Victor and Clegg are excluded by society primarily because they have transgressed society's boundaries, that is to say, Victor plays God and creates "a new species which would bless him as its creator" p.52 ; his male monster is built from old body parts and strange chemicals because he is determined to learn about "the secrets of heaven and hell"p.37. Ironically, Victor creates a "hideous wretch" p.73 which is "an outcast in the world forever" p.129. However, this "filthy daemon" p.73 is initially gentle and has a kind, baby-like nature, just like normal humans. Paradoxically, the monster is actually born into a state of innocence and like most people, eventually becomes corrupted by people and society.
Similarly, Clegg has excluded himself from within society, but at the same time, he is part of society. We know he stalks then kidnaps Miranda and eventually she dies, but Clegg's existence, unlike Victor's, is cyclical and the whole process starts again when he returns to Woolworths. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that Fowles cleverly alludes to Shakespeare's The Tempest and uses Clegg as a Caliban-type figure. An isolated figure who metaphorically is as gross as Victor's monster, a monster who is "malicious because he is miserable" p.141 He's miserable not just because he is a product of modern society but because he is unable or incapable of properly integrating in society or with Miranda and therefore excludes himself, but like Victor, he does operate within society.
However, both novels are linked to the same gothic genre in the sense that both texts focus on the "suffering of an individual" (p.78 Abrams, Literary Terms) that is, Miranda suffers because of Clegg's actions and the monster suffers (due to his ugliness) as a creation of Victor. Shelley's novel is sensationalised by the fact that Victor can build a man, and from a supernatural point of view, he actually raises the dead by using "a flash of lightning" p.73 although this is achieved by Victor applying his extended knowledge of science something unheard of in the early 19th century. So the principal aim of such gothic texts is to evoke a chilling terror in the reader by exploiting mystery and a variety of horrors so as to develop a brooding atmosphere of gloom and terror and not forgetting to represent the uncanny, psychological or violent states of minds. For example, Shelley's use of language effectively conveys the gothic genre and does create a chilling atmosphere when Victor describes the monster in Chapter 5 when:
I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard........
his yellow skin scarcely covered the muscles and arteries and
he had a shrivelled complexion and straight black lips
Oh! no mortal could support the horror of that countenance.
A mummy again endued with animation.......
he was ugly and became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived
Shelley and Fowles also present the socially excluded when they use the first-person narrator. They do this by foreshadowing events throughout their narrative; Victor uses words such as "fate" and "omen" to hint at the tragedy that has befallen him; additionally, he occasionally pauses in his recounting to collect himself in the face of frightening memories as mentioned in the above quote.
On the other hand, Shelley also uses the epistolary technique (letters) when the monster tells us, quite eloquently, how he feels about being socially excluded and describes himself as " I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked" p. This is conveyed to the reader in Walton's final letter to his sister; he recounts the words that the monster speaks to him over Victor's dead body. This eruption of angry self-pity as the monster questions the injustice of how he has been treated captures his inner feelings, giving Walton and the reader a glimpse into his suffering that has motivated his crimes. Moreover, what the monster says also evokes the motif of abortion which ties in nicely with the fact that Shelley herself spent many years in mourning due to the untimely deaths of her children and miscarriage (Re: Kim Woodbridge essay, The Birth of a Monster Durham Uni 2001) Arguably, the monster is an unwanted life, that is to say, it is a creation abandoned and shunned by society and Victor his creator.
Therefore Shelley's use of letters enables the narrative to shift from one character to another while remaining within the conventions of the standard novel. Letters are also used to good effect as a means of social interaction because characters are frequently out of immediate contact with one another. Walton never encounters his sister in the novel; his relationship with her is based wholly on the use of letters. The same goes for Victor as he often isolates himself from his loved ones but he does receive letters from Alphonse and Elizabeth and this marks attempts to connect with him. Again, the monster uses written communication in order to develop a relationship with Victor when, at the end of the novel, he leads him northward by means of notes on the trees and rocks he passes.
