Explore the presentation of locations in Frankenstein and Never Let Me Go

Example Exam Question ( including an introduction and one subsection) - Explore the presentation of locations in Frankenstein and Never Let Me Go.

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Introduction \n

To an extent both ‘Frankenstein’ (1818) by Mary Shelley and ‘Never Let Me Go’ (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro utilise locations in order to reveal the true nature of characters and situations. In Frankenstein, Shelley presents locations as being negative to unveil the intentions of characters. She may have done this due to her personal experience travelling, especially when she had been ostracized from society, and was seeking a new start with her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, while travelling through Europe. In Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro presents locations as isolated environments, perhaps to reflect the social status of the clones.

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First Subsection - part 1

\ Firstly, in both texts, locations are used in order to hide characters from wider society. In ‘Frankenstein’, Shelley, the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft (a famous protofeminist), uses locations to display Frankenstein’s transgression. This is evident in the fact that Frankenstein’s lab is hidden as it is described as being ‘in a solitary chamber, or rather cell…separated from the other apartments… I kept my workshop of filthy creation.” Through the semantic field of isolation and confinement, it is evident that Frankenstein is in a mentally unstable state and seems to be confined by his own obsession with scientific advancement. This is relevant as Shelley was a Romantic writer during the Georgian era, a time where there was a prevalent obsession with scientific advancement. The Romantics valued the power of religion and nature. It can be argued that Frankenstein was a character created to represent the Enlightenment movement, which opposed the ideologies of the Romantics as they believed in the importance of science and knowledge. Due to this, Shelley may have isolated Frankenstein to reinforce the unnatural state of his transgression. \n

First Subsection - part 2 \n

Similarly, in ‘Never Let Me Go’ Ishiguro uses locations to show how isolated the clones are. This is shown through the use of Hailsham, the school where the clones grew up, as once Kathy became a carer, she had attempted to find Hailsham, but failed to do so, evident in chapter 1 where she comments on how ‘[she] might pass a corner of a misty field or see part of a large house…and I’ll think ‘I’ve found it’. The pathetic fallacy of ‘mist’ suggests secrecy and hidden truths. This is relevant as the clones are hidden from the rest of society and they don’t know the truth about the reason for their existence. Ishiguro may have been influenced to depict the clones as  being isolated from society due to his personal experience as a Japanese immigrant. It can be argued that he may have made the clones experience mirror the isolation he may have felt as an outsider in British Society. The clones are presented as something that society is ashamed of, and therefore are hidden. Ishiguro has used this isolated location to reinforce their social status and how they are othered by society.

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