Aidan Duke
Writer

As Villa Diodati stood on the cold shores of Lake Ge-
neva rain pattered against the dimly lit windows.

On the inside, Mary Shelley, Lord Bryon, Percy Shel-
ley and John Polidori were gathered around the fire on the

dark stormy night in the summer of 1816.
They all decided to make a bet on which one of them

could write a scarier ghost story than the “penny dread-
ful” writers of the day according to the New York Times.

Shelley had trouble deciding what subject she would
use to write about, but then it came to her in a vision
according to her quote, “I saw the hideous phantasm of
a man stretched out and then, on the working of some
powerful engine, showed signs of life.”

Using this scary idea she wrote the novel “Franken-
stein” in just one year, publishing it in 1818 with the sup-
port of her husband.

In her book the story focuses on a young but brilliant
scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who wanted to create life
in hopes of contributing to the scientific advancement.

Frankenstein goes about making the creature by col-
lecting several corpses and stitching the body parts to-
gether.

When the creature takes its first breath, the scientist is
horrified and flees from it.
Facing abandonment the monster becomes enraged

leading him to later state, “If I cannot inspire love, I will
cause fear.”
The creature’s statement is a perfect example of how

important kindness and a sense of belonging are in any
situation no matter the circumstance.
A lack of acceptance can be very impactful to a person
and cause terrible rippling effects.
For the sake of their privacy, the students’ names and
any other form of identification will not be mentioned.
“I had several people that said that they were my friends

and would have my back no matter what, but when I ac-
tually needed them they were not there,” said one MHS

student. “I feel that the bitterness I had for other people
made me into a monster because I started to be rude to
others and abandon them as well.”
Frankenstein’s monster felt betrayed by his designer,
causing him to kill several people in the scientist’s life.
This caused Frankenstein to flee from his creation,
filled with guilt for his actions and eventually dying in
exile from pneumonia.
Many people feel guilt for past actions, and one person
that feels regretful for the way they have acted and treated
others is another anonymous MHS student.
“I have treated several people in my life and around

me very poorly and have been really rude to them,” ex-
pressed one MHS student. “I regret my actions so much

because the people I hurt in a way became monsters, not
showing any kindness to others.”

No matter what the case, people should choose kind-
ness because words can either hurt, or they can heal.