Who is the monster in Frankenstein? - Discuss with reference to chapters 5, 16 & 17.

Michael Deacon

Who is the monster in Frankenstein? – Discuss with reference to chapters 5, 16 & 17

Discuss Shelley’s use of language
Link to historical context
Refer to your knowledge of the novel as a whole

There are many ideas as to who the monster really is in Frankenstein and in this essay I will explore who the monster is in the novel. The three main ideas are whether it is Victor, society itself or indeed the monster who is truly evil. Although Victor’s creation is known as the Monster, by reading the novel it is clear that this isn’t the full story.

The beginning of chapter 5 is very important in the novel, as this is the chapter in which the Monster is brought to life, and we learn a lot about what the Monster is really like. We see from the word ‘dreary’ in the first sentence and ‘dismally’ a few lines down that misery is to come once the monster has been created. This is also shown by the choice of month – November. This is a winter month and makes the situation seem bleak. The Monster is described as having ‘yellow skin’, ‘watery eyes’, a shrivelled complexion’ and ‘straight black lips’. This description gives him a corpse-like appearance and illustrates the ugliness of the Monster. The appearance contrasts what the Monster is like. Shelley makes the Monster mutter ‘inarticulate sounds’ while a grin wrinkles his cheeks. This portrays the Monster as a big baby and is done to show the Monster’s innocence.

Frankenstein’s personality is shown in this chapter as well. He writes about his ‘toils’, which suggests that he has been working very hard on the Monster. We also know from previous chapters that he has been working so hard at the expense of his own health, and that he has not written home in two years. This fact shows he is determined, much like Captain Walton is in the opening letters, determined to reach his goal at the expense of everything else. However he comes to realise that the project should not have happened, labelling it a ‘catastrophe’. He also says ‘how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form’. This quote is useful for two reasons. Firstly it shows his character as a scientist, when he uses the word ‘delineate’. This means explain and is used in science. The other reason is that he says ‘with infinite pains and care’ and this reinforces the point that he has worked very hard on this, and he is now repulsed by it. In the next paragraph he writes ‘I had deprived myself of rest and health’ which again demonstrates that he has worked incredibly hard, and also acts as a parallel to Captain Walton. In this chapter he sees the beauty of his creation turn into a catastrophe. This point is proven when he says that the ‘beauty of the dream vanished’. He also adds ‘breathless horror and disgust filled my heart’. This shows that he is scared and ashamed of what he has done. He describes the Monster as something that ‘even Dante could not have conceived’. Dante is the author of the Divine Comedy, in which he describes Hell. By this Victor means the Monster is so bad, he is worse than anything from Hell itself.

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Chapter 16, and page 130 before it is a turning point because the Monster does nothing wrong, but Felix judges him by his appearance and attacks him. This is what turns the Monster evil. He calls the family his ‘younger protectors’. This suggests that the monster thinks he’s part of the family and that his intentions are good. He also says ‘do not you desert me in the hour of trial’. The trial he is talking about is the trial he is put on by society because of his appearance and this links to the theme of justice, which is a major theme in this novel. He also says ‘desert’ because he feels everyone else has deserted him. Also he says ‘ I sank on the chair and sobbed aloud’ and this supports the notion that he is childlike and sensitive. Felix attacks him and he returns to his ‘hovel’ with ‘bitter sickness’. The mood darkens in chapter 16 with a deepening comparison to Satan. The Monster is portrayed as powerful, beast-like and destructive. This is shown when he says ‘I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils’. He vows an ‘ever-lasting war against the species’ and also mentions ‘justice’. This obviously links in with the theme of justice, and that he has been forced into this war because of the trial by society. He decides to seek out his creator, and on the way he says a girl from drowning. The girl’s father shoots him and this only serves to heighten his hatred for humanity. He wishes to befriend a child but on finding that the child is William Frankenstein he kills him. This shows he is jealous of the family love between the Frankenstein family because he himself is not being shown that love by Victor. By this action he also wants to make Victor suffer as much as he is. We can see this when he says ‘this death will carry despair to him. We also see his plan to make Victor suffer when he says ‘a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him’. He plants a portrait from the child onto Justine, who is sleeping. This causes Justine to be accused of the crime and hanged. This tells us that the Monster can be scheming and plotting. Also, this is symbolic as a parallel, in that like the Monster, the innocents are punished. From this we can see that society is the real monster in this novel, as it is society that has judged the Monster by his appearance and caused him to turn evil.

In chapter 17 the Monster asks Frankenstein for a bride. At first however, Victor refuses the Monster’s request, saying that if he created another being like the Monster their ‘joint wickedness might desolate the world’. He has also learnt from creating the Monster that he should not play God, and that science can be dangerous as well as helpful. I do not agree with Victor when he says ‘ I do refuse it’, but I can understand why he would say that. From the Monster’s journals we can see he is a caring person who wants to help the world. This is evident in chapter 16 when he saves the girl from drowning. However victor would not know this and couldn’t be sure of the Monster’s story, so he would feel there was a risk in creating the Monster’s bride. The theme of justice is once again present when Victor says ‘I felt there was some justice in his argument’. This suggests he regrets what he has done in creating the Monster but should fulfil his request because it would be the right thing to do. He is also persuaded because the Monster says ‘I will revenge my injuries’. Victor wouldn’t want the Monster to be destructive to anybody so this is one of the things that persuades him. The Monster also promises to leave the ‘habitations of man’. This is added assurance for Victor. Victor does not want the Monster to become destructive, because he would ultimately become destructive towards him and even if he didn’t, Victor would become the most hated man in all of science for creating the Monster. This is why he is reluctant to comply with the Monster’s demands.

We also see from this chapter a part of the Monster’s personality when he says ‘I am willing to reason with you’. This again demonstrates that the Monster isn’t actually a monster; he is willing to compromise and justify his actions. From this chapter more importantly, we see that it is not the Monster who is the actual monster. He is compassionate and is justified in his actions. From this it is not clear whether Victor is the real monster, because he is uncertain of the Monster’s plans, and cannot necessarily trust him when he tells his story of the De Lacey’s cottage, and other events that have happened. However he should see from the reasoning the Monster is willing to do that he does have good intentions, and the Monster does say ‘the love of another would destroy the cause of my crimes’, in other words if he is loved by someone he would no longer need to be evil, because the love of another is all he’d ever wanted. This again suggests that the Monster is not actually a monster at all.

The novel uses a Chinese-box style narration. This means the story is told by many characters, all of which are similar. Victor’s determinedness in creating the Monster parallels Captain Walton’s in trying to get to the North Pole. The Monster is also determined in Chapter 17 in persuading Victor to create him a bride.

The theme of justice is used heavily, in the way that the Monster is treated by society. He is hated because of his appearance, and this is a misguided opinion, a prejudice. They hate him without knowing his caring and kind spirit. The hanging of Justine uses the theme of justice, and is also a parallel to the monster in the fact the innocent people are punished.

In conclusion, I believe that society is the monster in this novel. This is because the judge the Monster by his appearance, without knowing him and what he is truly like. In this way Shelley uses the Monster as a symbol. Nobody knows him but everybody hates him, and the Monster is a symbol of innocent people having others who don’t know them being prejudiced towards them. We see this from chapter 5 & 16, and see he is prepared to reason in 17, meaning he is not just a cold-hearted monster. By doing this Shelley develops what we think of people, as well as putting across the point that science can be dangerous.

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