“These luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast…watery eyes, that seemed almost the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set…shrivelled complexion…straight black lips.” This description now makes the creature seem more like an old corpse that should still be in it’s grave, a zombie that has escaped and come back to live on Earth once more.
Frankenstein is also no longer seeing the miracle of science which he had strived to create, deprived himself of rest and health for, cut himself away from those that he had once loved and who loved him for, instead, he is seeing a monster.
The creature however, had no way of knowing how frightful he looked and did not know why everyone who saw him ran away or screamed, “his flight somewhat surprised me” He does not know how he looks or how others perceive him so the attacks he endures from the villagers of wherever he was travelling through confuse and surprise him. Shelley’s account of the attack create horror,
“The children shrieked…one woman fainted…some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons…” These words create horror in mankind, these people openly attacked him purely because of the way he looked, and despite the fact that he had done nothing to provoke or harm them or their children. This creates sympathy in us for the creature because as well as being hurt, he also has no family or friends to turn to.
The creature enjoys the family because they are the only people he has encountered, aside from the villagers that attacked him. He observes them and learns things about their life and begins to understand and pick up their language like a young does from the people around it.
This family are also different because they have little money but they are kind and caring towards one another and are always friendly.
“In the midst of poverty and want, Felix carried with pleasure to his sister the first little white flower that peeped out from beneath the snowy ground” Here, we can see that the creature is quite enamoured by the family and sees them as being kind hearted, amiable people. This leads him to believe that if they met him they would look beneath his ugly exterior and be his friends.
He feels a great deal of sadness for the cottagers because of their poverty and helps them out by chopping wood for them and replenishing their out-house, for the boy does not have time to do it himself because he has to work.
The creature continues watching over the family but I think this just makes him long even more for a companion of his own.
“I look around and I have no relation or friend upon this earth,” here he expresses his grief and shows that he has realised that he cannot live alone and be happy. He desperately wants the cottagers to be friends with him but he is fearful of revealing himself to them because he feels that if they turn him away, he will be an, “outcast in this world forever”.
He is hopeful when the cottagers enter the room as he has observed them being perfectly amiable to one another and presumes they will treat him no different. However, he is much mistaken and while one faints and another flees, the boy attacks him violently with a stick.
“I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sank within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained.” He says “refrained” which shows he is angry and had to force himself not to. He is beginning to learn about different feelings and I think he was not angry as such, just upset and disappointed. So far the only way he has coped with feeling like these is violence. He feels greatly let down, as he had relied on this meeting being successful and so, he is now unsure of what to do and where to go.
The creature’s feelings begin to change from confusion and hurt to violent rage and he yearns to seek revenge on all mankind for the cruelty they have shown him.
“The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth.” He is feeling hurt from all of the unkindness he has been shown and this has built up into a powerful anger that he can no longer control. This swift personality switch creates horror as he seeks and carries out his revenge.
“Frankenstein! You belong then to my enemy – to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim.” He is angry at the world for the way in which it has treated him, but he is especially angry with Frankenstein. For it was Frankenstein that created him and abandoned him in this world and the creature holds him entirely responsible. This leads him to kill Frankenstein’s niece as he avenges Frankenstein’s actions, in an attempt to show him the pain that he has had to endure.
When the creature finally confronts Frankenstein, he is not at all surprised at the contempt he is shown. Frankenstein reacts very badly as he had hoped that the creature was dead and is extremely shocked and frightened.
“Begone, vile insect! Or rather, stay, that I may trample you to dust…that I could, with the extinction of your miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so diabolically murdered!” This shows that he has already worked out that the creature is the one who has been killing Frankenstein’s family and friends, and that he to is extremely angry and seeks revenge.
Frankenstein is much more threatening here whereas in comparison the creature sounds quite reasonable and calm. He says,
“Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind. If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you in peace.”
He is very compromising here which shows he has thought about this moment a lot. His more decent attitude towards the situation leads us to have sympathy for him and not Frankenstein who is hurling abuse at him.
The creature demands that Frankenstein creates him a female companion of his own kind so that they may live together, away from the rest of mankind. I think in one way this is a reasonable request as nobody deserves to be alone, especially as the creature has no chance of finding a human friend. Also he says,
“Shall each man, find a wife for his bosom, and each beast have his mate, and I be alone?” This creates a lot of sympathy for the creature but Frankenstein also has a point because he brings up the subject of whether the two creatures had a child. This would not be right as they may begin to create a new race of dangerously unnatural creatures. This is a difficult situation but I think I have more sympathy for the creature as Frankenstein chose to create him, whereas the creature had no choice in the matter and still does not deserve to be alone forever.
Frankenstein makes the female companion but just before he brings her to life he realises his mistake and changes his mind. The creature watches as he destroys her and all of the equipment he used for his experiments. The creature is angry and upset and promises to return on Frankenstein’s wedding night.
The creature does not kill Frankenstein that instant because he wants to cause him as much pain as possible, therefore he plans to murder his other friends until he to is left with no one. Only in this way will he be able to show Frankenstein a fragment of the pain that he himself has suffered from.
At the end of the novel as Frankenstein dies from age and exhaustion, the monster reflects back on his actions. He is deeply ashamed of what he has done and he is no longer plagued by the desire of revenge.
“You hate me, but your abhorrence cannot equal that with which I regard myself.” He is extremely grieved at the death of his creator and he realises the sheer terror of what he has done.
“I have murdered the lovely and the helpless; I have strangled the innocent as they slept and grasped to death his throat who never injured me or any living thing.” He realises that what he has done is exactly the same as the villagers did to him; he attacked those children and adults out of spite, not because they did anything to provoke him. These realizations show that the creature was not really a monster, he was kind and caring and compassionate just like any other human being, and due to his loneliness and grief he became something that he deeply despises. It is this tremendous guilt that leads him to die with his creator. As he says,
“Polluted by crimes and torn by the bitterest remorse, where can I find rest but in death?” He knows that Frankenstein should never have created him and decides it would be best for everybody, including himself if he no longer lives.
I don’t think either Frankenstein or his creature were monsters. I just think that Frankenstein was a misguided man who made a tragic mistake, albeit a large one to which he had to accept the consequences. The creature was also misguided, his treatment from others led to him becoming a monster but he realized this and did the right thing in the end, showing that he was just misunderstood.