The moster
was now afraid of the fire. He couldn't get out. Then a beam of fire
came down and pinned him to the ground. That was the end of Frankenstein's
monster.
Mary Shelly
The woman behind
the monster Frankenstein was made by a scientist, right? But do you know
who really created the monster? It was a woman named Mary Shelly. Mary
Shelly was the daughter or William Godwin. She came from a rich literary
heritage. Books were important to Mary's father, so she read a lot of the
classics. Mary's mother died just a few days after her birth. Mary grew
up missing her mother. Because of this, Mary was always facinated with
the thought of someone being able to come back to life. In 1816,
Mary married Percy Shelly. She already had two children by him. One of
the children died as an infant. In 1816, Mary had a dream about one of
her daughters. Her dream was about someone holding her daughter before
a fire and rubbing her vigorously. Her daughter was restored to life. After
this dream, she began writing her book, Frankenstein's Monster. |
