Who was the real monster? Frankenstein

   Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, sheds light on the importance of appearance through the tale of an unwanted creation that is never given a chance by society. Ironically, the supposed beast was initially much more compassionate and thoughtful than his creator, until his romantic and innocent view of the human race was diminished by the cruelty and injustice he unduly bore. Not only does the creature suffer the prejudice of an appearance-based society, but other situations and characters in the novel force the reader to reflect their own hasty judgment. The semi- gothic novel includes several instances of societal prejudice that include the isolation and outcast of Frankenstein's creation,

Prejudice is explained and illustrated with examples deriving from culture and treatment of African Americans and how society perceives them to be. The definition of Prejudice is, “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason”(Dictionary.com) The majority of humans tend to judge individuals by appearance rather than personality. Prejudice and appearance are prevalent in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein as well as today’s culture which has consequences regarding race, age, religion, etc.

The monster is forced to develop a neolithic mindset as opposed to modern day ideals after its maturation occurs in the wilderness. His savagery can be seen when he “silenced” Frankenstein’s son after realizing he “[belonged] to the enemy” (102). The daemon also “discovers” a fire for the first time, drawing a parallel to cavemen (72). Unfortunately, due to the lack of contact with the outside human world, the monster is unable to

While Victor is looked upon to be a normal man while the creature is seen as a monster specifically because of his physical appearance. At eight feet, with a gigantic body and a disfigured face, society only looks upon the creature with fear and disgust. However, I wonder, couldn’t Victor be a monster as well? He abandoned the creature in the horror of the moment and even attempts to take the creature’s life at one point. To me, the creature’s feelings of rage, revenge, and hurt are what any “normal” human would have felt if left to fend for themselves on their own, with no experience of love or kindness from anyone.

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.

Prejudice is an opinion in which is not based on any reasoning, and may cause harm. Prejudice can be seen just about anywhere, and it affects our daily lives. There are many different ways a person can show prejudice beliefs, but why do they believe things they have never experience? Some may say it’s something personal with one’s self that causes prejudice thoughts, or some may think it their surroundings contribute as a motive.

Prejudice is “an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge” (Merriam); according to Lystra Moore Richardson of Yale University: “prejudice… was part of the very fiber of Southern life [during the Great Depression].” With these two pieces of information, it is derived that people formed judgments and opinions of a person without just

In this essay I will examine how the monster’s looks and actions reflect the predominant cultural feelings that those who look different are bad, evil or incapable of normal feelings. That somehow because one may look different from the rest of us there must be something emotionally as well as physically wrong with them.

Discrimination is treating someone differently, often unfairly, because he/she is a part of a specific group, class or category of people. For instance, a girl named Wu Qing in China was discriminated against and could not find a job because how her body was a bit chubby and the scars in her face from an accident in her early childhood. Even though she was kind and used to be straight-A student, she had no friends. Now, she is looking for selling her kidney in order to pay the plastic surgery fee. Discrimination can change a person from innocent to evil is an important theme in the novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley. Even though

Prejudice is defined differently by different people but it is usually characterized as the preconceived notions people have that are not based on actual experiences. “Prejudice involves a negative attitude toward individuals based on their membership in a particular group” (Feenstra, 2014, pg. 92). Racial prejudice, for example, involves a set of feelings members of one racial group have for members of another racial group. One demonstrates prejudicial behavior by prejudging a person without basis, discarding reason and basic respect. Opinions can be formed about anything from race, class, and gender to disabilities and age. Prejudice is demonstrated via emotions like antipathy, hatred, intolerance, and aggressiveness. John Locke argues that

Today you learned about a few of this world’s “Monsters” and what the statistics show on how many a victim of these monsters. You now know that this world’s monsters aren’t the same as the old world monsters. These are human monsters who talk and act like everyone else. They can blend in. It’s hard to tell they are any different than anyone else and unless you know what you are looking

Some say prejudice is a component of human nature. Others believe we pick it up from our elders. Either proposal could be true, as there are various controversial beliefs about the nature of prejudice. One interesting theory is that prejudice is an emotional reaction, activated whenever we encounter unknown people, who possess unusual physical characteristics, uncommon personalities, and unfamiliar beliefs. In fact, these people frighten us, and we treat them differently to reassure ourselves that they cannot possibly matter to us. To better

This section of the course gave me a more in depth understanding of how many different forms prejudice can take place. Prior to the material in this section, I defined being prejudiced in terms of old-fashioned prejudice, explicit attitudes towards another individual. These attitudes would be restricted to being negative, especially towards minority groups. Now I see that this interpretation is not always the case, as prejudice is actually more complex. I have learned that prejudice can be rather implicit for the most part and project itself in ways that one is not usually aware. Modern symbolic, aversive, and ambivalent prejudice all have an implicit component of prejudice and can result in discrimination.

Prejudice has become a regular feature of most people’s live. Prejudice is born only as a "previous judgment". It comes in more recent times to be extended and to be used mostly in the negative, indicating an earlier judgment, an opinion unmotivated, favorable or unfavorable character. The prejudice, in