Shelley uses the narration in the story at this point of the novel to make the reader feel fear and aversion towards the monster. Here the story is in first person through the eyes of Frankenstein is and so we can see what he does and feels. Here Frankenstein feels abhorrence and as we see his thoughts we can understand why and so feel the same way.
The second time we see the monster is when Frankenstein is on his way home after his brother William had just been murdered. Shelley builds suspense by making the scene at night and during a storm. Shelley adds more tension by making the monster appear with a flash of lightning. By making the monster appear so soon after William’s murder the reader is led to believe that he did it and so the abhors him further. When we see him again he is climbing an almost vertical mountain which again strikes fear in us because it shows us that he is not human.
Frankenstein next meets the monster in the mountains after Justine had been executed for Williams’s murder. Before the monster tells his story we see Frankenstein’s rage at the monster. He uses emotive words such as “bitter anguish”, “disdain” and “malignity” when he sees the monster. By using these words the reader feels anger and resentment towards the monster aswell because he has tortured Frankenstein. Furthermore Shelley makes Frankenstein call the monster a “devil” and talks about William being “diabolically murdered” (diablo meaning devil in Latin) by him. The biblical reference effects the reader more as we can see Frankenstein as the god and the creator and the monster as the devil and so is a Case of good versus evil. This effects the reader as they will support the good and therefore resent the monster further.
Up till now the monster has not spoken. Shelley uses this and then shows the reader how articulate he really is. Our opinion now starts to change of the monster as we see that he is more similar to a human than first thought. We then see a change of power as Frankenstein tries to attack the monster but it easily overpowers him and tells him to “be calm”. Here we feel that the monster is human further as he can control himself and not fight back. Further on we begin to understand what the monster may be going through as he puts his hand in front of Frankenstein’s eyes and says that he has relieved him of a sight that he abhors. Here the reader can see that the monster is telling Frankenstein not to prejudge and to listen to what he has to say before answering.
The monster then becomes the narrator of the story as he tells his story. Now that he has began narrating we begin to feel sympathy for him because we can see what he has been through. The reader feels sympathy for him because of the prejudice that he gets when he tries to interact with humans. When the monster narrates he tells us how he used to be moral and innocent. It is springtime and the buds of flowers are opening, the trees are growing their leaves, the birds are singing and the animals are out. This shows that there is a happy mood and that good is happening. He admires the flowers and the birds and says that it is “Happy, happy earth.” From this we can see that he was virtuous and makes the reader begin to like the monster.
As the monster’s tale progresses we see him get closer to the isolated family in the woods and see him wishing that he could befriend them. By doing this Shelley makes the reader want the monster to succeed and be loved by the family. When the monster does confront the family hr first meets the father who is old and blind. He is not given the possibility to prejudge him by his appearance and so listens to the monster and understands his grief. This shows that if given the chance the monster can be a good person. The irony here is that although this man is blinded, it is the other humans that are blinded with prejudice whereas the old man can see further than just the appearance. When Felix, the old mans son, comes home and sees the monster his first reaction is to attack him with a stick and drive him out of the house. Shelley purposely does this to create further sympathy for the monster. She makes the reader want the monster to succeed but makes it fail so that the reader can realise that humans can be evil, even to those who may not deserve it. Here the old man symbolises that there is good in humans but there also is bad as Felix shows the prejudice in people.
Further on we again feel sympathy for the monster because he tries to save a little girl from dying in a rapid stream. When her father returns he shoots the monster after tearing his daughter away from him. Here is another example of prejudice as the man’s first thought is that the monster is trying to injure my daughter. From this action the monster begins to hate mankind. Shelley manages to make the reader like the monster although they know that he has murdered William. She does this by showing that the monster was not bad but was turned that way by the cruelty of humans.
The monster quickly retreats from Frankenstein just after telling him to make a female for it and is not seen again until the female is ready. Shelley now tries to change the reader’s view on the monster again. Frankenstein is narrating again when we see the monster and describes the monster to have a “ghastly grin” on his lips. This reminds the reader of the disgust they felt when they first heard of the monster and begin to feel it again. Frankenstein in seeing this realises the issues in making a second monster and destroys it. The reader is now reminded of that the monster is a monster as it does not speak but howls and withdraws from the Scene. Here Shelley makes the reader fearful of the monster, as we do not know what he might do. The mood once he retreats is quite and dark representing the mood of Frankenstein. There is an eerie silence around as the sea is motionless and the winds are hushed. This builds tension to what is coming as the reader can sense that the monster will break the silence. When the monster does come we can hear his steps slowly coming towards the door. This again builds tension and therefore increases the reader’s fear of the monster. As he enters he shuts the door behind him symbolising that there is no escape. He goes on to then calls Frankenstein his “slave” and tells him to obey him. This shows a change in power as before Frankenstein the creator decided whether to help the monster or not by building another. Now the monster decides Frankenstein’s fate. By then stating that he is “fearless” and so has nothing to lose the reader becomes more apprehensive as we do not know what the monster is capable of. Before leaving he proclaims that he will be with Frankenstein on his wedding night making the reader wonder what he will do.
The monster does appear on Frankenstein’s wedding night and kills Elizabeth, Frankenstein’s wife. He appears again near the window of where Frankenstein was mourning and jeers at the dead body. Shelley deliberately provokes the reader here and makes them hate the monster with disgust. We also see how the monster has changed. We he does not speak we see him as a monster and when he does we feel empathy. When he was first created he was inarticulate and the reader felt disgust towards it. He then was able to speak clearly and accurately when he tells his tale. We can see the human side of him and so feel sympathy towards him here and wish for him to succeed in interacting with humans. Now, because of what has happened to it, it turns into the inarticulate monster once more and so the reader feels disgust and hatred again.
At the end of novel the monster is distraught by Frankenstein’s death but blames himself. He realises that he has changed from the creature that once admired the flowers and the birds and hates himself for it. Here Shelley tries to make the reader feel sympathy and disgust for both Frankenstein and the monster. We feel sympathy for them as both their lives have been destroyed and we feel disgust towards them because they both destroyed each other’s lives.
At this point in the play Walton is narrating. Shelley has used narration throughout the novel to provoke the reader’s feelings. The first part of the novel Frankenstein is narrating and the reader feels sympathy for him but disgust towards the monster. In the second part of the play the monster begins to narrate and the reader then feels sympathy for the monster and loathes Frankenstein. In the third part we see Frankenstein narrating again and again we feel disgust towards the monster. Now at the end of the play we feel sympathy and disgust for both characters whilst Walton is narrating.
Shelley has made Frankenstein an interesting novel by making the reader think. The reader thinks about prejudice and how people can prejudge. We see revenge in the novel as the monster takes his revenge on Frankenstein who then tries to take his revenge back on the monster. The reader can also see justice in the book. Frankenstein made the monster and but then shouldn’t have ignored its needs after doing so. The reader also thinks about discovery and ambition and about not taking it too far. Both Frankenstein and Walton have ambitions but nearly destroy themselves by taking their discovery too far. Shelley also makes a point on human nature. People created the monsters inner ugliness by prejudging it and then moan about it when it turns evil.
To conclude Shelley makes the reader have sympathy for the monster and then destroys it using different methods. She uses narration, settings, symbolism and the characters themselves to do so. She also structures the poem in such a way that the reader feels disgust and sympathy at various times. The monster is a successful literary character because he makes you change your mind on whether you like or loathe him. The reader loathes him for destroying Frankenstein’s life but feels that Frankenstein destroyed the monster’s life when he created it and so the reader feels empathy. Shelley uses themes such as justice, prejudice and revenge in the novel, which are still present today making Frankenstein a popular novel today as well as two hundred years ago.
