Frankenstein - Frame Story

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

The novel Frankenstein begins with Robert Walton writing letters to his sister Margaret Saville. Robert reassures his sister that he is going to be safe on his expedition, and he tells his sister of events during his expedition. The fourth letter begins his explanation of meeting Victor Frankenstein. This letter does not end with his signature, but continues to record the account of Victor Frankenstein. Chapter one begins Victor's account of how he came to be on a sea of ice. The story continues with Victor telling Robert how he created a creature. He also continues to tell how horrific the creature was.

By using a frame story, Shelly creates suspense. The reader sees snippets of events before hearing the explanation of circumstances leading to the event. "We perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge, and guided the dogs"( Shelley, 8). This excerpt shows a snippet of the creature Frankenstein created before the reader even knows that a creature existed. By seeing this strange occurrence, the reader awaits an explanation. Anticipation in this story can install fear in the reader. By using a frame story, Shelley developed a more frightening story.

Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time
Nadine Gordimer

Once Upon a Time is an example of a frame story. The speaker starts by telling of a creaking sound that she heard.She feared that it was either a robber or a collapse in an underground gold mine that would cause her house to fall. To calm herself down so that she could sleep, she decided to tell the weirdest children's story that I have ever read. This story reflected her fears. In the story, the family took extreme measures to ensure the security of their home. Just as the speaker feared a potential burglar, the family feared the riots and burglars. This contributed to why the people in the story have security systems. In addition, the speakers fears were not an actual immediate threat to her. In a sense, she overreacted to a small sound by creating elaborate suppositions of the cause of the sound. In her story, the people also overreacted to the threat of the robbers by turning their homes into fortresses. Just as the speaker's suppositions stole from her time to sleep, the family's fear of robbers stole from them their greatest possession: their son. "...while the bleeding mass of the little boy was hacked out of the security coil with saws, wire-cutters, choppers, and they carried it-the man, the wife, the hysterical trusted housemaid and the weeping gardener- into the house"(Gordimer).