Monster Books

Monstrous Humanity? Monstrous Culture? Monstrous Nature?

Choose a book from this list.

Read the book.

While you’re reading write down notes and questions, especially concerning the monsters and the themes related to monstrousness.

• Who is the monster or who are the monsters in the book? How do you know? What makes the character a monster? Physical deformity or difference? Inhuman or inhumane behavior? Both? Something else?
• What is the relationship between physical monstrousness and moral monstrousness in your book? (Some possibilities: Does physical monstrosity mask moral beauty? Does physical monstrosity lead to alienation which leads to monstrous moral choices? Etc.)
• What seems to be the cause of the monstrous behavior in your book? (Is it in the monster’s nature as with the Grendel of Beowulf? Is it chosen by the monster as a response to radical alienation and rejection as with the Grendel of Grendel? Is it learned by the monster? Is it taught to the monster?
• What seems to be the author’s purpose in portraying a literal monster (or monstrous behavior)? What is the author trying to show about human beings and the human condition?

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (1999) by David Foster Wallace (in GHS library)

Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker (in GHS library)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson (in GHS bookroom)

Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley (in GHS bookroom)

Freddy’s Book (1980) by John Gardner (in GHS library)

In Cold Blood (1965) by Truman Capote (in GHS library)

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) by Oscar Wilde (in GHS bookroom)

Red Badge of Courage (1895) by Stephen Crane (in GHS bookroom)

Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe (in GHS bookroom)

A book of your choice (send me an email by Wednesday 12/3) + Metamorphosis (1915) by Franz Kafka (in GHS bookroom)