The words used make the creature seem like a monster at this point. She says ‘it stole’ out of ‘the gloom’ with its ‘gigantic statue’. This makes the creature seem monstrous because he’s murdered William and the words in this section all have a semantic field of darkness and fear. Frankenstein says he thought the creature murdered William and ‘no sooner did that idea cross my imagination than I became convinced it was true.’ This statement is generally what the whole book is about. The creature is being accused of something before anyone has actually got any proof, just because of the way he looks. This is relevant to society today because we automatically associate certain people with certain things that happen. We generally assume working class people will have performed petty crimes compared to upper class people. Shelley made Frankenstein refer to the creature as the ‘devil’. This is a sharp contrast to calling William an angel. Shelley makes a reference to good and evil and makes it seem simple, but explores the idea that life isn’t really as simple, but explores the idea that life isn’t really as simple as this.
Frankenstein says he has been trying to forget what he created. Shelley makes this Frankenstein’s fault so I’ve begin to feel sorry for creature because he didn’t bring this on himself; he never asked to be created.
Shelley sets pages 94 and 95 where Frankenstein meets the creature, in the mountains because it is bleak and desolate just like the creature’s life. Frankenstein says the creature ‘bounded over the crevices in the ice, among which I walked with caution.’ Frankenstein here is trying to disassociate himself from the creature and say he’s nothing like him. There is lots of words associated with ’awful majesty’ and swelled’. This is all associated with the size of the creature and how much the mountains and out is how much the creature stands out.
Frankenstein says its ‘unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes’. This is saying the creature is not human and makes the reader think he is a monster. Shelley presents the creature as a monster at this point to contrast a different point of view. This is to make sure that the reader doesn’t feel too much sympathy towards the creature or else they would be biased towards it and take away their understanding of the story.
This is different from today because disfigured people today are not treated this way. There still may be some hostility towards them, but they’re not thought of as freaks or cast out of society or ridiculed anymore.
The reader feels increasingly angry towards Frankenstein because he says ‘Devil, do you dare approach me?’ This is ironic, because Frankenstein was the person who created the creature, but the creature has never asked to be created. Frankenstein has subjected the creature to this torture so the creature is just taking revenge with the murders.
We fee sympathy for the creature here because he is being completely rejected even by the one person who does have responsibility towards him.
Frankenstein uses some extremely harsh language towards the creature such as ‘Abhorred monster’ and ‘Wretched devil.’ It is ironic that Frankenstein trying to take over the role of God ended up creating what he thinks of as the devil.
We also feel sympathy for the creature because he’s being calm, yet he’s obviously angry at Frankenstein but he’s not taking it out on him; Frankenstein’s threatening him instead. This could show that the creature’s actually human and can control his temper, or it could be that the creature realises that being alive with no-one is worse than death and he wants Frankenstein to suffer like he has.
We feel sorrow for the creature because he has been rejected all through his life because even at ‘birth’ he said he felt ‘half frightened’. This length of rejection provides some reasoning as to his behaviour in the later parts of his life.
Mary Shelley puts the creature’s story in because this gives us some insight into how the creature feels. The creature’s story from pages 98 – 129 is written as a monologue. This is significant because this makes the creature seem even more isolated because he’s telling the story all on his own.
The creature says ‘Darkness then came over me and troubled me.’ This makes the creature seem unlike a monster because monsters and evil are normally associated with the dark. Next, the creature sat down and wept. This makes the reader feel deep compassion towards the creature because he’s obviously upset. Even today in modern society when a man cries we think that something really bad must have happened because men aren’t ‘supposed’ to cry. It’s seen as weak so this makes the creature seen weak also. We also feel sympathy for the creature because he said ‘sometimes I tried to imitate the pleasant songs of the bird but was unable,”the inarticulate sounds which broke from me frightened me into silence again.”
Trying to make sounds of the birds make him seem gentle. Inarticulate sounds are what babies make and this also makes him seem powerless because babies are weak. Also we feel sorry for him here because he scared himself with these sounds. This makes the reader think it must be hard for the creature and extremely frustrating because he’s got no-one to learn from because he’s been left; so he will not be nurtured
At the end of page 103 the creature has a mixture of feelings. He feels pain and pleasure because he’s sees the old man being so kind to the little girl. He feels pleasure because he’s seeing so much kindness but pain because he’s never received it himself. This is almost jealously or longing for something that you don’t have. This is still crucial in today’s life because people today are still never satisfied with what they have. Also, people today are still living in poverty or neglected like the creature.
The creature notices that the family wasn’t entirely happy and their happiness is tinged with sadness. It upsets him because he thinks if ‘such lovely creatures were miserable, it was less strange that I, an imperfect and solitary being, should be wretched.’ Because he’s had no guidance in life he assumes that he should be upset because they are. The creature can’t understand why the family are upset because they appear to have everything. This refers to my earlier point that people are never satisfied with what they have got.
Mary Shelley makes lots of references towards God throughout this book to accentuate more that Frankenstein acted out God’s role. She says that the cottagers’ talking was God like science. This is ironic because to people of the time they would have thought that God would have given them the power of speech but to the creature Frankenstein is God so he should have given him the power of speech by looking after him. But he didn’t, so this means the creature hasn’t really got a God. This would make people of the time think that he was a monster because religion was very important to people back then, much more then today. Today, this would be less important because religion isn’t embedded in culture as much as back then. This is maybe why the creature would be less likely to be though of as a monster today. The creature asks Frankenstein to make him a female. At the time this would be preposterous because this means they could mate and may be able to produce children. This would be like an alien race and this would be disastrous. The creature says ‘Shall I respect man when he condemns me.’ The creature is saying why should he be kind to man when they just shun him. He’s saying it’s Frankenstein’s fault that he’s here so he should do his best to make him happy. There is still a message here today that people have to be responsible for their actions. He say’s he’s malicious because he’s miserable so this also provides reasoning for the murders.
He says that Frankenstein would not call it murder if he killed him, which I wrong because whether he is human or not he is still alive so if he was killed it would be murder. This also makes referenced to subjects such as euthanasia and abortion and makes the reader think are these murder?
Frankenstein pities the creature and thinks that the creature probably does deserve something from him. The creature has used words and actions to try and win Frankenstein over; another ability that makes him near human. This also makes the reader pity the creature because they understand the creature. Also, we feel more towards Frankenstein because we think he may be starting to take responsibility.
However, Frankenstein doesn’t think the creature can stay away when he so desires to please man and have their acceptance. This is a basic human instinct that we all have so if the creature has it, it makes him seem more human than monster. The creature is begging Frankenstein and this makes him seem very vulnerable, weak and unthreatening.
Frankenstein feels completely opposite feelings towards the creature; compassion, a wish to console him and also hatred.
On page 160, this is the first time Frankenstein realises he has no right to play God. He says ‘had I a right, for my own benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting generations?’ He realises he was selfish and too full of his importance. This makes him seem like the monster and not the creature.
The reader starts to feel fear of the creature here, when he calls Frankenstein ‘Slave, remember I have the power, you are my creator, but I am your master, obey!’
This does not make him seem like a monster, but he’s realised he is physically the more powerful being and he’s decided to use his power. This makes the reader realise the problems that a race of these creatures could cause to humans and are thankful towards Frankenstein for destroying the creature’s mate. When the creature calls Frankenstein ‘man; he is not just referring to Frankenstein but to all of mankind because they have all shunned him.
Before Elizabeth’s death the writer uses words of violence to build it up and set the scene. ‘Darkness’ ‘great violence’, ’heavy storm of rain.’, ‘flight of the vulture,’ and ‘dreadful’ are all used to describe the scene. She has done this to make it seem all the more sinister and to provoke the thought that even the weather knew what was about to take place.
At this point the creature seems like a monster because he murdered Elizabeth who was innocent. This seems unjust and unfair, ironically everything that the creature has suffered.
At Frankenstein’s death the creature seems regretful and sorrowful even after all Frankenstein has put him. This makes him seem humane and because of this he cannot be classed s a monster.
After this the creature says he will go and he will die, he will kill himself. He realises that he was not meant to be created and not meant to be on the earth. It says at the end that Frankenstein left and was lost in “darkness and distance.” This is ironic because most of tortured life he’d been lost in darkness because no-one guided him, no one showed him the light.
Overall, I think that the creature was a creature and not a monster. He did some monstrous things in his life but his regret and repentance make him a creature.
