Chapter five is very descriptive as this is where the monster comes to life; a lot of elaborate and detailed sentences encourage the reader to ‘see’ vivid images in their head. Because it’s a novel and we don’t see a picture of the creation we use our imagination which is more powerful in creating bizarre and fear-provoking images. Shelley’s linguistic skill in language causes this, and causes unsympathetic feelings towards such a grotesque being.
“…dull, yellow eye…” and “…his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips…”
These quotations demand your mind to feel horrified at what they’re describing; the structure of these sentences evokes disgust by powerful imagery and representing lack in human qualities. Therefore we are not going to feel sympathy with the monster as we perceive it as just that, a monster that was dead and is now alive.
There are no human connections and there are no human qualities to associate with the creation which is what Shelley did to make the reader unsympathetic to the character.
However, there are certain factors in the chapter which do provoke sympathy for the creation. One of these is Victors Frankenstein’s reactions and actions taken after creating the monster.
“…the beauty of the dream vanished and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart…”
He is shown to hate what he has worked on; that now its over he can’t abide what he created. Frankenstein is also shown to just ran away from his problems and not deal with them
“Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created…”
Victor Frankenstein is shown to be selfish at only thinking about himself and not his creation, but then he has always had his own way when he was young and was spoilt. This shows a clearer gap between Frankenstein’s childhood and the monsters. Frankenstein had everything but the monster has had its ‘father’ turn his back on him and run away from him since the beginning of his life. Frankenstein does not want his creation to be alive in fact he wants to kill it. The reader feels sympathy because of this; they feel that it’s not getting the love it needs. The monster shows some child like actions after being created.
“…his eyes…were fixed on me…muttered some inarticulate sounds…grin wrinkled his chins.”
“…one hand was stretched out to me…”
These quotations show that the monster is doing what a baby or a child would do if they saw their parent, he can’t speak properly yet as he has only just been born. These factors do make the reader feel sympathy towards the monster and feel that Frankenstein is mean and selfish. Shelley’s linguistic skills illustrate an abandon child which most people would have lots of sympathy for. She uses things like imagery, language and complex sentence structures in this chapter as they can all incite sympathy or they can take it away from the reader; this means that she control how the reader is feeling towards the character at each point.
Chapter ten differs from chapter five as its where Frankenstein and his creation meet by accident and have a conversation. The fact that the monster has possessed a human skill of speech makes us see it less of a monster and more of a person; sympathy is demanded for the monster. Frankenstein does not want to see him and decides that he will kill it but the monster won’t fight with him and speaks reasonably and truthfully.
“Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery?”
The monster is in desolation and depression which we feel sorry for and we want to know the reason for it as we start having human compassion for the creation as its becoming more like us. Quotations like this provoke sympathy from the reader to the monster.
“These bleak skies I hail for they are kinder to me then your fellow being.”
We feel ashamed by the way humans are portrayed by the monster as cold and unkind; the reader instantly feels sympathy for someone that has been thrown out and made an outcast from all humans especially the fact that his misery all started with his ‘father’.
“You, my creator abhor me…”
The monster knows that no one wants him and that his creator hates him and that makes him an incredibly sad and heart-rending character. This elicits the reader’s sympathy towards it. Shelley’s presentation of the monster in this chapter causes empathy towards the monster.
Chapter 11 is where the monster is talking about his life; he’s narrating what he’s been though. There are many things the reader learns about the monster and what he is like, one of these is loneliness. He speaks of being desolate and alone.
“…finding myself so desolate.”
Being desolate, the monster is obviously upset and alone, and desolate is a word that expresses such unhappiness in being with no-one else. This provokes sympathy to the monster as no one wants to be by them selves.
“…some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones…”
The monster is talking about entering a village where it has done nothing wrong but the people still ran away from the monster and attacked him because he looked so out of place, so ugly. This is a type of loneliness, where no one wants the monster in society or with humans. This demands sympathy because the reader cannot comprehend how every single person hating something because it was ugly although we can recognise how painful it would be.
Another thing we learn about the monster is how naïve he is to the world, even more so then a child. The monster speaks about how he did things that a normal human would know not to, for example.
“In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out…”
The monster has been without a parent to teach him things like not to put your hand in a fire so he has a childlike innocence in not knowing what hurts and what doesn’t. The words thrust and joy show he’s over eagerness in getting heat and what it wants like a child. This creates sympathy as the reader compares the monster to a child and humans always give sympathy to children as they are young and guiltless. Although the monster is shown to be naïve he is also shown to have intelligence at the world.
“I covered it carefully with dry wood and leaves and placed wet branches upon it.”
The monster had found out how to keep the fire going overnight from only being beside it for a short time and observing it. The monster has shown intelligence in being able to do this and this elicits sympathy towards him as the reader feels something that can learn so quickly has to be good and not evil.
One of the things we learn about the monster is that he starts getting human qualities like emotions and feelings. The reader starts seeing him as a person not a monster.
“…such kindness and affection that I felt sensations of a peculiar and over powering nature…”
The monster is getting the kind of feelings that a human would get so we link him to a person; which means that the reader gives the same sympathy to him as what they would give to a human being. This means that we are not just giving sympathy that we would give to an animal in pain we are actually realising that he is one of us and has the same emotions and thinking as us. The reader then devotes a lot more sympathy to this character. By switching narration it provides us with a view of both the monster and Frankenstein. Also, it switches our emotional sympathy with one to the other; this furthers our understanding of the two.
In conclusion I feel that Mary Shelley wanted us to see that the creation is not necessarily the monster but the creator, Victor Frankenstein. From the beginning the reader is shown that Frankenstein is spoilt and won’t do what is right; he will only do what he wants and won’t think of others neither the consequences. The monster on the other hand, we see as a child which has been deprived of a parents love and shunned where ever he goes. All the way though the novel the reader is told the monster is reaching for human compassion and will be good if his creator gives him a mate. Therefore Shelley wanted us to realise that we should sympathise with the creation and understand how although he looks like a monster he is the one who deserves it. She does this with linguistic skills: imagery, language and complex sentence structures in chapter five; conversation between the creation and the creator and imagery in chapter ten; narration by the monster, imagery and description in chapter eleven.
