Symbolism In How To Read Literature Like A Professor By Anne Shelley

Sickness. Rain. Thunder. Christ. Shakespeare. Vampires. Myth. Symbolism. These devices and ideas discussed in Thomas C. Foster’s, How to Read Literature Like A Professor, infiltrate literature of all forms back from the eighteenth century until modern day, by adding layers and layers of depth and density to a novel, consequently creating a long lasting resonance in our ever changing society. All readers have to do is simply look, ponder, and analyze. Therefore, with analyzing and recognizing the ideas presented in How to Read Literature Like A Professor, Anne Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, consists of several literary devices and factors that develop the plot of the story and the main character, Victor Frankenstein. Due to How to Read Literature …show more content…
In most symbolic weather cases, rain is perceived to have a cleansing and restorative power for characters in a literary work; however, “one of the paradoxes of rain is how clean it is coming down and how much mud can make it when it lands”, meaning rain not only means a new start, a new life, and new chances, but, unlike most readers set expectations of rain, rain can cause sickness, death, and devastating realizations (Foster 72). However, most importantly, rain “rather than washing away some taint…cleanses of illusions” (Foster 72). Therefore, Shelley purposefully utilizes our well known and fundamental literary expectations of rain to incorporate irony. Accordingly, instead of Victor being cleansed of dishonor, the rain ironically cleanses him of false ideals and ideas about creation and the beauty of science, and instead leaves him with the dark realization that the monster is deadly and lethal. The irony of the rain works to develop his character as a person with a new perspective on the dangers of science and creation, as well as the plot, as he discovers the need to seek revenge for the killings of his loved ones and the immediate need to destroy the monster he