I was amazed by this painting of Alice Neel, I found it very similar to Frederick Douglass and Frankenstein’ stories. At a first view you can see the lack of human connection discussed in both books. In this art work, the main character, the man who is reading the book, has knowledge which it represented by the light and the book. Hi has power and is above all the other character. He doesn’t pay attention to anybody around him. The same thing is represented by the two white couple in the picture. They don’t care about all the misery that surrounds them. Even though there is a dead body on the street, nobody seems concern about it. When compared to the Narrative of life of Douglass, during the slavery the master slaves    did not care about the suffering   that they caused. This man can represented the master slaves who used their knowledge (the fact they can read and write) to take advantage of the slaves. The ghosts that are at the bottom of the painting can be matched up to the slaves who became lifeless people due to the treatment they received from the oppressors.  Another thing that related this picture to the Douglass’s book is the baby left alone without his or her parents to guide him or her.  This familial detachment makes him or her vulnerable so he or this dark heart man can manipulate him or her as he wants.

The relationship that I found between Shirley’s book and Neel’s painting is based on the advice that Frankenstein gave to the readers. He said that people have to be careful t about the knowledge they are seeking after. This man apparently knows things but he does not use it positively. Another similarity resides in the monster that Frankenstein created. He was on his own, without anybody to teach good things. He learnt everything by himself.  It is the same for the baby who will have to be self-taught. A innocent human being can become a bad person by the future experiences or lifeless, terrified, oppressed person as a slave or Frankenstein’s creature.

Valerie Dorisca