The Creature In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein’s creation, the nameless creature in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, displays countless characteristics of physical monstrosity; he is described as “ugly”, “demonical” and a “hideous… wretch” (Shelley 36). However, the creature expresses that his only desires are acceptance and love, but he is seen as a monster regardless of his true intentions. When the creature is abandoned by Frankenstein, he is forced to find acceptance on his own and eventually comes across a cottage in the woods. As an attempt to gain approval, he waits to approach the home until the only character home is a blind man, to whom he explains his desire for friendship. The creature says that he is afraid to become “an

While Creature is full of humanity and has a thirst for knowledge, his longing for acceptance in society is met with constant rejection. Through this rejection, it sparks anger into the Creature for his irresponsible creator, Victor Frankenstein. Creature’s anger leads to greater tragedies for Victor. The greater of the tragedies are the murdering of innocent people including Victor’s family that is seen to be the fault of Creature since he is the one who murdered them. If Victor did not abandon the Creature and had taught him murder was not morally correct, Creature would not have committed the heinous acts.When Creature was first theoretically born, he was introduced into the world in a very harsh way. Metaphorically, Creature starts out into the world as a newborn, needing a parent 's guidance and teachings. Victor abandons him immediately with no sense of direction. Creature, after his “birth”, approaches Victor with a hand of longing for compassion. “He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they maybe called, were fixed on me...He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out” (Shelley 35). Victor instead of showing acceptance immediately runs away at the sight of him.

The creature from Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" displays many different human qualities. Some of these qualities include: the creature's ability to learn, his capability to feel pain, his desire to be accepted, and his need for affection and sympathy. The need for affection and sympathy is something which the creature is unable to attain. This unrequited desire to be accepted causes the creature to be the victim of the novel. The creature is never given affection by human society because of his physical deformities, Dr. Frankenstein's denial to create him a mate, and the creature's violent behaviour.

Even if Little Frank is human his creature doesn't think so. I believe this too, since he made it he should know. For example, "On his deathbed, Victor tells the ship's captain, "'In a fit of enthusiastic madness I created a rational creature, and was bound towards him'" (Grimly 188).​"This shows that Victor does admit to creating a creature and not a human. Victor tends to believe his creation is "... a rational creature ... " that he has created and brought into this world we live in today. I am sure, that the creator of this "creature" is the person who is bound to know all about his creation. No one knows more about Little Frank than his creature. In this case I say creature, because Little Frank was made by a human being. Not the ways

Easily one of the most notable themes in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the role of nature versus nurture in developing children, recurs throughout the novel with the two main characters, Frankenstein and his creature, believing in opposite sides of this theme. Favoring nature, Frankenstein maintains that the creature was always evil from the moment of creation, regardless of the creature’s experiences. However, the creature, in his narrative to Frankenstein, argues that “[he] was benevolent and good; misery made [him] a fiend” (106). In adherence with John Locke’s concept of tabula rasa, the creature was born with a blank slate, and only through his experiences does he gain knowledge and personality. Struggling to persevere in the human world, Frankenstein’s creature merely wants humans to welcome him as one of them. The change of the creature from looking “upon crime as a distant evil” because “benevolence and generosity were ever present” in him to seeking revenge on Frankenstein results from a culmination of horrible experiences (103). While it may be hard to see the creature as a trustworthy narrator because of how he has acted and his ulterior motives, he does present physical evidence to support his tale. Facing rejection in different forms, he becomes truly evil, giving up hope of companionship as a result of his trials and lessons. From the moment of his creation, the creature encounters abandonment, violence, isolation, and rejection everywhere he turns.

Frankenstein follows Victor Frankenstein’s triumph as he reanimates a dead body, and then details his guilt for creating such a thing. When the creation realizes how he came to be, and is rejected by mankind, he seeks revenge on his creator’s loved ones. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley portrays Victor Frankenstein as the true monster of the story through the use of literary devices revealing the characteristics that Frankensteins and monsters share, and shows how Frankenstein’s irresponsibility leads to his monstrous labeling.

The monster notices that humans are afraid of him because of his appearance, he feels embarrassed of himself, as humans do when they don’t seem to be accepted. He admires the De Lacey Family that lives in the cottage, he also learns from them, and hopes to have companion as they do. The monster is like humans, as mentioned, in the way that he wants someone to listen and care about him. He is discovering the world and his capacities, he seeks knowledge and understand plenty aspects of life by learning how to speak and read. “The gentle manners and beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to me; when they were unhappy, I felt depressed; when they rejoiced, I sympathized in their joys” (Shelley 47). The monster developed feelings and emotions as humans. The creature is different from humans also, since he never got to grow up as a normal human, and

In Frankenstein the creature wanted to be loved by Victor, but his master betrays him and pushed the monster down the path of revenge until he has nothing left. The creature came into the world happy and innocent, but as time went on he realized that humankind and his master had betrayed him. He wanted help people like De Lacy by cutting wood for them and getting food,u but he introduces himself to them, they made it so “[his] heart sunk within me as the with bitter sickness, and I refrained”(97). Human kind and not only his master betrayed him, but this anger manifested as anger towards the Frankenstein family. The creature felt everyone was trying to betray him and go against him so he turned him evil and made the creature want to seek

Over time, he begins to believe this. The Creature picks up on words that are thrown at him and commences utilizing them to describe himself. Instead of being simply him, he becomes “ ‘deformed,’ ” “ ‘loathsome,’ ” and “ ‘odious’ ” (108, 117). The world causes him to get lost in himself, trying to figure out who he truly is (116). Although the Creature’s self-worth is wavering, he decides that he is not “ ‘utterly unworthy of [love]’ ” (119). The Creature admits, however, that he hates himself more than Victor could ever hate him (209). After viewing the relationship of this duo, a hate stronger than that which exists between Frankenstein and his Creature seems impossible. The Creature is disappointed in who he has become and ashamed of the crimes against the innocent that he has committed (207). Eventually, Frankenstein’s creation asks him to make for him a mate to have as a companion. The Creature requests that she “ ‘of the same species, and have the same defects’ ” as he does (132). However, if this new creature is identical to him, then she will not only possess the parts that the Creature likes about himself, but also those he abhors about himself. Every time he sees this being, he will see her flaws that he contains as well, thus reminding him of all that he hates about himself. Instead of making his life better, this mate will only cause pain as the Creature is

The creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, who parallels Milton’s Eve and Satan in many ways, also makes choices based on his envy for human beings and Milton’s Adam. When the creature is hiding out by the De Lacy cottage, he finds books that include Paradise Lost. The creature acknowledges his feelings of envy saying that he feels like Satan because “often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (Shelley 90; vol.2; ch.7). The creature is envious of the DeLacey family because they have what he does not: family and friends. The creature is all alone, so he akins himself to Satan feeling envy for The Son, whereas his envy is rather more like Eve’s because his creator made him unequal to other humans, although not on purpose. The creature also envies Adam, of Paradise Lost because he says that “like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but... He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with, and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature: but I was wretched, helpless and alone” (Shelley 90; vol.2; ch.7). Although the creature was created in similar circumstances to Adam, he struggles because his creator shunned him and left him to be alone and ugly. The creature, so much like Adam, envies how Adam was loved by his creator.

This fear and rejection of the Creature is seen not only in the different people the Monster encounters throughout his travels, but also in his creator. Frankenstein is unable to stand the sight of the creature stating, “its unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes” (Shelley 95). Frankenstein’s rejection causes the Creature to accuse Frankenstein of abandonment: “you had endowed me with perceptions and passions, and then cast me abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind” (Shelley 141). The Creature says that he is Frankenstein’s obligation and it is Frankenstein’s responsibility to be his essential caretaker. Although Victor originally cowered in fear of the Creature, the Creature claims he was initially “good” and it his Victor’s rejection which drives him to violence. The monster repeatedly lectures Frankenstein on his responsibility, “I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the

Victor spent the remainder of his life chasing his “albatross” (the Creature). The Creature talks to Robert Walton after the death of Victor. Robert was startled, but treated him better than any human ever did. The Creature satisfied yet saddened by his creator’s death. According to the article Frankenstein by Virginia Brackett, the Creature weeps over the death of his father/creator, which displays a clear sign of remorse (Brackett 1). The Creature embodies child like actions as the result of Victor’s death (Brackett 1). The Creature tells Walton that he intends on dying and he won’t harm anyone else.

The monster is in need of help from his creator, for he is new to the world and does not know anything about living yet, but instead, he has nobody and is forced to figure life out by himself. Readers understand the monster’s emotion because he says “I sat down and wept”. By understanding his emotion, it will cause readers to feel sympathy for him. This also proves one of the larger themes of the novel, that people should treat others with empathy, because as his creator, Frankenstein should have been able to understand and share his feelings, for he was often alone and left to teach and fend for himself during his studies. Frankenstein’s reject to his creation is what caused the monster to feel so alone, and ultimately, what led to both of their destructions.

Frankenstein’s creature was a large body that was comprised of many different human parts, in order to create a whole. The product of Victor Frankenstein’s experiment was this hideous creature that had been brought to life. The creature did not know of anything prior to his life, so he needed someone to help him understand. After Frankenstein had fled from his creation there was no one left for the monster to go to. He learned of some sensations and ideas, through experience in the beginning of his life; there was still much he had to learn from others. All of his attempts to speak with normal humans resulted in them seeing his unfortunate appearance, followed by either running from him or attacking him. All of this calamity might

Like most horror stories, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has a wretched monster who terrorizes and kills his victims with ease. However, the story is not as simple as it seems. One increasingly popular view of the true nature of the creature is one of understanding. This sympathetic view is often strengthened by looking at the upbringing of the creature in the harsh world in which he matures much as a child would. With no friends or even a true father, the creature can be said to be a product of society and its negative views and constant rejections of him. Although this popular view serves to lessen the severity of his crimes in most people’s eyes, the fact remains that the creature is in fact a cold-hearted wretch whose vindictive nature