In high school I took a class called AP English/Literature, and in that class we read book called Frankenstein. This book very quickly became one of my favorite books for many reasons, but the most important reason was that I could relate to Frankenstein's Monster (or The Creature/It) because I very often felt the same way about myself.
A little recap for those of you who either haven't read the story yet (you should) or haven't read it in several years. Frankenstein's Monster is constantly beating himself up because of how he looks and feels, it's one of the reasons he can't fit into society. He was bits and pieces of different people and so literally looked like a monster. Eventually he even considered himself one. My family used to have a cat that was made up the same way. He looked like he was put together from the remainder of other cats. He didn't really belong. He was kind of like Frankenstein's Monster as well. Both of these factors played huge parts into what turned into an explainable metaphor for me to communicate how I was feeling to others.
So why "A Modern Frankenstein" then? I actually would have chosen a different title, but felt that people wouldn't have gotten the metaphor as well if I had. My original title was "The Creature's Daughter", but since most people still believe that Frankenstein was the monster I figured this title was better. But why either of these titles at all, why would I choose to write a blog about an old book? Funny that, we're actually never going to talk about the book again, well except for referring to me as Frankenstein's Monster. You see this is actually a medical blog, because I am Frankenstein's Monster in the sense I have so many different medical problems I may as well be put together from different people. This is a blog I have been meaning to write for a long time but never had the chance to do so, so thank you COM 201 for that! My hopes are that with following my medical journey someone, somewhere will see my blog and not feel so alone. This is a blog that is my story of communicating with doctors, communicating with peers, being a child in pain you can't explain, and eventually learning to communicate with your body. It's taken me years to get to a point in my life where I can discuss this openly as a positive thing, where I can look at Frankenstein's Monster as a positive metaphor rather than negative one. So please don't think this is going to be some deep dark blog, it's really not. While the content is heavier the blog itself is meant to be uplifting.
Comments are always welcome! And if you know someone experiencing similar pains please share this blog with them. Like I said, the intention of this blog is to help others on their journeys while I document mine. So comment and share away! I look forward to hearing from you all. (:
