From the beginning of the story we are given a bias account of the monster, through Frankenstein. We are made to feel sorry for Victor and to feel badly towards the creation, “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?” This shows that he hated the monster from its ‘birth’, yet we aren’t given an account from the monster, and so are influenced by Victor’s speech. The reason it is bias, is because the story is written in an epistolary, (from Robert Walton to his sister, being dictated by Victor Frankenstein.) this method of writing makes the story more believable, yet only gives one side of the story
The story is about a man, Robert Walton, on his journey to the North Pole. On his way through the ice lands he meets Victor Frankenstein, half starved and frozen. Robert Walton takes Victor onboard and improves his health, enough for Victor to retell his story of science and horror, “His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. I never saw a man in so wretched a condition.”
Victor uses a lot of rhetoric speech, in which he asks the reader a great deal of questions that he already knows the answers to, “Yet why were these gentle being unhappy?” He also uses the phrase, “miserable wretch” a lot. This gives us the impression that Victor sees himself above the monster. The story itself is also circular and non-chronological. The story both starts and ends on the boat, in the North Pole, and the story is about the past.
Mary Shelly used a lot of references to nature and the weather. When a bad thing is imminent, the weather turns bad, “It advanced; the heavens were clouded and soon I felt the rain coming down in large drops, but its violence quickly increased.” This was preceded by Victor’s first encounter with the creation, after he had brought him to life. The idea that mankind was clearly linked to nature was a common Romantic principle
Victor also saw himself as a god-like figure. This could be related to the Prometheus myth, modelling man after his own fashion. Throughout the story he reverts to himself as a very powerful person. It could also relate to the second Prometheus myth, in which he took fire from the God’s and gave it to man, much in the same way that Victor took life and give it to the creation.
The story itself has a story inside a story, a Chinese box, with a story on the outside, (Robert Walton’s journey to the North Pole) then a story inside that, (Victor’s experience with the monster) and the monster in the middle (The monster’s time with the DeLacy family). Victor retells how he met the monster on the mountain, which took him to a hut and told him about his time with the DeLaceys. This story gives us a new look at the monster. The monster spent some time with this family, hiding from them in a small hovel attached to the side of the building. Here he learnt how to speak and the ways of the world. Before he was forced to leave, the monster went and talked to the blind father. As the man could not see him, he talked to monster as he would anybody else, but when the rest of the family came back they beat the monster because of his appearance, “At that instant the cottage door was opened, and Felix, Safie and Agatha entered. Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me?” This is another useful piece of information when deciding who is the monster, as the monster was beaten upon because of his appearance. Again this recalls the theory of Rousseau.
In the beginning of the story, after Victor had created the monster, the last time that Victor “liked” the monster was before he was finally given life. As soon as the monster woke, he had true and passionate hatred for the monster, “His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of lustrous black, and following; his teeth of pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips
Frankenstein seems to be a relatively selfish person. For example, on his way back home after he learns of his young brother’s death, he stops off at a village for a few days, instead of going home to console his relations. “One sudden and desolating change had taken place [here he is talking about how he believes his native town had changed slightly, and feared that it would be terrible] but a thousand little circumstances might have by degrees worked other alterations, which, although they were done more tranquilly, might none the less decisive. Fear overcame me; I dared not advance.” This shows that he was that selfish he would not look upon his hometown, that he had not visited in six years due to him working very hard, to comfort his family in the tragic murder of his younger brother.
The monster itself his more kind than Victor. As the monster was traveling to Victor’s hometown, he came across a young boy in the river, drowning. The monster dived in and saved the boy. When his father came, he drew his gun and shot the monster in the arm. This would cause the monster to feel very resentful towards the human race, considering he had just saved a person, and had been shot for it, once again using the beliefs of Rousseau.
In conclusion Frankenstein seems to be more of a monster than the creation. The monster gave many opportunities to be accepted into normal life, but every time he tried he was shot, beaten and been sent away. Frankenstein on the other hand, took no effort to help the monster, and he truly hated the monster on his appearance alone. Frankenstein also began to create a second monster, the bride for the creation. However half way through Frankenstein destroyed the corpse and thus angered the monster further, when Frankenstein could have had the monster out of his life for all eternity. This is also a good example of Frankenstein’s selfishness as it shows that he was only thinking about himself as he believes that the creation well use this second monster to reek havoc upon the world, “Three years before, I was engaged in the same manner and created a fiend whose unparalleled barbarity [Once again we see that he is being biased towards the monster as he never tried to reason with the monster and any time.] had desolated my heart and filled it forever with the bitterest remorse. I was now to form another being of whose dispositions I was alike ignorant; she might become ten thousand times more malignant that her mate…”
