The uncanny

Yi Huang
According to Metamorphosis, Frankenstein, Punishment and
Kabuliwalah, we can infer that every story has their uncanny scenes.
The boundaries between canny and uncanny are often crossed with
human experience. Those stories are standing for human imagination
which is full of human experience. However, sometimes the difference
between canny and uncanny is large while sometimes it is not clear to
distinguish which scene is uncanny and which scene is canny. Because
in the story, in order to make the fiction be more fantastic, the author
combines the canny scene with the uncanny scene to make the reader
be interested in reading to the end. For that reason, authors often write
story in combing with canny and uncanny.
Shelley, Mary Frankenstein. Ed. Johanna M Smith. New York: St.
Martin, 2000. In Shelleys fiction, at the beginning of the story, Victor
fathers friend Beaufort, who died after suffering illness, leaving a large
debt to her daughter who gave birth to Victor in the future. At that
time, the poor girl had no other way to pay for the debt and no spirit
power to support her and she no longer wanted to keep on living by
herself. Luckily, Victors father came to save her and took care of her
and Two years after this event Caroline became his wife. (Shelley
41). I am confused as to that why does Victors father didnt help her at
the beginning. He didn't help his friend when he had no way to go,

when he suffered from the painful illness, but helped her after he died.
Besides, did Caroline fall in love with him or was she just for paying
back his help? Shelley didnt explain it in the fiction, leaving the reader
confused to the reader which attracted the reader to go on reading it
and finding out the answers.
After getting married, Caroline gave birth to a baby who was the main
character in the fiction. However, the way the young couple treated
their son was very strange. My mothers tender caresses, and my
fathers smile of benevolent pleasure while regarding me, are my first
recollections. I was their plaything and their idol, and something
better----their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on
them by Heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it
was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they
fulfilled their duties towards to me. (Shelly 42). The attitude towards
to their child was so strange that they treated him as an idol. This is
the first time I have heard about such an opinion. Besides, it is very
uncanny. On one hand, his parents treated him like their plaything or
idol. He is their son, why do they treat him in this way? On the other
hand, his mother tender caresses him and his father smiled at him. It
seems that they like him and take care of him in a careful way. What
his parents did for him wasnt like what would you do for an idol or
plaything. This attitude is an uncanny attitude. We dont know what his
parents think about him. If they don't care him, why they brought him

to travel together, why they adopted Elizabeth Lavenza as a pretty

present, saying that I have a pretty present for my Victor---tomorrow
he shall have it. (Shelly 44) Crazy to think of it, both Victor and his
parents. Elizabeth is a person, not a gift. Elizabeth is his sister/cousin,
and he needs to take care of her so that they can help each other. No
word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she
stood to me----my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine
only. It seems that Victor know Elizabeth is his sister, but he still think
of Elizabeth as his idol. The idol only belongs to him.
There are still some other details Shelly shows in an uncanny way.
Victor was so focused on doing research that he ignored everything:
Isolating himself and rejecting to accept everything from the outside
world. His family and his friends didnt know what he did in the
university. They were worried about him, but they didn't go to find him
for a long time until one day his best friend Henry passed by and met
together. We returned to our college on a Sunday afternoon: the
peasants were dancing, and every one we met appeared gay and
happy. My own spirits were high, and I bounded along with feelings of
unbridled joy and hilarity. (Shelly 71) During his researching time, he
had no other emotion. But when he met his Henry, the memory of his
family and friends flooded back. He quickly read the letter which
Elizabeth and his father had written to him. He found the most sad
news that his younger brother was dead. Then he came back, but his

father, friend and wife had been killed one by one. Because the
monster came to find him for revenging. The monster first loved this
world and deeply wanted to get along well with human beings. We can
know from the first three words the monster learned. They are Father,
family and friend. First, Victor abandon him, people hated him, afraid
of him, throwing everything at him. Thus, he ran away and hid in the
forest. Near the place where he was hiding lived a family. He was afraid
that he might scare the family who lived in the forest, but he wanted to
be friend with them and wanted to learn knowledge. Thus, he helped
them cutting the woods in a catlike way. Learning the knowledge by
what they taught to another girl. Day by day, the emotion of making
friends with them gradually improved. One day, when just the old man
was at home, he and the monster started to have a talk. After trying to
talk with the blind old man, he felt warm. Because it was the first time
that made him felt he was human beings friend. However, he once
felt warm that the blind old mans son and daughter came back. Two
girls fell in a faint immediately and the man drift him leave off their
home. The monster can be easy to control them, but he didnt because
he didnt want to hurt them. Thus, he ran away, when he suddenly
found out that he can explain it. He helped them and wanted to be
friend with them, he wouldn't hurt them. Then he came back their
home. What he saw was an empty room. Thus, his heart started to fill

with hatred. Nobody believed him. But he still kept on waiting, hoping
that Victor would help him.
Walking to Genevese Where is Victors hometown. In the way to
Genevese, he saved a boy, who is Victors younger brother. The boy
was so cute that he wanted to carry him so that the little boy could
accompany with him. Unfortunately, the boy was so afraid that he
wanted to run away and started to scream. At that time, the picture in
the necklace appeared. It was Victor. With the emotion of anger, he
killed William, putting the necklace in the manservants cloth so that
made people think that the murderer was Justine. After Victor came
back, he kept on killing people because he wanted to have a women
monster to accompany him so he would not feel lonely. Thus, he used
kept on killing people to threaten Victor into making a female and
promised that they would no longer appear in front of human being,
living in the most north and coldest place in the world. At first, Victor
was tenderhearted, thinking it was possible. But at the end of the final
step, he regretted he decision, wondering that whether the female
monster would like the male monster or not. If they delivered baby
monster, what shall the human world turn into? Thus, he regretted, and
Elizabeth dead. From then on, Victor tried his best to kill the monster,
catching up with him till the north pole. Finally he died with the
monster.

Branagh, Kenneth. Director. Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. English.

1994. Compared to the film of Frankenstein, there are a lot of
differences between the fiction and the film. First, in the film, Victor
just had one younger brother whose name is William, but in the book,
Victor had two younger brothers, William and Ernest. Second, in the
book, Victors mother die of the illness. However, in the film, Victors
mother died while delivering his younger brother William. Because of
his mothers death, Victor explored a way of building life. He thought
that everyone neednt die. Building life should be allowed because it is
useful. It was uncanny that he had such crazy thinking. His professor
told him many times that not to touch building life. But he still touched
it even though he would disobey his professions will.
The difference of third one is after the monster killed Elizabeth, Victor
turned into be a crazy Scientist, and rebuilt a lady monster which used
Elizabeths dead body. Dancing with her, helping her wear her wedding
dress again, hoping that she could remember who she was. Suddenly,
the monster appeared, thinking that what a beautiful lady Elizabeth
was and wanted her to be his wife. During their argument, Elizabeth
started to touch her face, finding out what she really was. It was one of
the most uncanny scenes in the film. First she looked confused, than in
pain. Finally, she held a candle up to her heart, burning herself. We
never know if it was that Elizabeth recovered her memory, was it that
Elizabeth couldn't forgive Victor or was it that Elizabeth couldn't accept

her ugly face that caused her to burn herself? If Elizabeth was a human
then she must have intellect and she wouldnt have set her home on
fire. Thus, she really turned into a monster.
Other difference between the film and book include that Victor had a
friend Henry who was killed by the monster. But In the film, Henry
didn't appear. What is more, in the film his classmate seemed know
something; he tried to stop and save Victors spirit. Lastly, the film was
so uncanny that we didn't know his ending. Did he die in the burning
house or did he run away so that avoided this big disaster? However, in
the film, Victor died after telling the story to the captain. After he died,
the monster felt sad and no longer want to live. Burning himself with
Victors dead body. To sum up, we can draw the conclusion that what
the monster desired was the first three words he learned: Father,
Friend, Family. Until he died, the monster gained nothing. His father
Victor never gave a name to him, and only tried his best to avoid him
or kill him. He wanted to make friend with human being, but people
hated him, thinking that he is a monster and would kill people. He
wanted to have a wife to accompany his lonely life, but failed in that
aspect too.
Tagore, Rabindranath. Kabuliwalah. Collected Short Stories:
Rabindranath Tagore ED. Sukanta Chaudhuri. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.97-109. According to the story, it is easy to find the

Kabuliwala because it always brings some raisins and dried apricots

to Mini. (Tagore 97) He love mini because the age of Mini is quite
similar with her daughter who waits for him in his hometown. Day after
day, he insisted on coming to her home and playing with her. Even
though he was busy preparing the money and the package to back to
his hometown.
Even though he used the knife to hurt their neighbors who owed
Rahamats money for a Rampuri shawl and he was caught by the
policemen. After living in the prison for 8 years, he went back to their
home with some small gifts to find Mini. That day was also Minis
marriage day. Minis fathers talk made him find out that he needed to
go back home to see his wife and his daughter. There are some
metaphors in this story. Let me take in-laws house as an
example(Tagore 99). At that time, Mini was so young that she didnt
know the meaning of in-law. The writer mentioned it when Rampuri had
been brought and mentioned it after 8 years on her marriage day. It
looked like an accident but not an accident. Because it was the way the
writer used to attract the reader. However, Tagore depicts difference
and social hierarchy in the novel according to the different nations.
Because Rahamat was a Bengali, Minis father afraid that weather he
would do some bad thing to his daughter. Because he was a foreigner,
Minis neighbors didn't give back the money to him. Mini loved both
man equally. This was the reason why he could collapse it and to show

the commonality between the narrator and the kabuliwalah in

Kaubiwalah.
Kafka, Franz. Metamorphosis. The Norton Anthology of World
Literature (Vol.F) Second Edition. EdSarah Lawall. New York: Norton,
2002. 1996-2030. The story began in an uncanny way that when
Gregor woke up, he found out that he turned into a vermin (Kafka
1999). As we know, humans cant turn into vermin. But, in the story,
Gregor turned into a vermin because of deep pressure. Because he was
late for getting to work, his parents and his younger sister first were
concerned about him, they were requiring or asking him to open the
door so that they could know how sick he was. Then the office
manager came to his home, waiting for him and the attitude was bad.
I can think of no other explanation either, Mrs. Samsa. Well, can the
manager come into your room now? Asked the impatient father.(Kafka
2004)We can see from this quote, before knowing the truth, all family
members concerned about him. However, once they found out that he
no longer could earn money, they began to abuse him.
Compared to their attitudes, Gregor felt shame about it, trying his
best to walk fast back to his home so that his father might be less
angry with him. When he heard the news that his family would go
outside to work, he felt shame about it. There were deeply different
attitude towards to his parents. When Gregor was hurt by an apple,

they didnt care about him, but kept on abusing him. Once he died, his
parents and younger sister went travelling and moving home, thinking
that they finally got rid of him so that they can start a new life.

Work cited

Shelley, Mary Frankenstein. Ed. Johanna M Smith. New York: St. Martin,
2000
Branagh, Kenneth. Director. Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. English.
1994.
Tagore, Rabindranath. Kabuliwalah. Collected Short Stories:
Rabindranath Tagore ED. Sukanta Chaudhuri.