“Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all human kind sinned against me?” (165). Mary Shelley has written her novel in such a way that she strongly succeeds in convincing her readers that the monster created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein is nothing but a “vile insect” (68) that should be furiously loathed and disdained. However, is Frankenstein’s monster really the villain as Shelly has portrayed him to be and as Victor believes him to be, or is he, in fact, a victim in this story, a “fallen angel” who was driven “joy for no misdeed” (69)?
After reading Shelley’s Frankenstein, it is hard not to believe that Frankenstein’s creature is “hideous monster” (102). The monster kills Frankenstein’s younger brother using his bare hands, and later frames Justine Moritz for the murder because she forever robbed of all that she could give [him]” (103) and so he wants her to make amends. The monster also murders Henry Clerval, Frankenstein’s best friend. Finally the monster also kills Victor's cousin and newly wedded wife, Elizabeth, keeping the promise that he made of “with [Victor] on [his] wedding night” (122). As in Victor’s opinion, readers too would seem to believe that the monster is unparalleled in “deformity and wickedness” (122).
However, if readers closely examine the story, readers will discover that even though the monster has committed hideously violent acts, it is not entirely his fault. Since Dr. Victor Frankenstein is the man who created the monster, it is he who should have been held responsible for his actions. After creating the creature, Victor himself feels disgusted and horrified by the very appearance of the monster (35). Victor then abandons the creature because of this, refusing to care for his safety or welfare. Readers may see this as somewhat analogous to deserting a newborn baby in the forest to defend itself.
After Frankenstein abandoned his creation, it leaves the monster as a merely “poor, helpless, miserable wretch” (71). The creature feels “frightened [and] desolate” (71), and is left to live on a diet of acorns and berries. He spends several years observing a small family to learn the language and the way of human beings. He craves and longs for their company so that they may “[sympathize] with [his feelings and [cheer] [his] gloom” (93). However, all the humans that encounter him ultimately experience feelings of “horror and consternation” (96) because of his disfigured appearance, and these rejections make his heart sink “with bitter sickness” (97). Initially, the monster tries very hard to be benevolent, but he is shunned in response, and is rewarded with “the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone” (101).
It is not surprising that the monster concludes that “there was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist [him]” (97). Thus, he declares “ever-lasting war against [humans]” (97), especially against Frankenstein, since his creator was responsible for the unbearable misery the creature suffered. The monster kills William Frankenstein because he is Victor’s closest relative, and frames Justine because he realizes that she will never sympathize with him like the rest of the humans.
Despite all the atrociously violent acts committed by Frankenstein’s monster, the monster still seems to have some humanity left within him. The monster himself admits that, “[it] is true that [he is] a wretch” (165). However, the monster also rightfully claims that it is not his fault that he is a “vile insect.” The monster struggles to preserve his humanity and make humans sympathize with him. However, there is no one guiding him, he is not able to learn the ways of human life, and therefore resorts to hatred and violence. Not only the world, but even the very person who created him does not care for him, so it is not surprising that he lashes out at them all. Readers will understand that someone could possibly not be kind if their life was filled with brutality and negativity. Readers who might be familiar with John Locke’s notion of “tabula rasa” that humans are a blank slate and their character turns out according to whatever society writes. Thus, perhaps Shelley herself has been presenting the idea that the monster’s behavior was a result of the effects of society. So it seems apparent that the creature, to quite an extent, is actually the victim in Shelley’s story.
References
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 4th ed. New York: Dover Publictions, 1994. Print.
