Title: Frankenstein Triptych

Author: Edward R. Morris

Date of First Publication: 2016

Place of Publication: Eternal Frankenstein

Type: Short Story

Characters: No Character

Themes: ANDROID; BYRONIC HERO; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER

Critical Summary: A small collection of three short stories. The first, “DOLLY”, is bout an android named Dolly who follows the directions of her administrator—known as Mother—and sings songs for Mother’s twin children. She wakes up in a basement after a birthday celebration, though she learns that she was meant to stay switched off; she then hears two workmen come in and find her awake. The second story, “GRUNT”, is about a machine designed for battle. GRUNT follows the orders of MEDIC until The Thing happened. After which GRUNT continued to walk, remembering The Thing that happened and how many were killed on all the missions it had been on. GRUNT then found a ship, which it associated with recharging and debriefing. It then felt the sensation of flying before GRUNT turned its engines off. The third, “Wir Atomkinder”, takes place in World War II and follows a narrator who believes he had made great contributions to science after allowing himself to be caught and sent off to a planet to conduct experiments on prisoners. He makes his distaste for Americans well known, having only interest in his experiments. He knows his days are numbered, and quietly sips at a glass of wine as soldiers attempt to break down the door to his laboratory.

Android is a theme because the first two short stories are seen through the point-of-view of androids. Also, the theme of Byronic Hero because willful, superior, misanthropic, aristocratic antihero all fit the nameless narrator perfectly. Lastly, the theme of Sympathetic Monster because the first two stories almost make you feel bad for Dolly and GRUNT.

Administrative Notes: Isabella Tran, CSUF; Andrew Ruvalcaba (editing)