My secret super power is eyebrow grooming.

"From the tortures of my own heart, I turned to contemplate the deep and voiceless grief of my Elizabeth. This also was my doing! And my father's woe, and the desolation of that late so smiling home - all was the work of my thrice-accursed hands! Ye weep, unhappy ones, but these are not your last tears! Again shall you raise the funeral wail, and the sound of your lamentations shall again and again be heard!" pg 85

And it goes on like that for a while. In fact, I wouldn't have chosen stream of consciousness if I didn't feel like Victor was freaking out about something every other page. Because this is a frame story with Victor as its narrator, we get the insight of how he felt coming straight from the character, rather than the view of an omnipotent narrator or a third party narration. It seems to me the author's main tool for characterization through the work thus far. Stream of consciousness has shown Frankenstein's cowardice, intelligence, and tenderness all through "Whine, whine, whine, monster, whine, whine." And because his thoughts are so golly gee chaotic, it lends a kind of suspenseful tone as well. Will this crazy monster I've made that I try not to think about, but totally do, come back to haunt me in a more significant way? I can only wonder...as I wander....

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Ay yay yay yay. I am the Frito Bandito!

So the last chapter ends with O'Brien going on about what exactly stories are for. I found it very poetic. His next chapter begins

"This is one story I've never told before." pg. 37

and I was like "Hey! Noice transition mate!" I even wrote it in my book, that's how good it was.

So I'd really like to quote the entire freak-out-on-a-boat thing but that's an entire paragraph that takes up two pages, so none of that, just know what I'm talking about. Instead, we'll settle for this.

"All those eyes on me - the town, the whole universe - and I couldn't risk the embarrassment." pg. 57

This whole chapter, I believe though, illustrates O'Brien's stream of consciousness. With special emphasis on the hallucination in between Canada and the US the stream of consciousness lets the reader into the character's head, which is especially crucial when having an emotional meltdown. The stream of consciousness style helps illuminate why O'Brien acts the way he does, and even let's the reader empathize without even having to experience such an event. I particularly enjoyed this chapter with a juicy confession. Also, the phrase "juicy confession" or "juicy gossip" makes me really thirsty for lemonade in particular.

Thirsty now?

Can you tell me why my father left me?

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS


Starting with the first paragraph on page 152, through page 153 until the break is Jacob Barnes' sTreAm oF COnScioUSnEsS, Ooo0Oo0Oo0oh! I related to the situation by remembering all those times when you just lay in bed, trying to fall asleep, but sleep won't come. In those instances, one often thinks about either very, heavy issues of one's life or some of the most random, fluffy topics. Jake decides to go for the works and considers his relationship with Brett to comparing the Eskimo, Cherokee, and English languages (English English, not American English). In this he contemplates how the English use inflected phrases to mean different things, for example "What rot!" could mean, "Oh quit, joking, sthilly!" to "Shut up!" If anyone has examples of American phrases that use inflections, please feel free to leave a comment as I would love to hear from you.

Now it's time to learn some useless Eskimo and Cherokee words!

Eskimo: a'agnerk - squaw duck
Cherokee: danistayohihv - Merry Christmas

Who needs Spanish, French, or German with Eskimo or Cherokee!