Everything is new to the monster at this point; even blinking is new, which is something that is connected with a new-born baby. “…by opening my eyes…the light poured in upon me again”, and the monster still has no real sense of being “who was I? What was I?”
The monster comes across a cottage in the forest, where a small family are in residence, the monster takes to watching them tend to the crops and cooking the dinner, and soon starts to learn small parts of speech, the monster begins to steal food from their supply, simply because he is still in-capable of cooking anything that can be called food, but soon after the monster discovers that the family are suffering from poverty and barely have enough food to go round as it is and immediately stops stealing, and even begins to help chop up fire wood, which is of a great help to the family, who believe it is the spirit of the forest that is assisting them, this is a perfect example of how Shelley wants us to perceive the monster at this point in the book, as a kind-hearted and naturally caring person. But of course this bliss, does not last, the monster finds Victor’s journal among his coat pockets, and slowly begins to learn how to read, this is painfully traumatizing for the monster, who is able to understand everything that Victor has written about his creation, the monster becomes full of hate and revenge, his every thought, is of Victors destruction, but he is content for the moment. The monster eventually comes into contact with a member of the family, the blind grand-father, this is a very significant part of the development of the monster and of the story, the blind man is not afraid of the monster because he can not see his hideous features, the Monster and the old man take a liking towards each-other, Shelly is showing that is does not matter what a person looks like, its what on the inside that counts, soon the other members of the family return, and “who can describe their horror on beholding me”, the son attacks the monster, but instead of fighting, the fiend is overcome with “pain and anguish”, and quickly runs out into the forest. This is also a significant part of the story, because it shows how much the monster has come to despise Victor “my feelings were those of rage and revenge”, the monster’s new found emotions spiral out of control, at one point he contemplates suicide “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence that you so wantonly bestowed?”
Soon after this Victor receives a letter from his father, informing him of Victor’s brother’s death. Victor is overcome with grief, and travels back to his family to comfort them, on his way back, he sees the monster running over the mountain tops, he immediately blames the monster for the murder of his brother “Could he be (I shuddered at the conception) the murderer of my brother”, but even after this he still concerned only with himself “No on can conceive the anguish I suffered during that night, which I spent cold and wet…my own spirit let loose from the grave, and forced to destroy all that was dear to me” Victor is still trapped in his own ignorance, and still does not see that even though the monster is trying to cause Victor pain, he is also hurting Victor’s other family members. But still, the reader has lost a lot of sympathy for the monster, who so readily took the life of an innocent little boy; Victor’s creation has now become a monster, displaying all the traditional traits of a monster, remorseless killing and hideous features, but would the fiend still have become evil if it was not for his horrendous up-bringing.
“This being you must create” Frankenstein’s monster asks for a female, to spend the rest of his day’s with, this requisition is totally acceptable, for the monster to remain alone, is something that no person or animal should have to go through, the monster promises to retire to the deserts far from man if he can have a wife, but if Victor does not comply, he will wreck havoc on his family, Victor does agree at first, but later goes back on his word, He has a sudden attack of conscience, which is ironic for him to become so concerned with the welfare of others, when all he has been doing is concerned with his own state. The monster confronts Victor, and challenges him about why his wife has not yet been created, then when Victor tells him that he is going back on his word, the power again shifts from the monster to Victor “But I am your master;-obey!”, the monster gives a final threat that makes Victor think about what he has done “I shall be with you in your wedding night”. But again Victor’s image of himself clouds his judgement of the monster, his arrogance stops him from seeing the truth, he thinks of how upset Elizabeth will be when he dies “I thought of my beloved Elizabeth…when she should find her lover so barbarously snatched from her”.
When we discover that Henry Clerval has been murdered, we know that the monster has killed him, we now that the monster is serious about his promise, again we do not feel any sympathy for the monster, which is recklessly killing innocent people, just to smite Victor, but no sympathy is felt towards Victor, because if he had not fooled around with things that should have been left alone, he would not be in this mortal danger.
It is the wedding night, and it is predictably stormy, which is traditional gothic-horror, the storm represents the action about to take place. The monster kills Elizabeth, and Victor is heart-broken, but it is only now, we actually see how twisted the monster has become, the fiend stays on the ship where Victor and Elizabeth were spending there wedding night, just so he can see the torment in Victor’s eyes. The reader now knows that the monster exists to hurt Frankenstein. Victor now has nothing left, he has no family and no real future the monster has succeeded in its task.
Victor finally dies, and the monster is seen weeping at his bed-side “Over him hung a form which I cannot find words to describe; gigantic in stature, yet uncouth and distorted in its proportions”. The monster is sad at the death of Victor, because when you take away everything that happened, Victor was the monster’s father, And now his father and enemy was dead, the monster has got nothing to live for, his life was based around making Victor’s one a misery, now he really has got nothing. This is a brilliant ending, as it ‘closes all the doors’ the book opened. The monster still despises Victor but loves him also, and is racked with grief, the monster leaves vowing to kill himself on his own funeral pyre, and this proves the monster’s level of misery “I shall no longer feel the agonies which now consume me”
The reader reacts in many different ways towards the monster, first there is sympathy because of his dreadful up-bringing but then that sympathy I lost because of the monster’s violent nature. The main question is would the monster have turned out so evil if Victor had given it a caring home and an education? The monster’s ‘child-hood’ is of great contrast to Victor’s but not of Mary Shelley’s, who had a traumatic up-bringing, her mother died at an early age, and her step-mother neglected and abused her. Victor’s was one of happy memories and fun, he was never pressured into doing anything, this shows the necessity of a good up-bringing, but it begs the question, are some people inherently bad?