Who's the REAL Monster?

A detailed Summary of Who's the REAL Monster?

Throughout the ages, society has been based on stark contrasts: good or bad, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, normal or aberrant. Some of these contrasts are based on realities and people are born into these situations, others are perceptions by society itself. In Mary Shelley's, Frankenstein, this act of erring by the society of the day is extremely evident. Two of the contrasts revolve around the central characters, Dr. Frankenstein and the monster. Society's perception of these two extremely different characters are on the exact opposite side of the scale of what they truly are. Dr. Frankenstein is more of a monster while the creature is more 'humane'.

Dr. Frankenstein, the so-called decent, no-fault man, is actually authoritarian, obstinate, and extreme in his actions throughout the novel. From the very first encounter with Victor Frankenstein, we get a hint of his character when he asks Robert Walton, "Do you share my madness?" (p.24). This is one of the first things he asks once he recovers from his illness. From the beginning we know that something is wrong with Victor.

Dr. Frankenstein's irresponsibility is illustrated many times in the feelings he displays toward his creation. Wh

What's the creature to do? With not a single companion in the whole world, he sets out to try and find one. The creature's second encounter with man is no better than his first, "He turned on hearing a noise; and perceiving me, shrieked loudly, and quitting the hut, ran across the fields with a speed of which his debilitated form hardly appeared capable" (p.135). The creature has two encounters with man and they both result in the men running in pure horror from the creature. The creature soon realizes that he is"a poor, helpless, miserable wretch" (p.132), that people hate him because he is ugly.

The creature, created by man, is viewed as savage and brutal simply on the basis of his appearance, whereas he is actually intelligent, kind, and quite 'humane'. From the first moment of his life, the creature is treated poorly by humans just because he does no t resemble one of us. His creator even runs out as he lays eyes on the creature .

The creature has no one to turn to, no one to love even the person that brought him into the world hates him, "All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life?" (p.126).

The creature even shows signs of joy when he listened to music, "...and to produce sounds sweeter than the voice of the thrush or the nightingale. It was a lovely sight, even to me, poor wretch!" (p.139). When the creature sees the interaction of a true family his yearning to be accepted increases, "He raised her, and smiled with such kindness and affection that I felt sensations of a peculiar and overwhelming nature: they were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never before experienced...and withdrew from the window, unable to bear these emotions" (p.139). The creature longs to be accepted by

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Approximate Word count = 1333
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels