Who Is The Monster In Frankenstein

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

The Monster: The monster is another main character in the novel as he his creator and the society judge him based on his physical appearance. The monster shares similar personality traits that I like and dislike about Victor. I liked that the monster is helpful and friendly to others especially the De Lacy family. He used to steal their food however he realized that the family faces poverty and decides to condense their adversity. He beings the father wood during the night and leave it in front of the door. I also like the fact that he develops his knowledge based on human’s actions and words. For example, he learns the names of each member apart of De Lacy family; Felix and Agatha. He shows interest to improve his intelligence by reading books and through the conversations between the De Lacy family. I like his fortitude to confront his creator about his humanity since his creator ran away from him. Furthermore, I

Anitionaly Victor is not interested in hearing about the life story of the monster, however, after begging Victor for his attention he takes notice. The story

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

In Mary Shelley´s Gothic novel, Frankenstein, the Monster once claimed, “The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” Frankenstein, since the 1910 film adaptation, has known a series of several adaptations that changed drastically, not only the plot but one of the main characters, the Monster, from stealing its creator´s name to being portrayed as a cold villain. Though, in the original storyline, the biggest threat to society is the creator itself, the one pretending to play as God, Victor Frankenstein. This essay will discuss the nature of the main characters of the novel and conclude who is the “real monster” in the end.

The creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, who parallels Milton’s Eve and Satan in many ways, also makes choices based on his envy for human beings and Milton’s Adam. When the creature is hiding out by the De Lacy cottage, he finds books that include Paradise Lost. The creature acknowledges his feelings of envy saying that he feels like Satan because “often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (Shelley 90; vol.2; ch.7). The creature is envious of the DeLacey family because they have what he does not: family and friends. The creature is all alone, so he akins himself to Satan feeling envy for The Son, whereas his envy is rather more like Eve’s because his creator made him unequal to other humans, although not on purpose. The creature also envies Adam, of Paradise Lost because he says that “like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but... He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with, and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature: but I was wretched, helpless and alone” (Shelley 90; vol.2; ch.7). Although the creature was created in similar circumstances to Adam, he struggles because his creator shunned him and left him to be alone and ugly. The creature, so much like Adam, envies how Adam was loved by his creator.

When the monster returns, he learns of the family’s sudden plans to move away. With no other direction, the monster seeks out answers from his creator. He comes across Victor’s papers, which reveal his identity and residence. With his newfound information, the monster decides to find his way to Victor. Throughout his journey his curiosity begins to turn into hatred and rage towards his creator. As he treks across the continent he discloses, “the spirit of revenge is enkindled in my heart” (119). This shows the monster’s capability of harboring dark emotions; it shows his benevolence quickly slipping away.

Who is the real monster?” acts as the dominant question throughout the novel “Frankenstein” written by Mary Shelly as the reader explores the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his nameless creation. As the novel progresses, the reader notices how the relationship between the two characters goes far beyond a neglectful creature and resentful creation, for the two influence the thoughts, actions and emotions of each other. Furthermore, the creature’s physical appearance acts as his purpose throughout the novel as well as a mirror of Victor Frankenstein’s true identity. Additionally, the creature’s lack of identity begins to initiate Frankenstein’s shame towards his own identity, revealing the flawed character of Frankenstein and determining the resolution to the question “Who is the true monster? Who is the true catalyst of destruction?” During the novel, the reader is able to identify the creature as the most effective foil for Victor Frankenstein because the creature causes: Frankenstein to view the action of the creature as his own work, the shift between pride and shame in Frankenstein, and his physical appearance demonstrates his purpose to reveal the true character of Victor Frankenstein.

Victor uses Waldman’s brain and his murderer to create the monster. Victor’s monster then is brought to life. The monster escapes the laboratory and runs away to find a cottage that he begins to live in for months. The monster begins

Compare and contrast the monster and Victor's view on

The lack of an origin causes the monster to exhibit characteristics of Satan. While talking to Victor the Monster states, “Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel”(81). The monster demonstrates feelings of betrayal and abandonment as he is seen by Victor as a lesser being due to his “fallen angel”(81) status. A continuous reference to Adam demonstrates the Monsters desire to be loved by Victor for being a successful creation. However, the Monster faces reality in that he was abandoned, since Victor was “unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] had created”(44). The Monster’s expulsion from Victor’s life fuels his insecurities as he begins to “considered Satan as the fitter emblem of [his] condition”(110). Victor’s abandonment parallels to the story of Satan as he was cast out of heaven by God, similarly to how the Monster was cast out of Victor’s life. Not only, does the Monster take on the name of Satan, but also a few of the

The monster believed that Victor would accept him, but after he realized that not only did Victor not want to assume his position in the monster’s life, but society also rejected him, it became a transitory thought, and instead became replaced with his bloodthirst towards Victor and his loved ones, which he knew would hurt way worse than just killing him; making him lonely like himself. Both Victor and the monster partook in horrid acts, in which held horrendous actions; the main one being Victor creating the monster in the first place which in result caused the both of them heartbreak, loneliness, and pain. If Victor wouldn’t have created the monster, then his life would not be filled with so much grief and emptiness; Victor is the true monster, although they are both the primal protagonists as much as they are the antagonists because of the display of the emotions they both portray as lamenting humans/monsters, and the power they give to nature in order to destroy one another. Victor used nature to his advantage, although it was wrong; Victor used nature to create and destroy the monster; he used the

Victor’s creation was another character in this story that experienced alienation and isolation. The monster was subjected to alienation his entire life. Unlike his creator, the monster did not choose this life of segregation, he was born into it. It seemed as if from the very first moment that Victor had laid eyes upon his creation he was viewed as being an abomination, and condemned to a life of rejection. The first experience that the monster had in life was upon opening his eyes and seeing the look of terror in his creator’s eyes. After Victor had abandoned his creation the creature is left with only questions and no one to answer them.

That is when they made an agreement, the monster will stay far way from Victor and his family as long as possible, but he has to make another creature as the monster’s wife. Victor, who at first agreed with the deal, later realizes that it could be dangerous if there is more than one monster in this world. He broke his promise which makes the monster angry. It promised to come on his wedding night. After that, the monster killed Henry Clarvel, Victor’s best friend. Victor was not only sad mentally, but he also sick physically because of his sadness. When he started to recover, he marries Elizabeth, but then again, the monster killed Elizabeth in her wedding night. Victor’s father who cannot stand the sadness anymore passed away. These people’s deaths have cause a lot of changes in Victor’s feeling. Victor, who at first afraid of the monster, become more brave to kill the monster by his own hand. That is why he decided to go and find the monster. The story ended with Victor’s death because of his age and tiredness after chasing the monster anywhere. The monster who actually doesn’t have any purpose anymore since Victor passed away, decided to commit suicide by burning itself in the Arctic. So, this story is dominated by the Life-Death events which remark every important and major steps of the story. Victor’s obsession of making living thing, his mixed feelings, his chase-the-monster journey, and the tragedy in his love life, it all starts because of his family member’s

This rejection by society and the creatures response to it forms him into a monster. This is apparent when he tries to communicate with a family of cottagers. He is attacked by one of the cottagers, who acts out of the fear that the creature’s wretched appearance inspires. This invokes wrath in the creature, and he swears revenge against humanity, particularly his creator. He does this because he is lonely, and no one will accept him as a result of his appearance. This leads the creature to murder just about all of Victor’s family, his closest friend, and eventually drives Victor to his death. This merciless onslaught forms the creature into a monster, acting solely out of unrestrained anger, and his desire for revenge. This is particularly monstrous because all of the violence he causes can be traced back to his appearance, something that he could have dealt with in a more reasonable manner. One might argue he was ignorant of his appearance, but this is not the case. The creature himself recognized his fear inspiring image, proclaiming “I had sagacity enough to discover that the unnatural hideousness of my person was the chief object of horror with those who had formerly beheld me.”(121) The creature’s recognition of this fact along with his intelligence would have allowed it to find a reasonable approach, such as a disguise. This truly shows that the creature chose the monstrous path in dealing with its predicament.