Dear Reader,

In The Shadow, a small, quiet boy is bullied by a group of ghostly older classmates, who take his precious belonging, a Frankenstein comic book. After the occurrence and as the day goes on, the boy seems to grow more timid while his shadow grows larger and more monstrous. Eventually the shadow starts to become destructive, playing on the boy’s insecurities to hurt him more. However, the shadow is cut short in his attack as a door to the mental cage that the shadow has trapped the boy in is opened. A little girl comes in, and ignoring the diminishing shadow, asks if the boy would like to share her book with her. At this, the monstrous shadow goes away completely, and the boy seems happy to share his passion with a like minded friend.

In this story, I am working with certain themes that I encountered while reading Frankenstein. The most prevalent is the theme of how people’s actions can affect others, both negatively and positively, and how the negative reactions can often be damaging. This was seen throughout Frankenstein, in the reactions of society towards the Wretch. The next theme is the theme of foil or dualism. This is seen in my story through the contrasts between the dark angry shadow, and the small, timid boy. It is also seen through the contrasting yellow and blue colors of the girl and the boy. The last theme that I explored was intertextuality. I did this by including both obvious and obscure references and allusions to both Frankenstein and Paradise Lost. I especially loved looking at Frankenstein through a modern/pop culture lens, as shown by my comic book in the beginning of my storybook. The last thing that came up in my story was the importance of having a friend. This was a smaller, but no less important theme in Frankenstein, shown in the Wretch’s desire for a companion, and the consequences that came into fruition when he didn’t get one.

I hope you enjoyed the story!

Yours,

-Emily