I just finished rereading Frankenstein and gosh, my thoughts are different. When I first read the book during my senior year of high school, I felt pity for the creature but now, I HATE the creature. I feel so terrible for Victor even though it does seem like he put himself in this situation. A last, I wanted to showed a paper that I wrote in high school. I got an A+ on this paper but we will see what I think of it now. Let’s take it back to March 06, 2018.
The creature in the novel of, “Frankenstein” comes across many people who are prejudiced towards him just because of the way he looks. This leads the so called monster into becoming insecure. In today’s society, many fall insecure as well because of many things such as a beauty standard or what celebrities or other people may look like. Today most do not react as violently as the creature does but it can cause an impact on their self esteem like the creature.
“Why Did I like? Why, in the instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so want only bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery.” In this quote by the creature in the novel, he wonders why Frankenstein had to create him, or why he had to make him the certain way he looks. The creature reflecting on what the villagers reaction of him was. He wanted revenge on the villagers for how they acted towards him. Stated in the quote he was filled with so much rage and anger he could destroy their homes and them and feel happy about it. This is all a result of the people of the village having shown prejudice towards the creature’s outside appearance.
In chapter twelve, the monster speaks of how he is different from the ordinary people; “I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers, their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions; but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At fire I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification.” This is similar to what we call a beauty standard, or the ideal look, the creature did not fall under what he thought was the perfect and ideal look, like the cottagers had. He was in shock when he saw his own appearance for the first time, he was sad, bitter, and insecure. Many people feel this way and people have probably felt those same feelings at some point in their lives since the start of time. The creature seeing himself made him realize why the villagers were so scared of him and acted the way that they did.
The creature wanted his creator, Victor Frankenstein, to make him a companion so he would not feel so alone in this world. In chapter seventeen, it states; “You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.” He wants someone who can understand him and know how he feels and what it is like to be a “monster”. This request later leads to the downfall of both Frankenstein and his creature, Victor begins to create a companion for the creature but then feels as though this creature could harm others like the first one. The creature is enraged by this and begins to destroy Victor’s life by killing those who is close to and later killing Victor himself.
The creature faces many prejudices in his life. The old saying says to never judge a book by it’s cover, maybe if Victor would have kept the creature under his wing instead of judging it by its looks it would have not turned out violent. Throughout the novel, it shows the creature has many feelings just like humans do, he goes from feeling despair and insecure to wanting to find lover and then becoming evil because what could have been love was destroyed by his own creator. We should never judge somebody by how they look on the outside but give them a chance as they are probably like us and share the same kind of feelings.
Izzy Reads 