Frankenstein's creature and the question of humanity

Frankenstein's Creature

How often does a person attribute characteristics to another based upon their appearance? An overweight person is thought to be a glutton or lazy. A homeless person begging for money is considered a drunk or a drug addict. In Mary Shelly's novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, the large and ugly creature is assumed to be a monster.

Victor Frankenstein failed to think about the consequences of creating a human being from stolen body parts of the dead. He neglected to consider what was to take place after his creation was born. He thought nothing of his creation's needs or society's reaction to its' size and appearance. The creature would encounter people whom deemed him a dangerous monster based solely on his ugliness. This reaction became a self-fulfilling prophecy: the isolated and lonely creature became a murderous monster as a way of dealing with their rejection.

Upon seeing his creation take its' first breathe, Victor Frankenstein saw his creation as a catastrophe.

"I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room…" (Chapter 5)

Shelly's description of their first encounter resembles the moment when a doctor places a newborn baby in its' mother's arms:

"I beheld the wretch -- the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks" (Chapter 5).

Unlike a mother and her baby, Frankenstein and the creature never bonded. Frankenstein was so afraid of his creature that he fled the room.

Frankenstein's rejection was to continue. Upon hearing of the death of his younger brother, he assumed the creature had murdered the boy as retribution for his rejection. Soon after the second rejection, the creature was assumed to be a monster by someone other than his creator.

As the creature traveled to the homeland of his creator, he rescued a drowning girl from a stream. Shortly after retrieve the girl, her father came to the scene. He grabbed the girl and ran assuming the creature to be her attacker rather than her rescuer. This rejection convinced the creature that society would always fear him and would never believe his true intentions.

Later on the creature created a home for himself in a hovel next to a cottage. The creature observed the family living in the cottage and was soon providing wood for the family's fire and sweeping snow from a path between the cottage and a shed. The neighbors never know the source of these kind acts. The creature grew fond of the family and perceived them to be his protectors. He laboriously studied the family; he learned about their relations to one another, he felt their moods and he practiced their language. He had hoped to be accepted as a member of the family and developed a plan for revealing himself. He decided to first approach the elderly, blind father; the creature hoped to gain the father's friendship and to be introduced to the rest of his family. On finding the father alone one day, the creature approached the cottage and spoke with the father. The father unable to see the creature showed kindness towards him. Unfortunately, the children returned within minutes and upon seeing the creature thought their father was in danger. The few moments of acceptance were quickly turned to rejection. The family immediately vacated the cottage, never to return.

The creature was convinced acceptance by others was never to be; that he would always be perceived as a danger and would never experience companionship or love. This realization turned into anger towards Frankenstein, his creator who took no responsibility in caring for the creature and was the first to reject him. The creature's need for fellowship turned into thoughts of evil, wishing to fill his creator's life with the same kind of loneliness and despair he experienced. He gave up on receiving any recognition or acceptance from society and turned his energies to causing pain and suffering to Frankenstein.

One often asks if an evil person exist because of nature or because of nurturing. In the case of the creature the evil results from the lack of nurturing. Frankenstein and all others the creature encounter assumed him to be dangerous. The truth was that Frankenstein was the one to be feared. Frankenstein built the creature to fulfill his need for accomplishment and recognition. Frankenstein's own rejection of the creature began to planet the seed of worthlessness in the creature's heart. The continuous rejection and isolation turned the creature's immature heart into a black heart -- hating the world for hating and fearing him.