Frankenstein Chapters 13 and 14
Observe all the members of the De Lacey family; describe two fully; use one or two quotations to support your interpretations. Do not use a quotation used previously. Make sure all characters are fully described - in other words if one is not described when you are starting to write your descriptions, consider describing him or her. Post due Wednesday, November 25.
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Felix is a kind, goodhearted person. When he hears the jury's sentence he is horrified and feels indignation and wants to get the Turk out of jail. At the beginning there is no reason for him to plan to get the Turk out of jail. Felix even rejects the Turk's offerings of money and wealth. It is until he sees Safie that he has a real reason for planning the Turk's escape. But when the Turk abandons the plans and runs with his daughter away from Felix, Felix becomes very sad all the time. "He was always the saddest of the group" (Shelley 111). This is when we see how much his heart belongs to Safie because only until he sees her again he smiles.
The old man De Lacey is the first one of the family that the creature sees. He sees him playing the guitar, and the creature admires his complexion, focusing on his silver hair. The we learn that the old man is blind. This tells us a lot about him because that means that he cannot take care of himself on his own, that way, he has to trust someone to take care of him and he trusts Felix with his life. The blindness also prevents the old man from getting scared by the creature's appearance. The old man's trust for his son is demonstrated during the story. "He [Felix] had previously communicated his plan to the former [De Lacey], who aided the deceit by quitting his house, under the pretence of a journey and concealed himself, with his daughter, in an obscure part of Paris"(Shelley 124). The old man probably didn't know everything about the his son's plan, but he still follows his son's wishes undoubtedly and supports him whenever he can.
Agatha is fair, kind and very comprehensive (until now). She reflects her love towards his brother by being comprehensive of his actions and never blaming him of anything to do with their condition. This can be seen when the monster, describing her, says “Agatha, the ever-gentle Agatha, kissed the hands of the lovely stranger [Safie], and pointing at her brother, made signs which appeared to me to mean that he had been sorrowful until she [Safie] came” (Shelley 116). Agatha could have easily blamed Felix that because of his love and “blindness” that urged him to follow Safie and free his father. But no, Agatha has always been caring and helping in the chores of the house. In no moment she has shown any sign of resentment towards her brother Felix, not even when, like said in the quote, his brother’s lover comes to the house. Instead of being resentful towards her she shares her brother’s happiness and cares for Safie.
Felix is a very loyal and fair young man. When Felix gets or puts his mind into something he accomplishes it and still continues to be loyal where he has signed his loyalty. Proof of this comes with a dilemma through chapter 14 because he has his heart “divided” in a way. He has his blood and his love. He has to be loyal to his family yet he has to be devoted to his love, Safie. He is determined to get her to marry him and gets his father out of jail so he wins her hand. Because he has helped him escape jail he has to run away with them until things subdue, but he is discovered and has to go back to Paris for his family who is imprisoned. “The news reached Felix and roused him from his dreams of pleasure… This idea [of his father and sister in a dungeon] was torture to him” (Shelley 125). Felix even though he is now with the love of his life, has to go back to Paris and free his family. He accomplishes it, showing his determination and his loyalty. Though he still had an obligation with Safie, he manages to be with her never breaking one of his words towards his blood (family) and his love (Safie).
Agatha is kind and a gentle person. "The gentle words Agatha..." (Shelley 120). She is loyal to her father and her brother and cares for them as much as possible. Although Agatha is bound the fate of her brother and father she does not complain about the situation that they are in. She does as she is told and works for the family as a whole. Because of her brother she was thrown in prison and possibly lost all chances of a good marriage, but she does her daily work and focuses on the task at hand “His blind and aged father and his gentle sister lay in a noisome dungeon while he enjoyed the free air and society of her whom he loved." (Shelley125)
Safie is a beautiful, angelic person who does what she believes is right,"...angelic beauty and expression. Her hair of a shining raven black and curiously braided; her eyes were dark and gentle..." (Shelley 116) she is a determined person who is not afraid to search for what she wants in life. She is strong willed and was willing to enter a life of poverty, a world so different than her own, and abandon her past life in order to be with Felix. She travels alone, not knowing the language, to live with people she barely knows and learn a whole new life style because it is what she believes is right, "And the Arabian was left alone, unacquainted with the language of the country and utterly ignorant of the customs of the world"(Shelley 127)
Felix was the young man of the family, who had been suffering since the creature arrived. After Safie’s entrance he is flooded with joy and relief. This demonstrates the strong affection that Felix has for Safie. Felix is a generous person since he helps the Turk escape prison without even knowing him and takes the time to teach Safie a whole new language. He is not only kind to those that he knows, but also to those that he doesn’t know like the Turk. ”Felix had accidentally been present at the trial; his horror and indignation were uncontrollable when he heard the decision of the court.” (Shelley 122-123) It is evident that he loves and worries about his family because he comes back from Italy to rescue them from the government, when he could’ve ran away and left them behind. Felix is not a materialist since he lost all his wealth and does not suffer do to that. “He could have endured poverty … but the ingratitude of the Turk and the loss of his beloved Safie were misfortunes more bitter and irreparable.” (Shelley 126)
Safie was a beautiful, arab, rebel. “Her hair of a shinning raven black, and curiously braided; her eyes were dark, but gentle, although animated; her features of a regular proportion, and her complexion wondrously…” (Shelley 116) She was a rebel in the sense that she had rebelled against her father and left him to be with her lover. She also disliked her native religion, which is also a way of being a rebel. “A residence in Turkey was abhorrent to her; her religion and her feelings were like averse to it.” (Shelley 126)
Felix is a brave humble and very helping person. When the Turk is sentenced to death it is Felix who decides to free him, he is willing to do it for no money as we see how he turns down the offers by the Turk and even when he sees Safie and is offered her hand in marriage he stills turns it down, eventhough he knows how much happiness this could bring him, he just enjoys the posibility "Felix was too delicate to accept this offer, yet he looked forward to the probability of the event as to the consummation of his happiness" (Shelley 123). Felix goes with his plan until his assistance is found out by the French, and until he finds out his family has been caputred he doesn't turn back. As he goes back to get his family back Felix looses everything, he is exiled and his is fortune taken away, and the Turk takes his daughter away from Felix, only the return of Safie brings happiness back to Felix ""Such were the events that preyed on the heart of Felix and rendered him, when I first saw him, the most miserable of the whole family. He could have endured poverty, and while the distress had been the meed of his virtue, he gloried in it; but the the ingratitude of the Turk and the loss of his beloved Safie were misfortunes more bitter and irreparable. The arrival of the Arabian now infused new life into is soul" (Shelley 126).
The old man is the one that Felix and Agatha are responsable for, they are both very loyal to him, as we learn he is blind we see how he depends on them and Felix and Agatha take care of him, we also learn that he is very loyal to his children, as he follows Felix plans without knowing the whole depth of it.
Agatha is a very gentle woman who does her part to help out and doesen't seem to complain for the way her life turned out, even when it was Felixs plan that got them to that state.
Safie is a beautiful woman who falls in love with Felix and is separted by her father, and even when this happens she waits for the opportunity to go look for him. She seems to be a very straight thinking person and not deceitful like her father.
Felix is a real, genuine and compassionate person. He cares dearly for everyone in his family, and he knows that he would defend them against any harm. He made sure to help everyone in the family as well as protect them and also worked hard for everyone else. He helped Safie improve her English as well, and he loved Safie deeply. So far, he seems as a good human being who’s interested in the family’s well being. “Felix seemed ravished with delight when he saw her, every trait of sorrow vanished from his face, and it instantly expressed a degree of ecstatic joy, of which I could hardly have believed it capable…”(Shelley 116). Agatha, Felix’s sister, also appears as a loving character. Even when Safie comes to the shack, she is happy that her brother’s great love is home with them and becomes extremely joyful for them. She never complains about her brother’s actions and never argues with him or anything. She simply devotes herself and her love for his brother completely. The old man, DeLacey, was a great loving person as well. Because he was blind, he couldn’t do much work or help in any matter, yet he served as a person who could advice any member of the family since he was so experienced and mature. “ As night came on Agatha and the Arabian retired early…[Felix]He sat up much longer, conversing with his father…”(Shelley 117). Both Felix and Agatha seek the old man to talk and converse about their problems because the old man helps them seek for answers to their problems.
Delacey is probably the wisest of all the family members not only because of the predominance of his life span over the others, but also because of the malady (blindness) that he is now forced to live with. The ailment that now affects him, has inevitably forced him to grow into an individual, whose greatest virtue is the patience and acceptance that now dictates his persona’s every action. When I began to read these, chapters I felt a certain feeling of sympathy for this old man but as I continued to read the plot, a great sensation of esteem and admiration starting to infuse through my nexus in response to the old man’s way of coping with life and the muddy roads from which his family had fallen and was currently recuperating from. I felt dumbfounded and could not understand how a man who had “descended from a good family in France… [and] had lived for many years in affluence” (Shelley, 122) now lived in a deplorable state with his family, consequential of his son’s lack of good judgment (Felix), and held no rancor against him. In fact, this man tries to make the best of their lamentable situation this can be seen when the monsters observes that throughout the tribulations that each family member had to confront, they were a unified group “The gentle words of Agatha… animated smiles of the charming Arabian…mild exhortations of the old man… and lively conversation of the loved Felix” (Shelley, 120). This demonstrates that even in a state poverty, pain, and repentance, this family’s affection towards one another is valued in higher regard.
Felix is probably the protagonist or the most active member when it comes to the Delacey family. This is mostly because he is the individual responsible for the Delacey’s family loss of wealth and respect for the surname. This man’s actions are what now dictate this family’s pitiable situation. When I began to read this chapter, I was angry at Felix, I could not believe that his own egotistical desire for “the probability of the event as to the consummation of his happiness” (Shelley, 123) (which was to acquire, Safie’s hand in marriage) had taken the Delacey family to lose everything that the old man had once given them. But as I continued to slowly digest each page, I started to realize that Felix was a man that would be forced to live a life of contrition and responsibility for his actions (a life that I would wish to no man). At first I asserted that he would run, and in fact he did but my hypothesis was disproven when Felix came back for his family which was in prison (Delacey and Agatha). After seeing this act of unselfishness and consideration for other, I started to respect Felix which now seemed an individual that would “endure poverty, and [use his] distress [as] the meed of his virtue” in order to aide his family and overcome the obstacles that were now presented in his family.
Felix is probably the predominant member in the DeLacey family since he is responsible for the way their life changed so dramatically. Although he brought misery to his family, it was not really his fault since he was just trying to help a person in need, "the father of Safie had been the cause of their ruin..."(Shelley 122). Because of the problems he da brought upon his family, Felix lived in constant remorse, feeling responsible for everything he caused. His countenance was "melancholy beyond expression; he sighed frequently..."(Shelley 115).
Safie, another major character at this point in the story, was a beautiful Arab girl whose father doomed the DeLacey family. Although her father was a cruel and selfish man, Safie on the other hand was sweet and caring for others. Besides her "angelic beauty and expression" (Shelley), she possesed a strong personality that allowed her to go against her father's wishes in order to pursue her own.
Agatha is kind and good-hearted, she shows no rancor against her brother or her situation. Sometimes she seems to dream of better days but she is generally content with her life. Agatha worries more about her brother than herself. She is a motherly figure who soothes her father and her brother. She is also a loyal companion to Safie, accompanying her while she plays a "simple air, and her voice accompanied it in sweet accents" (Shelley 117). Agatha is like the glue that holds together the De Lacey family, she has not given up on their situation and has apparently embraced the idea of not getting married since her family won't produce a dowry. I think that Agatha is very tolerant in that she has decided to embrace her situation and not whine about it, she tries to make the best out of her fate.
Safie, in contrast to Agatha, is very rebellious. She does not follow the status quo and follows her own wishes instead of her father's. Safie's presence "diffused gladness throughout the cottage, dispelling their sorrow as the sun dissipates the morning mists" (Shelley 116). Safie is a woman in control of her own destiny for she3 has gone against her father's will to pursuit true love and freedom. Safie is exotic and wild but also gentle and kind. She is loyal towards those who helped her father and takes some of her jewels as a token of her thanks. Safie is a thankful and caring person who is really hungry to learn French and world history. She is like a little girl who finds herself in new surroundings which she completely trusts.
Delacey is a very interesting character especially for the silent role he plays in the family. He is head of the family and acts as the thread that puts together the beads of a neckless. Given that he has a disability, this has lead him to sharpen other senses. It is often common that blind people are more delicate especially with their relations to others. As Delacey plays the guitar and delights his children with his musical talents he acts as a magnet that unites the entire family.
On the other hand, Agatha can be described in one word as supportive. She is always caring for Felix and Delacy and supporting them in their troubles. when they are first described by the narrator we learn about their daily activities. "The girl [Agatha] met him at the door, helped to relieve him of his burden, and, taking some of the fuel into the cottage, placed it on the fire..." (Shelly). This everyday activity is, up to an extent, symbolysm of the role that Agatha plays in the family. She is a caring woman with a motherly instinct that leads her to protect her brother and her father on an inconditional basis. furthermore we can conclude that she is caring, loving and above all supportive.
Felix, was a good man, he represents the role of a man in those times. Very much in love of Safie, he tries to protect her, he is tenacious, when he saw Safie, he knew he wanted her, so he did everything possible, thus planning the Turk's escape. And even though the Turk ran away with his daughter, Safie knew that Felix was a great man, and escaped from his father to Felix. And even the Turk perceived Felix as a good man, because he offered him his daughters hand if the plan went according. But Felix was too kindhearted and could not accept the offer, against Safie's wishes "Felix was too delicate to accept this offer..." (Shelley 123)
Agatha, is the loving one, she is the gentle person, and the vibrant one "I saw that her presence diffused gladness into the cottage..." (Shelley 116). When she meets Safie she trust Victor with bringing what he thinks is his love home, she did not care about the conditions and how would one extra family member could worsen it. Agatha is loyal to his brother and does not blame him for anything, she knows Felix will do his best at all cause, because he is in fact a good man.
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