Chapter 14 A sharp turning point第14章 大转折

Mary Shelley

當怪物被三个年轻人拒绝后，他会遇到什么事情呢？标题“大转折”有哪些含义呢？

I sat in my dark hut， and felt both angry and sad. One half of me wanted to hurt the people who had hurt me. The other half of me still loved them. In the end， I decided to try to speak to the old man again. I fell into an unhappy sleep， but when I woke up in the morning， the family had gone. They had left the house during the night.

I knew the name of only one other person. Although I had seen you， Frankenstein， for only a few moments， I knew that I belonged to you. When I had left your house， I had picked up a small bag. There was a book in the bag， and I could now read it. From it， I learnt my creators name and address.You had made me， but why had you not looked after me， and saved me from this pain and unhappiness？ I decided to go to Geneva， to find you.

One day as I was travelling， I saw a young girl running along the side of a river. Suddenly she fell into the water. I jumped into the river， fought against the fast⁃moving water， and brought her back to land. While I was doing this， the girls father， who was looking for her， reached us. He was carrying a gun， and when he saw me， he fired. The bullet hit my arm and broke it. I fell onto the ground in great pain， and the man and the girl ran into the woods as fast as they could， and left me.

The bullet was deep in my arm， and I lost a lot of blood. After some days， my arm began to get better， but I became sadder and angrier than before. I had saved the girls life， and how did they thank me？ With a bullet in the arm！ I began to realize that there was no happiness for me in life. Hate grew stronger in me every day. Hate for you， my creator， who had made me.

[Reading][Check]

1. What does the title “A sharp turning point” imply according to the novel？

2. If the monster stood before you， what would you do with him？ Would you also react like the three young people or the girls father？ Why？

3. Do you think appearance really matters in peoples interaction？ Why？