The relationship between the Monster and Frankenstein is a complicated one. The Monster sees Frankenstein as his creator and his father, but he hates him because he made him ugly and scary, this consequently led him to be unwanted, unloved and angry, but he cannot kill Frankenstein because he is relying on him to make him happy, by making him a companion who will not shun him. ‘Cursed, cursed creator why did I live?’ this shows that he hates Frankenstein and he would have preferred it if he had never had been brought to life; the fact that he exists makes him so unhappy. Frankenstein is angry at the Monster for behaving the way he does and for demanding the things he does, ‘I could no longer suppress the rage that burned within me.’ He is scared of the Monster because he has the power to make his live miserable. Lastly he is proud of the Monster because he is proof that He could create new life from the dead and all his work over the last few years hasn’t been a complete waste of time. Both characters can see the good and the evil within one another however both characters concentrate on the evil things they see in the other.
The setting for the most part of the book is very dark. The setting in these two chapters is no exception; Frankenstein and the Monster are talking in and ice-cave, on a glacier, which is a cold, dark, and unforgiving place. The Monster’s travels are over mountains and through forests and mostly by night.
The atmosphere is spine chilling, when the Monster describes the arson attack he says that, ‘licked it with their forked and destroying tongues.’ The Monster sees the flames that are burning down the cottage as forked tongues, which are usually connected with lying. This suggests that he thought that the De Lacey’s lived a lie; he believed they were kind and accepting, but faced with the Monster they were no more accepting than all the other people he had encountered. It was this lie that was the will behind the burning down of the cottage. This can be paralleled with the thought that a fire is comforting and warm, whereas in the wrong hands it can wreck and destroy life. The De Lacey’s had given him the warmth and comfort he needed but when he wanted more they destroyed him and his soul.
Within this dark atmosphere there are some hints of light and goodness, ‘Cheered even me by the loveliness of its sunshine’, this is just proving that the Monster still has some kindness and emotion and is not completely lost in his own self pity and loneliness to appreciate the beauty that nature creates. I think that the atmosphere and the setting reflect the way either the Monster or Frankenstein are feeling at any given time.
The reader feels a mixture of responses towards the Monster, one has to feel sorry for it, as it has been shunned by society because of the way he looks, which in today’s society it would not be acceptable. Readers must also feel quite scared of the Monster as well especially when he talks about destroying things and enjoying it, ‘Spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat back down and enjoyed the ruin’ to destroy things and regret it is one thing, but it is a completely different emotion to actually enjoy it.
To emphasise the comparison between good and evil that runs all the way through the novel, Mary Shelley uses many different techniques. She uses metaphors to make something that is meant to be seen as pleasant, evil, ‘The cold stars shone in mockery.’ Stars are usually seen as happy, bright lights that cheer up the dark night sky. However the Monster sees them as the eyes of all the people who have rejected and mocked him for being like he is. This gives us the feeling that the Monster is letting his eviler side prevail over his good side. Indeed whenever he feels angry or betrayed by humanity he lets his dark side take control of him, for example when he sees William he expects him to not be blinkered by the way he looks, however when William sees him he screams, this triggers the Monsters rage and he kills, William, ‘”I gazed on my victim, my heart swelled with exultation and hellish delight.”’
She uses tripling to emphasise her points about how much the Monster wants to be good, ‘I swear by the sun, and by the blue sky, and by the fire that burns in my heart.’ The reference to his heart makes the reader feel as though he should be loved because he wants it so much, however Shelley’s constant referral to his darker side prevents the reader giving him too much sympathy.
Another way she emphasises the conflict of good vs. evil is by using the natural against the unnatural, ‘Nature decayed around me, and the sun became heatless; rain and snow poured down around me.’ The fact that he sees nature decaying just like he is decayed leads the reader to feel as though he is seeing the qualities in nature that are like him and not the beauty that most people see in nature. Also the natural world is rejecting him because he is the complete opposite to everything in the natural world, he is a fabrication, freak “evil” creature against the natural “good” order of life.
I think that Mary Shelley wanted the Monster to be seen in many different ways, for example his evil side that enjoys killing and destroying things, his loving side that is just waiting for somebody to listen to him and learn to love him, his childish side that just craves the love of a father. She makes the reasons for his evilness very clear through these personas. Bitterness and anger towards the world is only natural feel if the world shunned him. So although the monster is ‘unnatural’ his responses and feeling are those as any ‘real’ person faced with the conflict he has had to face. His evil side is the result of the creation and therefore Frankenstein’s doing. This is why Frankenstein hates him so much; the monster is the embodiment of his guilt.
