a letter from elizabeth

arthur’s dog (tiger)

francis and james

curly's leg

To V. FRANKENSTEINMY DEAR COUSIN,I am greatly afflicted by what I have heard regarding your creature, the one which took my life. I feel no hate in my heart for him, for you have clearly neglected him and he was acting due to your neglect. Is he not your child, as you are his maker? He needed your care, and now, because of your inability to take responsibility for his care, you are both alone. And I am here, far from you.I yearn for a world where you had shown him the same care you would have shown our future children, a world where we might still be together. With a bit more patience and communication, perhaps we could have even cared for him together, as ours.I’ll try not to harp on this issue further, but my dear Victor, understand you have now altered our family and its structure forever—I advise you be careful from now on; I’ll see you soon, my dearest cousin. Adieu, Victor.ELIZABETH LAVENZA

the hand that takes, a letter

In this short letter, I wanted to criticize Victor Frankenstein—but from his forever fiancée, Elizabeth. What would she have thought if she did know how horribly Victor treated his creature? Because the reality is that the creature is, in fact, his. And he did not take responsibility for him at all. The way Victor treated his creature heavily influenced my ideas of him being a prospective father to children with his almost-wife, if they did get the chance to marry. What kind of husband would he have been, too? Probably not a good one—and I wanted to point that out and sort of emphasize that everything that happened to Victor is his own fault, because of his inability to take responsibility. Just like Jimmy from Mouthwashing! (Crazy how that works.)The title is meant to be a reference to the fact that both Victor and the creature are a sort of hand-that-takes, because of all the lives (among other things!) lost in the novel.

are we brothers?

This piece features James Fitzjames and Francis Crozier from The Terror—the two captains of Terror and Erebus by the time the scene that is drawn is featured in the show. James is tearing up, asking Francis if they’re brothers. He knows he’s dying, but Francis smiles at him—of course. I wanted to highlight Francis Crozier as a captain in The Terror. As James puts it, he loves his men more than God does. He is the best example of consistently taking responsibility, carrying the burden of commanding the expedition. While no men survive just as the same in Mouthwashing, his attempts had very different, better intentions than in Mouthwashing with Jimmy.Additionally, Francis takes the great burden of helping euthanize James while he is ill, taking responsibility for James (and his death). The interaction portrayed here leads up to this integral part of the show and their relationship as the two captains (and with James being Francis’ second, his responsibility). Francis is comforting James; that’s his responsibility. As a captain, but also as a friend.

man’s best…?

This cute little doodle is much less cute when you read about who its’ subject is: Tiger, the dog of Arthur Gordon Pym. Halfway through the novel, Tiger disappears. He’s left behind, as if he wasn’t an integral part of the first half—he kept Pym alive, even helped in the second mutiny. And, when Tiger was in trouble, Pym hauled him up to the deck—which is a lot of effort as Newfoundland dogs are categorized in the Giant category. But then, halfway through, he’s just… gone? Nobody takes responsibility for Tiger, in the end. He’s left behind, in the ice, forever.

someday, you’ll thank me.

This digital collage is about Hickey and Curly, the two cannibalism boys. The quote “Someday, you’ll thank me” comes from Mouthwashing when you feed Curly his own leg. If you look at your inventory, the description for his leg is “Someday, he’ll thank me.” This is meant to be Jimmy’s thoughts. I used that quote for inspiration, because it also seemed like a quote that could come from Mr. Hickey, not just Jimmy. They both believe that they’re taking responsibility; they are not. Both men have a horribly skewed sense of “taking responsibility,” putting them in the horrid situation of resorting to cannibalism for survival.Not only that, but their cannibalism metaphors are also notable. With Mr. Hickey’s cannibalism being that more of endearment and love—as he eats his boyfriend(?)—but Jimmy’s cannibalism is that of abuse, as he is force feeding Curly and continuing his abuse on his entire crew.