He also presents the creature as disgusting and horrifying, which is exhibited by his statement “breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”. Significantly, it shows that Frankenstein’s god-like ambition to create life was a complete disappointment as his ‘perfect living-being’ should have been good looking but had a shocking countenance, which filled him with horror.
In another chapter, he refers to the creature as an animal and shows his hatred by saying that the creature is “my enemy” and “vile insect”. The quotation ‘vile insect’ suggests that the creature is like a beetle and other insects, which emphasises it is not worthy to be treated like humans. Overall, Frankenstein’s views are awfully negative concerning the creature as he judges the creature by its appearance.
At the beginning of chapter 11 the monster is presented as innocent and resembling a newborn baby. He says, “I saw, felt, heard and smelt at the same time and it was indeed a long time before I learnt to distinguish between operation of my various senses” as he cannot understand the differences between them. Like a newborn baby, it takes the creature time to develop his understanding. Unlike a baby, he has no-one to help him or to care for him.
Then we see him learning through trial and error. When he discovers a fire he is “overcome delight at the warmth I experienced then thrust my hand into the embers but quickly drew them again with a cry of pain”. Once more he is shown to be similar to infants as unsupervised young children put themselves in danger due to lack of understanding. He has no one protecting him, which shows the creature is alone and therefore vulnerable in many ways. Readers will begin to sympathise with the creature because of this.
However, we see him advancing and maturing as he learns from his mistakes and appreciates that, like fire, many things can be good and bad. He is also presented like a human as he states “I sat down and wept”. This shows that he has an appetite like humans and responds in the same manner as a newborn baby by crying. He is similar to newborns in this respect as newborn babies tend to cry when they are hungry. In chapter 11 he is mainly presented as appreciative of the natural wonders as he describes them as “sensational and peaceful” which shows he benefits from them and is grateful for the natural world. This tranquil side of his character contrasts with Frankenstein’s biased presentation of him.
When the monster starts to reveal his side of the story, straightaway the readers’ opinions change dramatically and the creature is regarded as an individual and seen in a different light. Since he was abandoned, unsupervised and shown to be like an innocent baby, this suggests that he is not responsible for what he does, like infants. So it is the parents and the guardians’ responsibility to look after them and teach them how to live. This is why the responsibility passes to Frankenstein. Therefore readers’ impressions and opinions change as they may claim that the creature is innocent and Frankenstein should be legally responsible for his actions.
In chapters 11-16 the creature is presented as intelligent. We know this as he states, “I began to comprehend the words, spoken by my protectors”. The fact that he accomplished this is “two months” shows that his brain is similar to humans. This emphasises the incredible speed of his learning as he is able to speak a language in two months without the help from people. Compared to a two month old baby he is extremely intelligent as not often does a baby learn to speak properly in so short a space of time.
The creature is self-motivated and learns from the De Laceys. We see this as he says, “my mind received additional ideas from them”, showing that every day he learnt much from them. It also suggests that he is determined to learn and to interact with them. This is shown as he states “I should make the use of the instructions in the end”, indicating that he wants to make use of what he learns in order to be able to interact with people.
In another chapter, when he says “I improved more rapidly than the Arabian girl who understood very little and conversed in broken accent whilst I comprehended every word that was spoken”, he is shown to have a superior intellect which he elaborates on by comparing himself to Safie. Safie did nit speak the language that the De Laceys spoke. The phrase “I improved more rapidly than the Arabian” is suggesting that he is a good learner capable of learning faster than humans and that he is an intelligent creature.
Furthermore, the creature is shown as similar to man as he had developed his understanding about the differences between things: “I distinguished the insects from herbs and be degrees, one herb from another”. This shows he is able to differentiate insects from herbs and one herb from another, which suggests the creature is smart.
He says, “As I read, however, I applied much personally to my own feelings and conditions. Who am I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination?” This is showing his uncertainty as he applies what he learns to his own feelings and condition and begins to ask questions which also emphasises him being intelligent.
He is also presented as a good learner as he learns not just language but “obtained a cursory knowledge of history, governments and religions of the different nations of the earth”, other things which helps him to understand the human race and make him more motivated to interact with people. This shows that he is intelligent and also motivated.
Initially, in these chapters the creature is presented as being friendless, isolated and treated badly wherever he goes. At first the creature is shown to have no friends and to be isolated as he says “to see their sweet look directed toward me with affection was the utmost limit and ambition”. This shows he is alone and wants friends and company as he reveals this emotion about seeing a couple passing by. Pitifully, he says to be able to make friends with them is the “Utmost limit of his ambitions”. This shows the readers how despairing and lonely he is and how desperate he is to have friends. Still, after constant torment, he says “I longed to join them, but dared not” which also shows he is desperate to make friends by any means although people have caused him misery and pain. Therefore, this suggests he is forgiving, which is another positive trait and again contrasts with Frankenstein’s very negative portrayal of the creature.
The creature says “When I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me”. This highlights the fact that he is friendless and isolated as he does not see anyone around who was like him. Also, he says “But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days; no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses”. He emphasises his loneliness as he says “no father had watched my infant days”, and “where are my friends?” This shows that he was unsupervised whilst a baby. This manifests that he did not have anyone to experience emotions with or to guide him. It also tells us he was lonely as he had no-one to talk to or share his feelings with.
In chapters 11-16 he is also seen to be badly treated by society wherever he goes. The creature also says “some fled; some attacked me, until grievously bruised by stones and other kinds of missile”. This proposes how he experienced rough treatment by society; it also shows he experienced constant torture as the author used the word “until” which to emphasis the torture to be continuous. Additionally, the use of the words ‘missile weapons’ shows the extreme type of weapons used to torture him. Clearly, the word ‘grievously’ shows the creature was tormented until he was bruised all over and seriously injured. Readers feel pity because they know the creature’s intentions to be good and they know it is wrong for people to treat the creature so badly.
In chapters 11-16 the monster also presents him as kind, helpful, caring and able to empathise with humans. The creature narrates how he helped the De Laceys: “I often took his tools...and brought home firing sufficient for the consumption of several days”, showing that he brought fire wood for the family which is helpful to a family as fire is essential to keep them warm during cold nights. The use of the word ‘often’ suggests that he helped them many times in this way. When the young De Laceys began to attack him the creatures say: “I could have torn him limb from limb as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sunk within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained”. This confirms the fact that he is able to cause catastrophic damage but restrains himself. This shows that he is calm and cares about humans. This is because he wants them to understand he might be a dreadful looking creature but he has feelings and also he wants make friends with them.
Moreover, he also narrates that at first he stole food from them but when he realized stealing from caused them pain, hunger and anxiety, he then stops stealing and feeds himself with wild berries instead. He says, “I abstained and satisfied myself with berries” This stresses that he is caring as he does not want the De Laceys to suffer. The use of the word ‘abstained’ suggests that he withdrew although it was the easy option for him. This states that like humans, he is able to differentiate between right and wrong and understands people’s needs.
Additionally, he also tells how he saved a girl and then he was shot by her father as the man saw him dragging her from the shore and assumed he was going to harm her: “I saved her, dragged her to the shore... I was shot in the shoulder for saving a life, is this is the reward for my extreme labour?” He is shown to be caring and helpful even though he experienced torture from people. He is good and moral to save her life as he puts lots of effort into “rushing” out of hiding to grab her hands.
He is presented as being helpful as he saved her life. He questions himself “is this the reward for my extreme labour?” It shows when someone saves a life or helps someone they expect to be appreciated for their efforts and time. Likewise, the creature expects the father to be grateful to him for saving the girl’s life but he is hurt by a gun shot and begins to ask questions. This illustrates that like humans he expects something back to show him gratitude, which is in this case for society to accept him as a being like themselves. This makes him similar to humans as he has feelings and wants people to be thankful. This also shows that he is able to understand how to interact with human beings.
Furthermore, he is also seen to experience emotions as he says with regard to the De Laceys: “When they were unhappy, I felt depressed; when they rejoiced, I sympathized in their joys.” This shows that he understands human nature and emotions, which also presents him to be like humans. This also makes the reader sympathies with the creatures as the reader begins to ask why he is not treated equally.
Further into chapters 11-16 the monster is presented as being attracted to women and in need of a mate. This is shown when the monster states “I beheld a countenance of angelic beauty and expression”. His word choices show that he is fascinated by and attracted to females as he flatters Agatha as he sees her to be beautiful. What is more, he also shows his attraction to females in another section: The “gentle manners” of the girl enticed my love”. Here, he is made to look in love with the girl for her “gentle manners” which also exhibits his attraction to women. This too shows that like humans he is also attracted to the opposite sex and wants a mate.
Near the end of chapters 11-16 the monster presents him to have anger, hatred and he is violent towards humans but only after society treated him so badly. Initially, in chapters he presents himself as helpful, friendly, caring and as innocent as a newborn baby until the end of chapter 15 when he shows his hatred against the species. He narrates concerning his plan to kill family members of Frankenstein’s and how he framed Frankenstein’s house-keeper for the murder of his brother by pacing evidence where she slept. The creature says “from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species”. This shows that due to dreadful treatment by people he became evil and started to kill. The use of the word “everlasting” shows that he had been treated badly and as a result he wants to take revenge to satisfy his anger. This shows that he will never be merciful to anyone from now, which show his deep hatred towards humans for their rejection and also for tormenting him.
The creature directly addresses Frankenstein: “towards you I felt no sentiment but that of hatred. Unfeeling, heartless creator” This is showing he has turned evil and is not willing to forgive anyone, not even Frankenstein his creator. It also shows that, like man, he finds it hard to forgive people who have hurt him and caused him pain. This too shows that he only turned violent as he could not cope with increasing torture by the people and society he was in. Therefore he declares war against mankind. Although this seems extreme, readers understand what drove him to change.
In another section he is presented as murdering Frankenstein’s brother William he says” I grabbed him by the neck…. Felt his head drop onto my wrist… I have killed the species”. Here narrates how he killed William by strangling him. This shows that he kept his word and therefore kills to satisfy himself. This is disturbing and shows how radical the creature had become. He bump into Frankenstein’s little brother and says “you shall be my first victim” This suggests that the death of Frankenstein’s little brother is the first of many to come later on. This shows that the creature is taking paths of violence which will make the people endure a torrid time. However, readers still have some sympathy for the creature knowing how Frankenstein abandoned him.
In conclusion, I personally think that after way the creature present himself in his version of the story I would never agree with what Frankenstein said prior to chapters 11-16. Reading the creature’s side of the tale makes me sympathetic and agree that he is not to blame for the killings; society’s treatment could have prevented that from happening.
I also think Frankenstein should be held responsible for all this. As he created this creature it is his duty to look after it. Also, at least he should have tried to inform society of what he had done and should also have told them the creature is a living being. Moreover, the creature should be treated with respect and like human beings. By doing this Frankenstein could have prevented the killings. Therefore, I would hold him responsible and hold him accountable.
In general, I also believe that society had a part to play in preventing the killings as they had no right to treat him badly which led him to becoming radical. It is also due to them judging him by his appearance even though he never did them any harm. Furthermore, even though he was not seen in the same light as humans he should at least have been respected like other species of the earth. To conclude, I would hold Frankenstein responsible for all the misery and also society. I feel sympathetic that the creature tried his best to stay good and be accepted by mankind as he was seen to be like humans but was mistreated. I also think he had no desire to kill but he lost his calm spirit as, like humans, he is unable to tolerate bad treatment and isolation.
I think Mary Shelley would also have agreed with the fact that Frankenstein should have been held responsible as she wanted her readers to understand that parents should look after their children properly. She could have been trying to teach us that all creatures and animal should be treated respectfully.
She could have been expressing a fear of science and its powers as she lived in a society which thought science was going too far with experiments and that man should not ‘play god’ or he will suffer for it. We all need to feel a sense of belonging and she emphasizes the creature turning violent after constant rejection by man. This suggests we are born good but our character becomes corrupted by society. Her message are still relevant to today’s society as questions as to whether science is ‘playing god’ relate to whether Genetic Modification should be allowed or not.
I personally think the main message of the novel is very important to today’s society because I don’t personally think her messages are all about science and society. I think she also wanted us to know it is important that we look after the environment and the spices living it. We must not judge people by their appearance. It is wrong to treat people badly because of their appearance.