To intensify Frankenstein’s horror and disgust, a range of techniques are utilised. These techniques in turn reflect the gothic genre to which the novel belongs. Pathetic Fallacy is used to great effect in the opening section. The “dreary night of November” is very good at setting the scene as we immediately see the poor weather conditions at the time. Also, there is an increased use of the personal pronoun “I”. This shows Frankenstein’s self absorption, because e constantly refers to himself, and the emotions HE is feeling at the time. Constant images are used to keep the gothic genre constant throughout. Such as the candle, nearly burn out near the windowpane, to which the rain was pattering dismally upon. There is also a very good use of contrasting sentence length. Long descriptive complex sentences are used, as in the case of describing the monster, as well as shorter, less descriptive sentences, such as his reaction to the appearance of the monster. “Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance.”]
Frankenstein’s horror is again reflected in the dream he has on the night. In the dream, he depicts embracing Elizabeth, and suddenly, the corpse of his dead mother appears in her place. This dream reflects Frankenstein’s partially deluded state of mind, to which he is experiencing at the time.
Because the story greatly depicts Dr Frankenstein’s self absorption, this quest for personal gain, (due to his selfishness) eventually ends up in the monster fleeing in a state of panic. Whether or not this is a bad thing is debatable. If he stayed, then he could have reconciled things with Dr Frankenstein, or if he left and hadn’t come across the delacey family, then maybe he would not have realised that some people possessed a good and decent social character.
The monster leaving creates a possibility for a second narrative, thus eliminating a story based on one person’s perspective. Therefore the reader sees the monsters world from a whole new point of view. We are allowed to read what he truly feels about people, and even though he is a monster, he still is entitled to a valid opinion. To make the monsters point of view more feasible, and give him a fairly valid reason for being able to put across his opinion, the monster discovers some books that enable him to develop reading and speaking skills. This is very important towards the story, as it changes the story from a single narrative, to a dual narrative, allowing more opinions to be explored.
The books that the monster had been reading also created a medium to relate his own experiences to. He mentions that the ‘Sorrows of wetter’ “accorded well with my experience among my protectors”. His protectors played an important role in the monsters so called “education” of humankind. They were an isolated family living in the woods that allowed the monster to observe the way in which they interacted with each other. This almost definitely had some control over how he saw all humans to be
“The cottage of my protectors had been the only school in which I had studied human nature”
This experience would have been a positive influence, which contrasted from the bad experiences he had with dr Frankenstein, after his rejections. “I exclaimed in agony. Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even YOU turned from me in disgust?”
The monster had decided to approach the family one-day, to try and see if they accepted him and let him dwell amongst them. To do this, he decided to approach the blind member of the family. Because so many people had merely judged by his appearance, and deemed him different, therefore were hostile towards him; his option to approach the blind man would allow him to talk, and explain properly, without fear of immediate rejection. He would judge upon his personality, instead of appearance. This “plan” appears to be working; however the rest of the family appears, and they think he is intent on harm. This causes them to become hostile towards him, and eject him from the cottage. This causes the monster to think again about humans and their “virtues” and turns him rebellious, and hateful.
In conclusion, there are a number of factors that alter the monsters outlook towards humans, however each one of them portrays a different emotion towards him. For example, Frankenstein causes the monster to feel rejected, and unloved, whereas the Delacey family shows that some humans possess other qualities. This is short lived, however, still occurs. But, with a build up of bad events, sympathy is again emphasised.
