Sympathy For The Monster In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

to make the elixir of life in order to create life. He tries to play

I feel sympathetic for the creature on many occasions in the fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Frankenstein has brought something to life that he cannot even look at without being horrified. I believe it was wrong that Frankenstein played God and created something he didn’t understand. Once you are finished with this essay I believe you will agree with me.

His fear inducing appearance adds to his state of isolation, so much so that even his own creator “found himself filled with horror and fear at the hideous thing he created.”(Nardo 51). His abruptly ended friendship with the blind man only worsens his painful desolation since he now understands what a true friendship is like. The monster longs for a companion and begs to Victor “You must create a female for me with whom I can live” (Shelley 144) and pleads with him for a mate of the opposite sex. When this demand is not met, the monster fills with rage toward Victor, and he vows revenge upon

After seeing the kindness shown by the family, the monster starts to show signs of kindness himself. He previously would steal part of their food storage to eat at night, but upon realizing that it was hurting the family, he stopped. Also, when he learned that gathering wood took up a large portion of their days, he would take their tools and bring back enough wood in one night to last them for a few days. From then on, the monster sought love. When he approaches Frankenstein he does not punish him for abandoning him, but instead implores him to make him a mate so that he can live in happiness. Though Frankenstein is unsympathetic and unloving toward his creation, we can still see he seeks love in the fact that he created the monster at all. He confesses his

The monster tried to make friends and meet people but as soon as he would try and talk to someone they would run away and be scared of him. One of the main reasons that the monster caused terror is that he was misunderstood by people. He was actually a kind monster but nobody would get past his looks (He actually conducted himself nicely). They decided based on his appearance that he was murderous and intimidating. For example, in the novel, the monster was talking to the blind man then, “ The cottage door was opened, and Felix, Safie, and Agatha entered. Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me? Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung, in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick” (Shelley 161). The blind old man could not tell that the monster was ugly and intimidating so he had no problem with him, the other cottagers saw him and they immediately got scared of him and beat him with a stick. He spent his life alone, with nobody to talk to and he became envious of other people. That is why he killed people, not because he is mean, but because he had no way to control his anger

Victor thought “for this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”(page). This quote demonstrates that once Victor had concluded his work of creating the monster, he realized that it may have been a huge mistake. He was not satisfied with his creation instead he was filled with terror. In result of his realization, he left the monster to fend for himself and suffer. Victor shows an evil side of himself by abandoning the monster and leaving him to be universally shunned by society. By Victor doing this one evil act, it causes the monster himself to go off and initiate evil acts of his own.

The monster notices that humans are afraid of him because of his appearance, he feels embarrassed of himself, as humans do when they don’t seem to be accepted. He admires the De Lacey Family that lives in the cottage, he also learns from them, and hopes to have companion as they do. The monster is like humans, as mentioned, in the way that he wants someone to listen and care about him. He is discovering the world and his capacities, he seeks knowledge and understand plenty aspects of life by learning how to speak and read. “The gentle manners and beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to me; when they were unhappy, I felt depressed; when they rejoiced, I sympathized in their joys” (Shelley 47). The monster developed feelings and emotions as humans. The creature is different from humans also, since he never got to grow up as a normal human, and

Sympathy, another theme in this book, can have the same amount of impact on an individual.  Instead of it having a negative reaction to the reader it has a superior reaction to the reader.  ?Lee Chong? knew he could not have helped it, but he wished he might have known and perhaps tried to help.  It was deeply a part of Lee?s kindness and understanding that man?s right to kill himself is inviolable, but sometimes a friend can make it unnecessary?(Page 2).  Lee was having compassionate sentiments for the man who committed suicide.  He had a deep feeling that he could of helped in someway to convince the man that his life was worth living.  A side story that was important to the theme of Sympathy was a story about Mrs. Kitty Casini a mouse and Mary Talbot ?Kitty Casini had a mouse?Daintily she stabbed the mouse through the back and drew it wriggling to her and her tail flicked with tense delight? ?I can?t blame Kitty Casini? said Mary. ?I?m just not going to like her no matter how much I want to??(Pages 155-156).  Mary had intense sympathy for that mouse that with no doubt died a tragic death.  She went to the extreme of disliking on of her favorite cat.  Sympathy can bring about the good in people.  Sympathy for loved ones or strangers can surprise one for their intense emotions.

As the creator and father of the monster, it was Frankenstein's duty to teach it right from wrong, to care and nurture it like you would a child, because that is what the monster was inside- an unknowing child. As soon as he was created, the monster had a need for love; it reaches an outstretched hand towards Frankenstein showing a want for recognition and love. ' A grin wrinkled his cheeks' The monster even tries to communicate but it can only utter 'inarticulate sounds' as it was yet to be taught how to speak, which should have been the task of Frankenstein.

The monster is in need of help from his creator, for he is new to the world and does not know anything about living yet, but instead, he has nobody and is forced to figure life out by himself. Readers understand the monster’s emotion because he says “I sat down and wept”. By understanding his emotion, it will cause readers to feel sympathy for him. This also proves one of the larger themes of the novel, that people should treat others with empathy, because as his creator, Frankenstein should have been able to understand and share his feelings, for he was often alone and left to teach and fend for himself during his studies. Frankenstein’s reject to his creation is what caused the monster to feel so alone, and ultimately, what led to both of their destructions.

Victor, after being convinced to create a female companion for the monster, realizes that this will only create double the amount of destruction, he then makes the choice to discontinue his project to prevent more devastation. Instead of less damage resulting from this choice it only brings more harm to his life and everyone around him. First, his good friend Henry Clerval is murdered by the beast and Victor is accused of this murder, “The human frame could no longer support the agonies that I endured, and I was carried out of the room in strong convulsions.” (Shelley 129). This was Victor’s reaction upon seeing Henry’s corpse and demonstrates how deeply his pursuit for knowledge affects him. Even though he is later released on circumstantial evidence, he will be scarred for life knowing that he responsible for yet another death. Given that Victor destroyed the monster’s only hope of having someone else like him in the world; the monster swears revenge and that he will return on Victor’s wedding night. Victor misinterpreted this warning and instead of the monster attacking Victor, his creation attacked and

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has many main ideas, whether it's about injustice, feminism, parental responsibility, the danger of too much knowledge, the cost of revenge, the relationship between man and God, etc., they all serve a certain purpose. Out of all of those main ideas, the one that sticks out the most is injustice. Injustice comes from the Latin phrase that represents “not right”, and it is the practice of being unjust or unfair (Injustice - Dictionary Definition). Throughout the book, Mary Shelley wanted to show that injustice is caused due to the fear of what is different (“Shelley, Mary - Justice and Injustice”). Many characters in this story all have different characteristics, whether it is due to their look, personality, childhood, current situations, and more. A lot of the characteristics that differ from each other have led to many injustice situations. Even though injustice might not always be bad, many examples of unnecessary injustice are shown throughout “Frankenstein” due to undeserving punishment, violating the rights of others, and unfair treatment.

To be sympathetic is to feel pity for someone else’s misfortune. In the short story, “The Lamb to the Slaughter,” by Roald Dahl, Mary was not a sympathetic character because she was selfish, two-faced, and evil-minded. Patrick Maloney wanted a divorce, but she did not hesitate to think about what he said. She only thought of herself and how she did not want to be alone. The husband even offered to “give [her] money and see [that she is] looked after,” but she ended up killing him, leaving her baby fatherless and without money. Mary was also a fake who could not be trusted. She seemed foolish and innocent on the outside, but she was capable of the unthinkable. Mary tried to “do everything right and natural” in front of the grocer and

In Frankenstein, the monster undergoes a wide variety of emotional experiences and insightful thoughts from reading Paradise Lost, Plutarch’s Lives, and Sorrows of Werter while temporarily residing at the De Laceys’ cottage. These thoughts and emotions had carried on to the monster himself, influencing his perspectives on both human nature and his own identity, and eventually leading to his evil actions and downfall. Had the monster read other works, his actions and intellectual experiences would have been shaped accordingly, in turn benefiting his courses of action and his general disposition towards himself and towards humanity. Namely, Crime and Punishment, 1984, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin would all serve as catalysts for change in the monster’s

The Monster understands empathy and humanity. He is sympathetic for the DeLacey family, especially when he recognizes that they are poor. He sees the kids giving the old blind man good several times from their plate to his, when it is already so scarce. He states,