Cat Tails

Mary Shelly's opening to Frankenstein is the letters, the letters allow the reader to have some insight as to who the characters in the story are and foreshadows the end of the story. However, the story truly starts when the narration changes from Robert Walton to Frankenstein in the first chapter of the story. Frankenstein describes his early life in Geneva and all his hopes and aspirations. The opening pulls the reader in for the desire to know how a kind man such as Frankenstein brought himself to create such a monster as he does later in the story. Mary Shelly's opening is quite interesting and compelling. If I wrote a ghost story, I would open it in a normal way, making the story seem absolutely ordinary. I would portray the characters in the most innocent way, and have it set in the typical sweet small town. I would continue the story in this way, making the characters and the setting seem absolutely innocent and normal, but occasionally add in small slightly disturbing details. This would go on until the end of the story where the true horror of one of the characters comes out, or it's reviled that the characters are actually living in a not so normal town. No one would ever see it coming, it would be perfect.