Mary Shelley shows great intelligence within her creature who has narrated the story from chapters 11 to 16. Shelley gives the creature the gift of language and he uses this to his advantage. The creature has acquired all of his knowledge from the family by listening to the old man and repeating the language and also eventually reading books that he finds. He is able to form his own opinions and feeling for the books. The creature like the way he feels when he has learnt something new.
“ As I read, however, I applied much personally to my own feelings and condition.”
This emphasises that the creature loves learning, he enjoys it and he then realises he can use his knowledge in many ways. He uses this talent against Victor when they meet again; he shows his high status and his development into a strong powerful character.
The creature develops a strong bond with the family even though he doesn’t reveal himself until the end of this chapter. He trusts the old man and decides to reveal himself to him only at first to gain acceptance. The reader once again is filled with dread as they are not sure how they old man or his family will react, surly nothing good can come of this? The creature wants to be part of a family and he realises it is what he wants. He also questions how and why he is here. This once again shows his intelligence as he is looking for reasons for his existence.
“ Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come from? These questions continually reaccured, but was I able to solve them.”
This displays a strong sense of relationships and how important a family is. The creature wants to find out where his family is, and why he is alone? Where is his family support?
Another important factor of being part of the family is interaction. The creature feels part of the cottagers family even though he has no real interaction with the family. He is only able to see them by spying through a small gap. He listens to the stories told by the old man, he does work for the family to help them and he has learnt everything he knows from them. Even though he has never really had physical interaction with the family. He still feels like hes part of them because he has been through a lot of things with them.
“Such was the history of my beloved cottages. It impressed me deeply, I learned from the views of social life which it developed.”
This evokes emotion and pathos as the reader wants the creature to be accepted if he should join them. The creature wants to join them and believes they will not judge him and accept him. He wants to interact with the family and he will do anything for them.
When the creature does finally build up the courage to show himself to the family. The reader feels just as nervous as the creature. He ceases his opportunity to be alone with the old man, as he believes he will not judge him on his appearance because he cannot see. This reassures the creature as he believe the old man will like his personality and that he will persuade the family that the creature is a good person. This builds the confidence in the creature.
“ They are the most excellent creatures in the world: but unfortunately, they are prejudiced against me.”
This emphasises that the creatures wants to be accepted by this family who he loves and thinks very highly of. He wants to join them and he wants the old man to make the family learn to accept him for who he is, just like the old man has done. The creature craves the security, Interaction and love a family brings.
When the rest of the cottagers return and see this creature their reaction is more terrible than anyone could of ever thought. The reader suddenly realises this is the dread they have being feeling through out the chapter. They realise the creature has made a big mistake, he was too trusting and the family where to judgemental.
“ Who can describe the horror and consternation on beholding me?”
This shows that the creature never really thought about the consequences of revealing himself to the others. He had a strong belief that his adopted family would understand.
Emotion is an important part of this chapter as the creature becomes overwhelmed by it. When the cottagers reject him. He feels sadness because he is now alone and has no one to watch, learn and feel safe with. His anger is also shown as he vows revenge on his creator. He believes that his creator was wrong to make him in this way. He sets off in search of Victor.
“ Cursed! Cursed, Creator!”
This displays the creatures anger at his creator and it also shows his questioning of his birth. He has all this built up emotion from what has just happened and he needs to express it. Victor must be careful, as from earlier on in the novel we know what this gentle giant is capable of.
The narration of the creature within this chapter shows his strong point of view and his feelings of hurt and anger. Mary Shelley has shown her points of view through her creature and she has shown that there are flaws in society as the family are very judgemental about the creature and many people where judgemental of this novel, as it seemed to be written ahead of its time. Shelley has included this style of narration to represent what other may think.
