Frankenstein and True Monster Essay

Submitted By kclay96
Words: 1100
Pages: 5
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Not judging a book by its cover in a sense applies to the monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Doctor Victor Frankenstein lack of heart in leaving his creation gives the monster a bad wrap. The reader see's him as a hideous beast that has no morals, but in reality his creator is the "monster" for his neglect and carelessness towards the creature that he cared so much about until he saw that his making wasn't perfect. The structuring of the novel makes the reader believe that the monster is abominable and terrorizing because of his mayhem and chaos he caused, but after it is revealed that Victor Frankenstein, the monster's maker , neglected and treated his creation so poorly, the creature is sympathized for and it seems that the creature is more humane than his creator ; making Frankenstein the true monster. Victor Frankenstein, a mad scientist, puts his whole life into the dreams of giving life to a masterpiece, but fails and leaves the disaster from the moment he sees the horrific monster he has made, showing how heartless and carless he is to an innocent creature. The monster is confronting Frankenstein about his neglect when he describes the moment of his bearing as a, "Hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in agony. 'Cursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God in pity made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid from its very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and detested'"(105). The monster is explaining how ones creation is a representation of it's creator. He relates the idea of God and his creation of man being similar to Frankenstein's trials. God was a perfect and his creation were beautiful, but Frankenstein was evil and that's why the creature is hideous. The reader feels sympathetic towards the creature because of how innocent he seems at this point. Critics agree by saying, "Victor Frankenstein, though he possesses generous impulses, is nothing less than a moral idiot in regard to the "monster" he has created"(Bloom). The creature is not so much the monster anymore. Frankenstein is in the wrong. Victor Frankenstein illustrates his feeling when he gave life to his creation, "the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep"(39). This is meant for the reader to feel sorry for Frankenstein showing that he is disappointed, but only dehumanizes him more. Leaving his own creation because of its appalling appearance doesn't seem ethical after hearing the monsters struggles after being abandoned. Frankenstein's cruel way of handling his failure shows us the true "monster". Frankenstein's poor treatment towards the creature puts his creation in a situation where he has no leadership and resolves to the little he knows to try and become educated, thus depicting himself as the monster he is made out to be because of the turmoil caused during this process. The monster is looking for someone to reach out to when he, "Suddenly, as I gazed on him, an idea seized me, that this little creature was unprejudiced, and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity. If, therefore, I could seize him, and educate him as my companion and friend, I should not be so desolate in this people earth"(117). At this point in the novel this scene has already been explained in a way that gives the creature his title as the monster. The creature explains his motives in doing this and we sympathize and the weight of the havoc this caused is lifted because we see that he doesn't know better and that he is only curious and deprived of communication. When the monster tells his story the reader sees that he meant no harm in his doings
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