Narrative Voices in Shelleys Frankenstein and Fathers and Sons by Ivan

Narrative Voices in Shelleys Frankenstein and Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev I have chosen to compare the narrative sounds of Frankenstein andFathers and Sons, as the perspectives in these two novels differ fromone another. Frankensteins narrative voice contains tales of threecharacters inside one narrative, none belonging directly to theauthor, whereas the narrative voice of Fathers and Sons, is that ofthe author alone.Examples I will be using are taken from The Realist Novel (TRN),and from the novels of Frankenstein (F) and Fathers and Sons (F&S).Mary Shelleys novel Frankenstein is an example of first- personnarrative, with Walton describing his encounters in garner to hissister Margaret, in England. He includes his meeting VictorFrankenstein, of Victors experiences with his creation ofFrankenstein the demon, and the monster himself and his experiences.This narrative is written in the form of letters, with the use of thisepistolary style of writing novels giving verisimilitud e to theevents, as Walton writes of them as he is told. He is the narrativevoice of the whole novel enveloping the characters of Victor and themonster, the characters of whom, develop as the story progresses. Thisnarrative perspective structures the novel, portraying events as trueto life, resulting in its realistic theme. The confession of Victornestles within Waltons narrative, with that of the monster nestlingwithin that. This technique of having one story nestling withinanother follows a gothic convention, (P.63 TRN). There are manynarrative perspectives, which make it a Gothic novel, another exampleshowing this is the atmosphere of mystery and horror, when Victor iscreating his mo... ... sharp towards the tip, with large greenish eyes andsandy-coloured droopy sideburns, (p.7) and of the monster asdescribed by Victor in Frankenstein, His yellow skin scarcely coveredthe work of muscles and arteries beneath his hair was of a lustrousblack, and flowing his teeth of a chopper whi teness. (P.56).In Fathers and Sons, Turgenev reflects the theme of fatherhood, withlove and affection shown between Bazarov and his father Ivanovich,Arkady and his father Nikolai and also Nikolai and his small sonMitya. In comparison, Shelley in Frankenstein labours on the renunciation of the monster by his creator. In effect, Victor is thefather of his son the monster and he has abandoned him at hisbirth. This showing of paternal love in Fathers and Sons and theabandonment of it in Frankenstein shows an important comparisonbetween the two novels.