Shelley was born in 1797 she was the daughter of a well known writer, Mary Wollstonecraft who died while giving birth to Shelley. As a young woman, Shelley was close friends with writers and poets including Perry Bysshe, Shelley and Lord Bryran who challenged her to write a story, her gothic horror novel, Frankenstein was the result of of this challenge it’s narrated by a captain Walton who listens to Frankenstein’s entire life story. The centre of this story is the shocking confession that Frankenstein had created the “monster”.
The scene is set on a dreary night of November at one o’clock in the morning: “the rain patted dismally against the panes”. Frankenstein’s reaction to the creation was that his heart filled with disgust he felt disturbed by the wildest dreams. He started from his sleep with horror at his creation. Frankenstein’s reaction to the monster was a mummy again endowed with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch, it was ugly, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived, Victor Frankenstein’s disgust is so great he leaves the room and when he returns to his relief the creation has vanished.
The scene where the “monster” talks to the blind man but is rejected and beaten by his family, reminds us of how great is the prejudice of society against anyone who is different.
For many years the creation wandered through many countries observing people reading and learning and searching for a community that would accept him, eventually, searching for his creator, he arrives on a sea of ice, and there comes face to face with Victor Frankenstein at last….
When Frankenstein and his creation meet on the sea of ice Victor behaves unkindly and reacts violently. “Unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes”, “fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head?”
The creation reacts calmly and with dignity / restraint….”I was benevolent”.
He describes his misery “have I not suffered enough that you seek to increase my misery”, however, the creation does not allow Victor Frankenstein to put him down “shall I not then hate them who abhor me?” He expresses the full pain of his existence “the Desert Mountains and dreary glaciers are my refuge”. The creation, incensed, goes on to kill everyone Frankenstein loves. He pursues to the North Pole, Frankenstein dies, exhausted. The captain finds the creation in o cabin with the body of his creator.
The scene where Captain Walton talks to the creation and it is a very moving and powerful one. First, Captain Walton’s reaction on first seeing the creation is quit extreme, he says “never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, yet appalling hideousness …. There was something so scaring and unearthly in his ugliness”. The most moving thing of all is the way the creation talks to the Captain about himself, he revels his life in a complex was all his misery, hurt and ambitions…………........
To conclude in Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein”, Victor Frankenstein has created the ultimate out cast. The unfortunate creation was rejected by his creator, victor, and by all who saw him and so he lived a miserable existence of an out cast.