DJ Savarese’s poem Alaska and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are comparable in that both main characters in the texts struggle with communication. The creature, made by Victor Frankenstein, is depicted as a monster that is not quite human. Once the creature becomes aware of his hideous appearance, he feels lonely and isolated. Much like the creature, DJ Savarese feels isolated. Although DJ’s outward appearance does not exhibit scary features, his lack of communication skills affect his interaction with others. Due to being autistic, DJ struggles to communicate and sometimes relies on a facilitator to guide him along. Even though DJ has assistance and support from facilitators, he is aware that he lacks support from others. In regards to the creature, Victor Frankenstein can be seen as the creature’s facilitator, as Victor is the only one who truly understands him. However, differently from the facilitator’s mentioned within DJ Savarese’s poem, the creature’s facilitator does not support him. Within both texts, it is evident that communication barriers have an impact on the both creature and DJ Savarese, as they seek to remove themselves from feelings of isolation.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is a novel that displays the struggles that the main character, Victor, must face. His creation is much different than the other characters within the book. The creation becomes aware of his repulsive appearance and his lack of communication skills, produces rage. Wanting to learn to communicate like a human, the creation observes a family from the outside. After constantly being reminded of his scary and ugly outward appearance, the creature craves the company of someone like himself. Wanting a female companion to be created for him, the creature seeks Victor with hopes that he will do so. Victor’s refusal to create a female companion leads to escalating aggression within the creature. Isolated and unlike anyone/anything else, the creature uses violence to make his voice heard. The creature’s struggle in being different and unable to communicate with others is comparable to DJ Savarese’s poem Alaska.
Alaska by DJ Savarese is a poem that illustrates a struggle with communication through the use of metaphor; like Mary Shelley in Frankenstein. The poem begins with the following quote, “hours of light like heat hibernating, great icebergs hear the cries of the hurt just like they’re trying really, really to be free” (Savarese, 279). The light could metaphorically mean the light that is inside of an individual with autism, being trapped by society. This displays how society dehumanizes people with autism and places them into a box. The iceberg metaphor may symbolize facilitators, in which they are able to hear the desire to be free; free to be whom they are. The facilitators are assistive and are able to sympathize with the individuals for who they really are and what they desire most; which in this poem is freedom. The entirety of the first line may be compared to Frankenstein’s creation and what he endures throughout the novel. The iceberg in Frankenstein could represent the old Mr. De Lacey. There are other lines throughout the poem that are representations of the creature in Frankenstein.
While reading the poem, the line, “they try to yearn from freedom but they fear it” linked back to what the creature struggles with in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, (Savarese, 279). The above quote also explains how others can view individuals with Autism and then not understanding their responses. The word “fear” in the poem means it is the fear of someone not understanding a person with Autism if they are not facilitated in some way. The word “hurt” also appears quite frequently, which could be interpreted as the hurt/frustration that DJ feels when people judge him or are not patient with him simply because he has Autism. The wording and analysis of the poem coincides with that of Frankenstein’s creation. The creature feels akin to DJ because of the way he is treated by Dr. Frankenstein, the De Lacey’s, the townspeople, and many more.
DJ Savarese, an autistic individual, discusses communication in Cultural Commentary: Communicate with Me. He describes the issues he suffers without his facilitator as well as the proper steps in order to de-escalate from certain situations. Savarese describes how the people around him do not understand how to communicate with him. Savarese addresses questions that he is asked frequently such as, “If you don’t know me very well, can you just start talking to me? Yes, but I might act like you’re not there at first. It takes dear, real self-time to tell my breaking-the-barrier heart to quit pounding so loudly, so I can respond” (Savarese 2010). Savarese’s main point in his commentary is that nobody around him understands his plight. The type of communication that is being discussed can also be seen in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Frankenstein’s creation, who can be perceived as an autistic individual, who is initially rational, but when communicating his thoughts, he tends to struggle. The creature feels unhappy and depressed because no one around him understands his wants or needs. Dr. Frankenstein’s first reaction was awful, solely because he did not know how to address the creature, nor how to communicate with him. The narrator confirmed that the facilitator does not do everything for them, but that they play a major role in making sure that he is calm. When he is not calm, the facilitator provides comfort and is able to communicate in ways that do not require speaking, like sign language. In a way, the De Lacey family is the creation’s facilitator.
Even though the family is horrified by the creature’s appearance and the fact that the creature was touching old Mr. De Lacey, Felix brutally attacks the creature, while Agatha screams; neither of which are positive methods of communication. Old Mr. De Lacey is the only character that shows no prejudice due to his blindness, he was not able to see the creature’s appearance. The family poses as the creature’s facilitator even without the awareness of his existence, regardless of the distance, they still helped him in many ways. The main characters, as well as the townspeople, whom he encounters lack communication because they do not understand his needs.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and DJ Savarese’s poem Alaska, communication barriers are evident. Within Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature that is vastly different from the human race and is not what he expected. Its ugly and scary appearance frightens others, leaving the creature feeling angry and isolated. Similar to the creature, DJ Savarese struggles with the ability to communicate in a “normal” manner, due to being autistic. In both texts, individuals are seeking support and to be removed from isolation. Although DJ Savarese has difficulties communicating, he does have support and guidance from facilitators, which is not the case for the creature. The creature, on the other hand, is seen as frightening and is not supported by his creator, which leads to aggressive behaviors towards Victor and his family members. Within both texts, it is evident that communication barriers have an impact on the creature and DJ Savarese, as they seek to find support from others.
Works Cited
Savarese, DJ. “Communicate with Me.” Disability Studies Quarterly, 2010, dsq-sds.org/article/view/1051/1237.
Savarese, Ralph James. “Alaska.” Reasonable People: a Memoir of Autism and Adoption. New York: Other Press, 2007. Pp. 279.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library, web.archive.org/web/20110207085418/etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=SheFran.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=19&division=div1.
Honor Pledge: Taylor Butler and Samantha Rogers
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