“It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being; all the events of that period appear confused and indistinct. A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time; and it was, indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses. By degrees, I remember, a stronger light pressed upon my nerves, so that I was obliged to shut my eyes. Darkness then came over me and troubled me, but hardly had I felt this when, by opening my eyes, as I now suppose, the light poured in upon me again. I walked and, I believe, descended, but I presently found a great alteration in my sensations. Before, dark and opaque bodies had surrounded me, impervious to my touch or sight; but I now found that I could wander on at liberty, with no obstacles which I could not either surmount or avoid. The light became more and more oppressive to me, and the heat wearying me as I walked, I sought a place where I could receive shade. This was the forest near Ingolstadt; and here I lay by the side of a brook resting from my fatigue, until I felt tormented by hunger and thirst. This roused me from my nearly dormant state, and I ate some berries which I found hanging on the trees or lying on the ground. I slaked my thirst at the brook, and then lying down, was overcome by sleep. Chapter 11

In this passage, the author is showing a form of contradictory at the very beginning. A creature created in its “adult” form has the knowledge of a baby. Over the course of their growth, children don’t realize the concept of their senses, as the creator recalls in the passage. The thing with babies though is that they can’t remember what it is like to experience and have the new-found awareness of these features like the Frankenstein’s creature. In fact, the creature says that it took a long time before he learned to distinguish between the operations of his various senses. The key word there is “learn” as he had to do just like a child even though he appears to be an adult. This type of fusion between child and adulthood expresses one of the monstrous characteristics the creature possesses.

Another contradiction that is portrayed within this scene is the use of light and dark. The light is described as having an adverse effect on the monster. The idea of monsters refusing to come out into the light subliminally sent from Mary Shelly to the reader. The monster narrates in the passage that he had to close his eyes from the light and the heat made him fatigued. He sought comfort in the shadows of the trees, once again showing the attachment the creature has with darkness. I believe that the author is creating a scenario where the reader could feel sympathy for the creature because of its current state. He is hungry, thirsty and all he has to eat are berries. At the same time, Shelly is reminding us that the creature is indeed a monster by connecting the characteristics of childhood and adulthood into one being and also pairing that being with darkness.

The article “The Monster’s Sacrifice- Historic Time: The Uses of Mythic and Liminal Time in Monster Literature,” started out explaining the three different types of time. Humans go through the historical, mythical and liminal period whereas monsters only experience last two phrases. K. A. Nuzum explains that the historical time is where we spend most of out time. It is the time frame of our existence that marks the beginning and the end, birth, and death. The second temporal reality is called the mythic period. The part of reality is like a ritual, continuously happening within a certain time frame. The article used examples of celebrations humans use throughout a year. Halloween would be a good example to use because on that specific day children dress up to be monsters, then go around asking for candy. It is a custom that’s repeated every year of our historical time. A monster, on the other hand, lives only in the mythic and liminal phase. A vampire spends every day, as it was created to do, sucking blood from humans when night falls. They do not have a life, and death existence like humans do because they are set up in a world of fantasy. The moment a vampire sucks the blood from someone’s neck or a werewolf attack a person is when they become a monster. The inhumane trait of sucking blood and eating the flesh of another human being is unnatural to our society, and this is what labels these creatures as monstrous. That moment of transition is called the liminal period. In humans, the liminal period is a very common period to be in and occurs very often. The transition from child to adulthood is one of the most common liminal periods we can experience. We are not a child anymore, but we are not quite an adult yet, so we are stuck in the middle of where we share the small traits of both ends of the spectrum. The transition from one state to another is not just related to the growth of an individual it also applies to things like getting married; being a bachelor to a husband. The status of the person changes and that time of transition is called liminal time. The article closes by mentioning that the consequence of being a monster is that they are excluded from linear time. The creation rituals are re-enacted every day, but it can be a positive thing because unlike humans these creations do not permanently die.