Compare and Contrast: Frankenstein and Invisible Man

Sometimes the determination of one to achieve his goals and dreams causes him to walk over the feelings or goal of another, making a person fall victim to the other person’s desires. Through themes such as hatred, betrayal, and revenge, two pieces of literature, Invisible Man written by Ralph Ellison, and Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, support this statement to the fullest extent. In both stories, the main character becomes a victim to a person or persons seeking individual power. However, when both characters realize the betrayal of these people, the knowledge causes them to rebel against their authorities.

In Invisible Man, a young Negro, who remains unnamed throughout the entire novel and lived during the 1950's, is expelled from his Negro college in the South for endangering the School’s creator, who was white. He is then forced to work and live in New York City until he earned enough money to return to the same college. After many months of struggling, attempting numerous jobs, and living in three different homes, he finally settles by joining a political Brotherhood. While in the Brotherhood, he is given the opportunity to give public speeches to the community of Harlem pertaining to issues such as women and Negro rights, and in the process, gains the trust and faith of the public, as well as that of the fellow brothers, or so he thinks.

As a result of his outstanding performances, members of the Brotherhood, particularly Brother Jack, plan to take advantage of this brother’s ability and use it towards ful filling their ultimate goal of sovereignty over the community. Using the narrator’s reputation and trust with the community, Brother Jack forces him to give speeches to the public pertaining to the Brotherhood’s plans. The narrator becomes oblivious to the Brotherhood’s objectives and their attempt to use h im for their personal gain. In response to this, he retaliates by doing exactly what his name portrays, becoming invisible. In doing so, he is able to manipulate the minds of the public including the minds of the Brotherhood as well. He decides to live the rest of his life without a name or an identity, always changing who he was so as to never become discovered.

Frankenstein follows a similar idea. In the novel, Victor Frankenstein, a man dedicated to science and education through reading, leaves his home in Geneva, Italy, to go to school in Ingolstadt to further his study of natural sciences. During his time at school, Victor learns a vast amount of information pertaining to his studies and as a result creates and idea of bringing life inanimate objects. He began with animals, and with time, brings together the pieces to bring to life his first human being. He works diligently for several months acquiring different parts of the body and putting the pieces of the human together. Though he succeeds with his experiment, and brings his work to life, the appearance of the creature