“[collecting] bones from charnel houses; and disturbing, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame.”
This is shown as going against nature and as evil. He also describes his aim as filthy, with the use of the words:
“…my workshop of filthy creation…”
This shows that he realizes and understands that what he is doing is evil and immoral. Nonetheless, Frankenstein also believes in what he is doing, he says,
“A new species would bless me as it creator. … No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.”
This shows that he is showing affection for his creation and expecting gratitude and love back but he is also sounding prematurely confident of the outcome of his experimentation into creating life. At this point in the novel, Mary Shelley is trying to say that science and scientists must not overstretch beyond their boundaries set by God. In effect, this means that they must not go too far with their research and experimentation or else they are challenging the authority of God.
When animation is bestowed upon the creature, it is a ‘dreary night of November’. The atmosphere is appropriately dreary and is show in Frankenstein’s use of words such as ‘dreary night’, ‘dismally’ and ‘candle was nearly burnt out’. These all set the scene and we know that this is a traditional Gothic background with low lighting and bleakness. Frankenstein succeeds in infusing the frame he has constructed with life: the creature’s dull yellow eyes open and it breathes. While Shelley is not specific about how the animation of the creature is accomplished. Frankenstein’s early interest in electricity suggests this may be the ‘spark of being’. While we may expect Frankenstien to be exultant, he is immediately filled with horror and disgust. The creature is beautiful yet ugly; the child he has produced is unnatural.
In the story Mary Shelley describes Frankenstein the monster as having both good and bad qualities.
Frankenstein the monster has limbs that were in ‘proportion’. So even though he was a giant being he had arms and legs to match. It is also stated that he had ‘Black lustrous hair’ and ‘white pearly teeth’, which are all positive points.
However the monster has ‘dull yellow eyes’ and ‘yellow skin’, which are:
“Scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries”
This means that the monsters skin just about covered all the things that were beneath his skin. The monster also has:
“Watery eyes, that seemed almost as the same color as his dun white”
Another scary point would be that the monster had ‘black lips’. Victor Frankenstein thinks of his work to be a ‘catastrophe’. This highlights the fact that he is an infusion of beauty and ugliness and that Victor Frankenstein is petrified by what he sees. The description of the creature may suggest the appearance of a newborn child, but there is also the emphasis on the unnatural that reflects the manner in which it was created. He rushes away to his bedchamber, where he eventually falls asleep only to be tormented by a terrifying dream in which Elizabeth, as he kisses her, turns into the corpse of his dead mother.
“…I saw Elizabeth… I embraced her… I though I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms;”
Despite his physical appearance, then the creatures unnatural birth would automatically be an outcast from society. Awakening with a start, Frankenstein sees, by the light of the moon, the creature looking at him with one finger stretched out; Frankenstein flees. His outstretched hand suggests the tragedy of the creature’s situation and it is symbolic of a child reaching out to its mother or father. Frankenstein immediately proves himself irresponsible by abandoning the creature.
All these points combine to give the creature the characteristics of a human but the appearance of a monster. Victor Frankenstein realizes this and decides to abandon it because of his horrific appearance. The consequences had turned out to be far worse that he had planned. Frankenstein frowns:
“ But now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”.
This suggests he was disappointed in his of the outcome work and creation, which for he ‘had deprived himself rest and health’.
He also calls Frankenstein the monster a ‘wretch’ and makes us, the readers realize that these are totally the opposite to his feelings before the creature came to life. He created something so horrible that he himself is now calling it a ‘wretch’, and a demonical corpse’.
My impression of Frankenstein changes throughout the story. In chapter 11, the creature begins the first of six chapters relating his story. The creature appears like a natural man, not corrupted by civilisation, essentially benevolent and sensitive, and we begin to see how this innocent has his psyche formed by his contact with the world. He opens with vague memories of his first consciousness and the discovery of sensations.
“A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt, at the same time; and it was, indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses.”
This shows that the creature, at this stage is much like a newborn child. This suggests innocence and purity on the creature’s part and makes the reader feel that Frankenstein was an evil and immoral person to do such a thing and leave the creature in the position that he did. The creature seeks refuge in a forest, and discovers the use of fire, but remains in dire need of food and shelter. This is revealed when he says:
“…sought a place where I could receive shade. This was the forest near Ingolstadt…One day…I found a fire…and was overcome by the warmth I experienced from it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain.”
Again, this is a sign of how much similarity he has to the mind of a child. This is shown in his encounter with fire. The humans he encounters react with fear, and he is driven out of a village.. In his first meeting with humans the creature tells Frankenstein:
“I had hardly placed my foot within the door, before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted”.
This was not the reception he should have got because he was like a newborn baby born into the real world. He must have been confused by what was going on. The creature goes on to say:
“The whole village was mused, some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kind of missile weapons”.
Not only are the villagers reacting to how he looks but are also attacking him. We feel sorry for him because it was not his fault that he was created so horrifically. The fact that he does not attack the villagers proves that the creature is not violent at this point in the story.
Frankenstein, the monster, then runs and hides in this hovel, and reflects on how he has been treated. He feels ‘miserable’ due to the ‘barbarity of man’. At this point you can’t really call the creature ‘a monster’ because he is doing nothing to harm mankind; in fact it is the other way round. He has feelings and emotions like humans because he’s upset about how people are acting towards him.
He is drawn to civilisation, but the civilised world rejects him on the basis of his alien appearance. He finds a low hovel, adjoined to a cottage belonging to the De Lacey family, and makes this his home.
From watching the De Lacey family, he learns more about emotion, more about love.
Frankenstein, the creature, settles o a cottage where Felix a young man, his father and sister Agatha live. At first he steals food for his ‘own consumption’. But by doing this he knew it ‘inflicted pain on the cottagers’. This also shows the monster is intelligent because he can understand. So he satisfies himself with ‘berries, nuts, and roots’, which he gathered ‘from a neighboring wood’. The monster also learns because he took the tools from the old man and learnt how to use them and ‘brought home firing sufficient for the consumption of several days’. This also shows the creature’s generosity.
At his stay near the cottagers he also learns how to speak due to Felix’s Arabian girlfriend, Safie, learning how to speak English through Agatha and Felix teaching her. So, Frankenstein the monster, has feelings: he is generous, he can learn, and now he can speak English. With all these characteristics he is less like a monster but more and more like a human. Then he looks at the cottagers admiring ‘the perfect forms…--their gracer beauty, and delicate complexions’. He then thinks he might look like them. But when the monster goes and looks at a ‘transparent pool’. His image reflected back at him and he then says:
“I became convinced that I was in reality the monster”.
He looked nothing like them but more like a monster. The readers also feel sorry for him because he is calling himself a monster. This made him question how the cottagers may react towards him because of his ‘deformity’.
Frankenstein the monster feels though the cottagers are his ‘protectors’.
In chapter 14, Frankenstein the monster is confused because he doesn’t know anything about himself. But he knows why people know get scared of him. This is clear when he says:
“I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome’.
He also understands the difference between himself and other people. There is no one like him. He thinks of himself as a ‘monster, a blot, upon the earth, from which all men fled’. He also feels ‘ disowned’. When Frankenstein the monster says:
“I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me: I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge”.
This tells me the more he gets to know the more depressed and lonely he gets. He feels as though he can’t mix with humans now. I feel sorry for the monster because he has no father or mother to care for him like humans have. We cannot really call him a monster.
Later in on the story the monster finds books from which he learns. But then he takes out Victor Frankenstein’s journal from his coat pocket and knows who created him. He also knows his creator neglected him because of the way he looked. Now he feels even more sorry for himself. He says he has no-one, to soothe his ‘sorrow’. We feel even more remorse for him. He thinks he’s got no one now and decides to meet the cottagers hoping they will accept him because of everything he done for them.
However when he introduces himself the old man doesn’t react to how he looks because he is blind. He hopes the rest of the cottages will act towards him in the same manner. As soon as Felix comes into the cottage he comes running toward Frankenstein the monster and starts beating him. Meanwhile Agatha just faints at the sight of him. This is a totally different reaction than he expected. He could have got up and killed Felix but instead the monster was holding onto the old man’s knees. Frankenstein the monster was so heart-broken he fled from the cottage. I feel sorry for Frankenstein because after everything he has done for them they start beating him up.
But my impression of Frankenstein soon changes. The first bad thing Frankenstein the monster does is that he ‘destroyed every vestige of cultivation in the garden’ and burnt the cottage. But he is not evil because he has not killed a human being yet. He says that he was ‘unable to injurer anything human’.
After he has committed this bad deed he saves a girl who ‘fell into the rapid stream’. He describes the rescue as ‘extreme labour’ because he had to fight the ‘force of the current’. He then ‘dragged her to shore’. We as readers, think that the monster is still not evil because he saves the girls life. But what does the girl father do? He shoots at the monster. He does not die but does get hurt.
Frankenstein the monster then reflects on how he has been treated by mankind. He does good things for humans and they just hurt him in return. Then after careful consideration he says:
“I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance on all mankind’.
He has now decided not to help people but to kill because if he doesn’t they will kill him. After a while a child comes towards him. Frankenstein’s mind does not straight away think about killing the child. Instead he wants to ‘seize’ him and ‘educate him’ as his ‘companion and friend’ so he has someone to share things with.
When Frankenstein approaches the childs, the child shouts:
“Monster! Ugly wretch! You wish to eat me to pieces --You are an ogre – Let me go, or I will tell my papa”.
Frankenstein thought a child wouldn’t react towards him in this way. Soon after the child says:
“ My papa is a syndic – he is M. Frankenstein”
It is these words that cause William’s death.
Meanwhile, Frankenstein the monster’s, approach to the boy has totally changed. He decides to let out his rage. Frankenstein says that William belongs to his ‘enemy’, and decides that ‘he shall be his first victim’. He then picks the boy up and ‘graphed his throat to silence him’. This is the first proper evil thing the monster has done. At this point the monster feels excited and knows he has the power to kill. The fact that he is excited when he kills is a bad sign. Now he knows Victor Frankenstein is ‘not invulnerable’ and wants his revenge even more. At this point we, as the audience, don’t feel sorry for him anymore because he has killed. Therefore it would be right to start calling Frankenstein the monster a monster. From this point on the monster’s behavior towards humans deteriorates.
The monster then picks up the locket from the child’s neck and looks at the picture with in it. He feels sorry for himself because he can’t have a female companion. But he does not get the readers’ sympathy.
Later he goes to a barn were he finds a woman ‘sleeping on some straw’. He admires her for a minute by saying she was ‘ blooming in the loveliness of youth and health’.
Frankenstein then goes up to her and says:
“Awake, fairest, they lover is – he who would give his life but to obtain a look of affection from thine eyes: my beloved, awake!”
Frankenstein the monster wants her just to look beneath his appearance for what he really is. He wants people to act normally towards him for once. But he knows that it is impossible and that she would act the same as the rest of the people. Therefore he decides to make her ‘suffer’. He plants the medallion on the women for the murder of William, and he knows she’s going to be killed due to ‘the sanguinary laws of man’. This shows how intelligent the monster is and that he can apply what he’s learnt.
Frankenstein the monster finally meets Victor Frankenstein and made him promise to create a Female companion for him, who would be ‘same species’, with the same ‘defects’. Frankenstein the monster tells Victor Frankenstein ‘that this must be done’. Victor Frankenstein was uncertain of what effects the female Frankenstein may have so he destroyed the monster when it was on the verge of completion in front of the creatures very eyes. This made him angrier to seek revenge on he’s creator.
In chapter 20 of the novel Victor Frankenstein explains why he destroyed the female. Firstly, Frankenstein had said that if she was created he would ‘quite the neighbourhood of man, and hide himself in deserts’ but there was no guarantee that the female Frankenstein would follow him and do the same. Secondly, the female Frankenstein might not even want to be with Frankenstein the monster. Thirdly, the female version may be even stronger than Frankenstein the monster and therefore may seek a greater revenge on mankind.
Frankenstein the monster could not just stand down, he decides to make Victor Frankenstein’s life a misery. This is supported when Frankenstein the monster says to Victor Frankenstein:
“ You are my creator, but I am your master;-- obey!”
Frankenstein the monster now feels superior to Victor and knows he can control him. He then threatens V. Frankenstein by telling him that if he did not do this then he will kill Elizabeth, Victor Frankenstein’s wife, on his wedding night. Frankenstein the monster cannot persuade Victor Frankenstein. This results in the monster going on to kill Frankenstein’s friend Clerval and Elizabeth.
Frankenstein the monster has killed Victor Frankenstein’s friend and family and he himself is now on the run from the monster. This shows Frankenstein regrets his accomplishment. In the arctic he meets an explorer named Walton. He talks to Walton about what has happened to him. He says that he was ambitious when he was young and didn’t really think about the consequences. He feels although he has sunk low and hasn’t done anything good for mankind, which is what he had intended.
Walton also has the same intention of becoming remembered in history, but he too had not thought about the consequences. Many people have already died during his uncompleted trip to the North Pole and many more were going to die if he didn’t turn around. This is in contrast to Victor Frankenstein’s situation where he went too far which lead to the dead of his family and friends. Frankenstein tells Walton that he knew of the consequences, both death and danger, but still went along with his dream, for honor and the benefit of mankind. The monster did benefit mankind but it also bought death and horror to many people. He is telling them to face up to the fact which is ironic because he himself ran away from his creation and did not even tell people that he was the one who created the monster.
Then Walton meets Frankenstein the monster for the first time and says how disgusting the monster looks. He says:
“Never did I beheld a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome yet appalling hideousness”
Now that Victor Frankenstein is dead Frankenstein the monster says:
“Oh, Frankenstein! Generous and self devoted being! What does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me? I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovedst. Alas! He is cold, he cannot answer me?”
He is regretting killing his family, which ultimately lead to Victor Frankenstein’s death. This grieving made Walton angry because Frankenstein the monster is whining for someone he caused the death of by killing his family. Walton calls the monster a hypocrite because he would not be grieving if Frankenstein was still alive. Walton then says:
“It is not pity you feel; you lament only because the victim your malignity is withdraw from your power”.
Walton is explaining his anger by saying that Frankenstein the monster is grieving because before he had Victor under his power but now he has got no one.
Frankenstein the monster then wins back the sympathy of the audience by understanding what be has done and says ‘crime has degraded me beneath the meanest animal’. He also says that:
“I am alone”
We feel sorry for the monster because he has now got no one.
My finally impression of Frankenstein the monster would be a victim who has been driven into becoming a villain by the reaction and behavior of people around him. The monster being abandoned by his creator played a big part in the monster turning evil. The monster was doing good things for people and they repaid him by harming him. But he still did good things and at a point he became a hero by saving a girl’s life. He committed his first murder of a human when he was introduced to the Frankenstein’s brother. From them on his status in the audience’s eyes go down hill. He had becomes hated.
Mary Shelley’s main message of the novel is that you shouldn’t be over ambitious. Mary Shelley is trying to tell people that scientific experiments should not to be used to play with nature. Nature should be left alone because the consequences may be disastrous, as shown by Frankenstein’s experiment.
I think that the novel is still important today because of all the experiments being carried out in the 21st century such as cloning, genetically modified food, designer babies and so on scientist, should take a deep breath and reflect on this novel. They should question themselves if they are doing the same mistake as Victor Frankenstein, of being over ambitious. Today’s scientists are still in the early days of their research and should seriously consider the consequences of what they are about to create.
Through reading the novel I also learn that you should never judge a person just by looking at them. This was the obvious mistake that the humans made when they saw Frankenstein the monster.
