Frankenstein Analytical Essay: Blurring the Lines Between Human and Monster

What is a monster, really? Is it really a Creature that has three eyes instead of two, with pus seeping out of every crevice in his face and an abnormally large form? Or is it someone with a mind so corrupt it rivals that of Satan? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a story within a story that centers on the tale of a man with an immense thirst of knowledge and a fetish to imitate the Creator. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a lot like the Greek mythological tale of the Greek God, Prometheus, and his brother, Epimetheus, who were assigned the task of creating man. The story captivates the theme of monstrosity. Mary Shelley wrote the novel in a form so the reader’s opinions never stray far from sympathy for the monster and apathy for Victor

    Sometimes, in novels like Frankenstein, the motives of the author are unclear.  It is clear however, that one of the many themes Mary Shelley presents is the humanity of Victor Frankenstein's creation.  Although she presents evidence in both support and opposition to the creation's humanity, it is apparent that this being is indeed human.  His humanity is not only witnessed in his physical being, but in his intellectual and emotional thoughts as well.  His humanity is argued by the fact that being human does not mean coming from a specific genetic chain and having family to relate to, but to embrace many of the distinct traits that set humans apart from other animals in this

In this essay I will be discussing who really is portrayed as the monster in her gothic horror novel, Frankenstein or “The Modern Prometheus”. Frankenstein was written in 1816, (thought by many to be the first real science fiction novel) during the age of Romanticism and it tells the story of a selfish man, Victor Frankenstein, whose ambition conducts him to seek for supernatural powers and leads him to death. He is a young scientist, eager to discover something new, the key to life, help to make scientific advances and let other scientists get a better idea of how the body works and who after studying chemical processes and the decay of living beings, gains an insight into the creation of like, leading him to create a monster that becomes

Frankenstein was a scientist who thought that the world was a secret, which he desired to discover in the scientific field. He worked to find out the relationship between humans and animals. He was attracted by the structure of the human body, any animal related with life, and the cause of life. One day, Victor Frankenstein made an experiment where he included many different human parts from different dead people. This resulted in a human being and a strange creature never seen before in life, which made Frankenstein very scared. This creature or monster was tall enough to scare people by his height and with muscles that were well proportioned.

Society is inevitable. It will always be there as a pleasure and a burden. Society puts labels on everything such as good or bad, rich or poor, normal or aberrant. Although some of these stamps are accurate, most are misconceptions. In Mary Shelley's, Frankenstein, this act of erring by society is extremely evident. Two of the most inaccurate assumptions of society revolve around the central characters, Dr. Frankenstein and the monster. Society's labels for these two extremely different characters are on the exact opposite side of the scale of what they truly are. Dr. Frankenstein is more of a monster while the monster is more humane.

Victor Frankenstein created life, a monster that was born into this world with no purpose, and no one to love. He did not even have a name, he was called a monster from the start. Just like a normal human baby, he came to life not knowing anything, and had to learn from his surroundings. Just like a person, he watched and learned from others, and tried to understand the world and the people in it. From that, the monster understood that he just wants to find a life for himself, and not be viewed as an evil monster, but there are many things that are preventing that. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the author portrays Frankenstein’s monster as a friend through details in his character and his outlook on life.

Mary Shelley’s view of human connections is portrayed through the monster’s actions. The monster is abandoned by his creator and isolated from the rest of society due to his appearance. The

Friends will determine the direction and quality of your life. Loneliness is a battle that all people will once face at a certain point in their life; it is how they handle it that determines the outcome of that battle. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein loneliness is the most significant and prevailing theme throughout the entire novel. Shelley takes her readers on a wild journey that shows how loneliness can end in tragedy.

When one looks in the mirror, they see many things about themselves; the color of their eyes, the way their pupils dilate when exposed to varying intensities of light, the curve of their mouth contrasting against the flatness of the surrounding walls. They look into the mirror and form a judgement about themselves, their appearance, their behaviors, who they are and what they are to become. But the question no one seems to ask themselves when they look in the mirror is what exactly makes that person they see human? And while this may not be a question that most people ask about themselves on a personal level, it is a topic that is widely discussed alongside Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. Many debates have surfaced discussing if

In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster is portrayed as a grotesque abomination. However, as Hopkins states in Contending Forces, the cultural and geographical situations, or lack thereof, in which one matures in play a crucial role in the proper development of one’s mind and brain. The monster is simply a product of circumstance. The lack of social interactions alongside geographical isolation propelled the daemon to be alienated from society, ultimately resulting in a lack of morals and an underdeveloped psyche. By being a culmination of his surroundings and experiences it is revealed that the true monstrous entities are the factors that leave the daemon predisposed to fail in a modern society. Arguably, Victor created a being, while the circumstances that said being was placed in “created” a monster. Shelley purposefully terrorizes the monster with such intensity to provoke and justify the overarching theme in this novel which states that people should not be judged on their physical appearance.

Frankenstein is a classic horror novel, but with a twist of many other genres. Written by Mary Shelley, it was a novel which mixed many exciting elements, such as horror, drama and romance. The story follows a young doctor named Victor Frankenstein, who has an obsession to reincarnate the dead, but his attempts at this fail horribly, and Victor finds himself in deep peril, as the monster stalks him throughout the world. I aim to investigate the issue, however, of who is the true monster in Frankenstein. The monster or Frankenstein himself?

The first manifestations of his erratic truths are seen when he proclaims to Frankenstein “For the first time the feelings of revenge and hatred filled my bosom, and I did not strive to control them, but allowing myself to be borne away by the stream, I bent my mind towards injury and death.” (118) and sets the cottage of his former “friends” on fire. The monster did not have much contact with humans, and therefore, had very little experience with the emotions he felt for the De Laceys. Their refusal hurt him, so he cultivated a loathing for the family and acted maliciously. This can also be seen as the beginning of the monster’s transformation - as his experiences make him more resentful, his ideals, goals and actions become more monstrous. The conflagration is what frees the monster from the vice of his first wish for emotional fulfillment. His inability to satisfy his needs combined with the satisfaction he gains from cruel behaviour causes the monster to believe that he is a wretched beast. The truth he saw in his own nature - the kind, innocent being - is blended together with the hideous and terrifying fiend others see him as, so a new sort of fabrication is created. By using this element, Shelley depicts how an individual is forced to alter the truth that they associated with their own life when they realize the imperfect nature of their ideals. This may cause an individual to indulge in unkind behavior in an attempt to reconcile the relation between their ideals and worldview. Without the family’s denial, the monster’s idea of perfection would have remained stagnant. After that experience, he starts to believe that the prejudiced view of the humans who fear him and the abandonment he faced is enough reason to retaliate against mankind. This

Like most horror stories, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has a wretched monster who terrorizes and kills his victims with ease. However, the story is not as simple as it seems. One increasingly popular view of the true nature of the creature is one of understanding. This sympathetic view is often strengthened by looking at the upbringing of the creature in the harsh world in which he matures much as a child would. With no friends or even a true father, the creature can be said to be a product of society and its negative views and constant rejections of him. Although this popular view serves to lessen the severity of his crimes in most people’s eyes, the fact remains that the creature is in fact a cold-hearted wretch whose vindictive nature

Fictionally, the greatest-written villains in history possess attributes that give them cause for their behavior, with the most universal and essential of these core traits being a deep, personal backstory behind their acts. For instance, in classic stories like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Monster presents thorough reason to its Creator in terms of why it has turned to wickedness. The Monster does not kill purely for the sake of being evil, its actions are resulted from its desire to be loved by man, yet failing at every attempt to achieve it. Motivation behind monstrous acts is necessary in works of fiction because non-fictionally, people labeled as monsters by society possesses motivation behind their actions as well, whether it be

In short, large ideas with much discussion at the occasional hindrance of the plot. In long my opinion is this, I liked the ideas and their discussion throughout the book, and it’s probably these and the innovative use of science fiction and horror for the time is likely what contributed to it being considered a classic. However, the book is not flawless. There were long segments of the book I found to be unengaging. I feel as though the protagonist is not interesting enough to hold sections of the book on his own, and as above, the ideas of the book do not meld seamlessly with the plot and are at points quite jarring.