Frankenstein’s Monster: A Sensitive Being Misunderstood by Society
The monster, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is the nameless creature whose physical grotesqueness and murderous deeds label him as the embodiment of evil, when in actuality he is a remarkably sensitive and benevolent being. The monster is Victor Frankenstein’s creation, assembled from old body parts and strange chemicals, brought to life by supernatural means. He enters life with the strength of a giant, yet an infant mind. He is abandoned by his own creator and rejected by society. His feelings are the deepest of any characters in this novel, as well as the most conflicted.
He states, "I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other" (Shelley 104) Mary Shelley aims to portray the monster as more of a human with humane characteristics. Unknown to them, the monster collects firewood for the De Laceys and leaves it at their door. He even saves a girl from drowning, but his good deed is rejected and he is beaten for his outward appearance.
The monster is also an extremely intelligent creature. He persuaded Victor to hear his story about how he learned and acquired knowledge through reading and observing the De Laceys. However, his education only made him more aware of his isolation. The monster also desires love and companionship like any human. He ask of Victor, "I am alone and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects.
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This being you must create” (Shelley 146) It is his loneliness and rejection by society that makes him so malicious but he might have been a different creature if only his desire for a female companion was satisfied. Unfortunately the monster’s mere physical ugliness is the reason society does not accept him. After being so cruelly rejected, he is enthralled with a desire for revenge. He murders Victor’s loved ones because he himself is denied closeness with anyone and wants to make Victor suffer like he did. However, even after his creator’s death, the monster is only somewhat relieved.
He had taken full revenge on Victor but had also ruined his only relationship with another person. The monster’s life is intertwined with his creator and he is nothing without Victor. He asserts, “He is dead who called me into being; and when I shall be no more, the very remembrance of us both will speedily vanish. I shall no longer see the sun or stars, or feel the winds play on my cheeks. Light, feeling, and sense will pass away; and in this condition must I find my happiness” (Shelley 224-225) The monster is as much a part of Frankenstein as he is his own being, so after Victor’s death he seeks to find peace in death.
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Frankenstein’s Monster: A Sensitive Being Misunderstood by Society. (2017, Mar 31). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/the-monster/
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