Frankenstein is a famous horror story by Mary Shelley about an inventor who accidentally creates life, and is ultimately killed by his creation, along with his friends and family. While there is symbolic meaning to the entire story, there are also many implicit metaphors within the use of nature. In Frankenstein, the element of weather is used in the opening chapters in order to foreshadow the symbolic representation of nature, both assertive and destructive, used in repetition throughout the book.
In the opening of the story, there are pleasurable experiences that weather constantly brings. In the beginning of Robert's journey, Robert writes in his first letter about "a cold northern breeze[which] braces my nerves, and fills me with delight", showing that the wind is quite motivational (1). This gives the idea that the weather is symbolizing hope, which powers the main character, as even Robert calls this breeze a "wind of promise" (1). Another example of weather boosting morale is within Robert's third letter. Robert quickly writes this letter to inform his sister he is safe, also commenting about how "the southern gales.blow us speedily towards those shores.breathe a degree of renovating warmth which I had not expected" (7). In this case, the wind not only gives him unexpected warmth, it also physically thrusts Robert and his crew forward to their destination. The two aforementioned examples display the weather's helpfulness and symbolic representation as comforting elements. These examples appear in the beginning of the book in order to foreshadow the later uses of weather in the book, in which the inventor is always comforted by the sight of beauty.
In contrast to a wind helping the main characters' journeys and adventures, the first few chapters of Frankenstein also show the obstructive behavior of weather that would be used symbolically further in the book.
