We think of nature as green fields, trees and flowers – the author visibly describes the monster to be the exact opposite of anything connected with nature. Victor brands the monster “Devil” – he does not refer to the monster as being a devil, he refers to the monster being the Devil – Satan. The Devil is the exact opposite of nature – fire, dungeons and evil are associated with the Devil. Extremely different to the nature that we think of consisting of green fields, trees and flowers.
When Victor meets the monster, Victor is seemingly frightened, terrified in fact at his engagement with the monster he feels so much “rage and hatred” at. Victor however does not hide his feelings and insults the monster as being a “vile insect”. Mary Shelly reflects Victor’s loathing and disgust at the monster by the use of descriptions, feelings and thoughts.
The monster’s attitude is understandable. He has been thrown into an unknown planet and had absolutely no choice on being created and brought to life. The monster feels that as creator of him, Victor has some sort of a responsibility towards the welfare of the monster. Victor feels his only responsibility is to kill and destroy the monster. The monster is quite shocked by Victors feelings, he questions Victors hatred of him – “How dare you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind”. The monster feels that he is of benefit to mankind, before the creation of the monster Victor ignorantly felt that the creation of a monster would be to the benefit of mankind. The author portrays the monster and his thoughts as being quite evil. The monster uses intimidation, threatening Victor to “comply” with the monster’s conditions of Victor doing his duty to the monster or face sickening consequences of the monster glutting the maw of death until it is satiated with blood on Victor’s remaining friends. The author’s graphic and gory description of the monsters threats shows very clearly that the author wants us to think of the monster as not being a helpless thing plunged into an unknown world but as a deceitful, cruel and evil monster.
The way, in which the author portrays the attitudes and feelings of the monster in Vol. II, Chapter II is mainly through conversation. The monsters opinion on his creation and Victor’s desire for him to be destroyed is revealed in dialogue with Victor – the creator of the monster. The monster feels that he can do a duty and can benefit mankind – we find this out in conversation. The author shows that the monster is not stupid and that he knows how humans react, the monster says, “I expected this reception” upon being insulted by Victor. The monster expects to be verbally assaulted and shows no surprise when he learns of Victor’s hatred and contempt for him. The author however makes sure to emphasize throughout that the monster is evil and should not be sympathized with, the monster is described as a “daemon”. The monster must also be fairly intelligent to some degree – he learns the art of blackmail threatening Victor.
Victor is angry at the monster’s thoughts and feelings, which he plainly speaks to Victor. Victor believes that the monster is nothing more than a “wretched devil” and Victor who created the monster is reproached at the creation of the monster.
Mary Shelly uses many devices to show how unlike nature the monster is; his wooden feelings and his “superhuman” speed are described in such a way that the monster is certainly not the result of a natural occurrence. Through the words used in conversations and descriptions those reading Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein will notice quite obviously that Victor is frightened of his creation – the monster, the monster has a cold, heartless and devious attitude and that the events of the book are extremely unnatural.
The monsters sick thoughts that he is to the benefit of mankind and his blackmailing to Victor relate closely to the gothic genre. It is these thoughts, feelings and descriptions that have influenced many of the horror films that we watch today.
The author cleverly and extremely capably creates a twisted and unnatural atmosphere. The author also chooses what she wants us to think, her descriptions illustrate the monster and we are shown quite a one-sided story of the events. This all helps in displaying the tense mood in Volume II, Chapter II.
By James Hilsdon
