Innocence to experience

At some point of a persons life, there comes a time when the veil of innocence is lifted
and the responsibility of experience is given. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the
short story The Bicycle by Jillian Horton and the novel Forbidden City by William Bell the
transition from innocence to experience happens because of forsakenness, overpressure, and
from unexpectedly terrifying circumstances that main characters faced. First, in the novel
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the main character, an utterly innocent creature, is facing all
hardships of real life by himself, because he is abandoned by the one who should have taken care
of him. In the second place, in the short story The Bicycle by Jillian Horton, Hannah, the main
character, deals with a crucial struggle because of an over pressured situation she is being put in.
And finally, in the novel Forbidden City by William Bell, Shan Da, or Alex, lives through
terrifying moments in the middle of civil war, and because of those days he completely changes
his ideology and gets an experience of real life.
To begin with, The Monsters innocence can be perfectly seen by analyzing his reactions
to his surrounding world. The creature has a very little wisdom. He does not know how to
speak, see and hear, he does not understand that he needs food and air to survive. Throughout
his conversation with Frankenstein he claims, At first my eyes and ears did not work very
well...Soon I felt hungry and thirsty- (Shelley, 21). This quote shows how little life
experience he has as he is being left alone without any support that he supposed to receive from
Frankenstein. The Monster feels lost in this big world. He is confused because he feels hunger
and thirst but doesnt know how to deal with those feelings. Moreover the world by itself is too
complicated for him to understand in a short period of time. The Monster seems surprised as he
tells Frankenstein about his adventures, I had never walked in snow before, and I found that it
made my feet very cold.-(Shelley,21-22). The reader can understand that the Creature is very
pure since even walking in snow amazed him. Similarly, the monster doesnt know how to
behave around others. When he gets to the nearest village the reaction he receives from villagers
is shocking for him as he points out, Some of the people ran away when they saw me, but the
others shouted and threw stones at me. They wanted to kill me- (Shelley, 22). This quote
illustrates how civilians are quick on judge. Their actions are simply based on creatures looks
but the truth is that the appearance can be deceiving. The creature means no harm to them, he
just wants to be near the fire, but he gets hurt and even more confused. Even with such a little
wisdom, the Monster starts to to think and hesitate about his further actions. He is not sure
about what he should do when he faces a similar situation.
In a like manner, Hannah faces crucial struggle because of the bicycle-her forbidden but
at the same time most desired item. Living under her aunts rules and attentive watch, Hannah
starts to think about how she used to live before she chose the piano to become her life partner.
The old memories start to come back. She sits in front of piano but the strange feeling never
leaves her, as she thinks, Yet in my mind there was always the memory of how it felt to ride a
bicycle-(Horton, 35). Hannah admits the fact that she misses the feeling of riding a bicycle.
But these are just thoughts and she continues to work hard to achieve her dream. However over
the time the thought to ride a bicycle becomes an urgent need as Hannah points out, It was
such a strange thing to want to do, and yet, more than anything I wanted to do it-(Horton,
36). Hannah understands the fact that she is not allowed to ride a bicycle but she just cant get
over that idea. This process goes on because of her aunts strict rules. Taunt Rose wants

Hannahs entire dedication to the piano. Yet she doesnt understand that by wanting so much
from a young girl, she pressures her over her limits. Consequently, when Hannah finally does
what she was dreaming of for a long time, she thinks, I...wondered if I should feel guilt for what
I had done. I did not.-(Horton, 37). Hannah accepts the fact that she broke her aunts
rules, but she doesnt regret doing that. She felt over pressured and cut off from the world even
though she was just a young girl. After getting what she truly wanted Hannah starts to look at
the world differently.
Similarly, as a consequence of living the terrifying moments in the middle of the civil
war, Alex changes his ideology and gets an experience of real life. When the PLA starts to use
force against Chinese students, Alex feels scared and astonished. During his whole life he has
never seen people being shot and killed in front of him. His whole idea of being able to control
war is shattered into the little pieces. While staying at Nai-Nais house he thinks by himself, I
knew, I just somehow knew that from now on there would be some kind of gap between me and
the other kids.-Alex (Bell, 231). Because of the days he spent Forbidden City and what kind
of situations he faced, Alex understands that he wont be like other kids. Now he is more mature
he knows the price of the life. Then he starts to think about others-people who actually helped
him and saved his life. He thinks about Xin Hua and Xiao Nie (Hong). Both of them could just
leave him and try to save their own lives but the did not. Moreover, Xin Hua decided to help
Alex to get to the embassy. On his way Alex points out, Now I felt responsible for her-(Bell,
248). With her decision, Xin Hua made Alex feel responsible for her too. That simple feeling
makes him look more mature. He understands how big the risk is. In fact when he comes back to
Canada, he is a different person. He thinks about what had happened in China, how Lao Xu and
Xin Hua sacrificed their lives to help him and finally he comes to a realisation of a real life.
While talking with his Dad, he agrees, I guess it was all a game to me too, Dad. It isnt
anymore.-(Bell, 274). Alex reaches the point when the life doesnt seem to be a game for him.
He understands that it cant be controlled and replayed again. The one can say that Alex was in
the wrong place at the wrong time, but the truth is that because of being there he got an
experience of real life.
As a result of difficulties such as being abandoned, pressured over limits, and being in
the middle of catastrophe, the main characters of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the
short story The Bicycle by Jillian Horton and the novel Forbidden City by William Bell, faced,
leaded them from being innocent to experienced/through stages of innocence to experience. In
the first place, the Monster, the main character of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley,
which is utterly innocent, faces all difficulties of rough reality by himself because he is being left
alone by Frankenstein. Secondly, Hannah, the main character of the short story The Bicycle by
Jillian Horton, goes through a difficult stage of crucial struggle which makes her to understand
the importance of free will and personal decision. And last but not least, Alex, the main
character of the novel Forbidden City by William Bell, gets his experience through living several
days in the middle of the civil war. In these three different pieces of literature the reader can see
how the veil of innocence is lifted and the responsibility of experience is given.