Sturm, 1

Angelica Sturm

Ms. Acosta

English 12

18 March 2022

Emotions Of The Monster

“Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him,

when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (Shelley, 117).

The creation of Victor Frankenstein has just read Milton's Paradise Lost and he compares the

good and bad he has been through since living in this new world. He relates this experience to

the story of Satan in Milton's Poem where Satan is excluded from human life and envies

happiness and the true mortal experience. The monster compares himself to Satan since his

unhappiness is caused by his creator, God. In this story we can observe that Victor Frankenstein

is the God who created this “monster”, but is this creation truly a monster or is he a human? Not

only does the wretched creature show emotions of anger, compassion, and kindness but he is also

able to express loneliness. Even if this loneliness was caused by his creator just like how Satan

was treated. In the novel, there are occurrences where he is angry about being beaten or at his

creator for leaving him. He only expresses human characteristics which therefore further proves

he is very much a human just a little different externally. Although some may argue that the

monster has made mistakes like murdering Victors loved ones he is truly not, due to the fact that

he still expresses and acts on emotions such as anger, kindness, and loneliness.

The first example of Frankenstein’s creation being a human is when he shows the readers

how he is lonely. “I had yet seen a being resembling me, or who claimed any intercourse with
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me. What was I” (Shelley, 109). This is where we see him expressing his loneliness, he realizes

that he is different from anybody else because of his appearance. Due to this he believes that no

one would ever want to speak or come near this creature. This allows for the monster to go to

Victor to compel him to create a long time companion to combat this issue he faces. “I demand a

creature of another sex, but as hideous of myself; the gratification is small, but it is all that I can

receive, and it shall content me. It is true we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on

that account we shall be more attached to one another'' (Shelley, 134). This quote shows that he

wants a companion of a different sex but one that is equally as hideous of hinmself. He wants

someone to relate to and not be alone all because of his appearance. He states that when he

receives this companion he will be able to leave Victor and move on with his life since he will

forever never be alone again. These two quotes support the fact that Frankenstein is a human

regardless of his appearance since he shows to the reader how he feels the emotion of loneliness

and wants a companion the same as him.

The second emotion we see Frankenstein expressing is anger. This all starts out how

Frankenstein wanted to introduce himself to the cottagers he had watched and cared about for so

long. He went in to introduce himself to the blind man, Mr. De Lacey, he was not able to see

what the monster actually looked like and was able to talk to him regardless of his appearance.

However this was taken as a threat by Felix and he began to attack him with a stick.``I lighted

the dry branch of a tree, and danced with furry around the devoted cottage” (Shelley, 126).

Frankenstein had lit the cottage on fire out of pure anger and hatred that this family had caused.

This event of the cottagers leads Frankenstein to hate the human race and only feel anger. So

next time Frankenstein visits his creator he only feels hatred for the human race and now because

of the fact that he was abandoned. “He had abandoned me: and, in the bitterness of my heart, I
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cursed him” (Shelley, 119). In this quote we can see that the monster is angry with Frankenstein

for not only creating him and leaving him to be the only one of kind but for also just feeling after

the monster was created. Victor also abandoned him after the monster was created since he was

disgusted. This leaves the monster feeling angry since his own “God” and “father” could not

even stare at him or let alone take care of this new creature he created.

The last major emotions that Frankenstein shows is kindness and compassion. While the

monster is wandering around one night he seeks shelter in a hovel adjacent to a cottage. The next

day in the morning the monster goes out to observe the cottage and quickly finds out that the

cottage is occupied by a couple people. He grows curiosity for these people and wants to watch

and observe them. In this action he starts to see how they express different emotions, treat each

other, and even care for one another. This relates to how he starts showing his kindness towards

the cottagers. He first starts off by secretly hauling wood and performing repairs all while it is

night. “I discovered also another means through I was enabled to assist their labors. I found that

the youth spent a great part of each day in collecting wood for the family fire; and, during the

night, I often took his tools, the use of which I quickly discovered, and brought home firing

sufficient for the consumption of several days” (Shelley, 99). Not only did he start bringing the

for the family he showed compassion for them by starting to eat less and steal less of their food

to help ease their poverty. “This trait of kindness moved me sensibly. I had been accustomed,

during the night, to steal a part of their store for my own consumption; but when I found that in

doing this I inflicted pain on the cottagers, I abstained, and satisfied myself with berries, nuts,

and roots, which I gathered from a neighboring wood” (Shelley, 99). Not only did he notice his

actions and selfishness of stealing their food but he gave it up since he saw the pain of hunger
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where the DeLacey family went through. For being this “monster” he shows a great sense of

kindness for those he observed regardless of if he truly knew them or not.

Although some may argue that Victors creation is a true evil monster because of his bad

actions such as his murders. The first murder that the monster commits is killing William and the

reason he did this was because he wanted to get back at Victor for making him feel lonely and

miserable by killing his brother. The second murder that he commits is killing Victors best

friend, Henry, out of rage for not making his companion for him. The last person that the monster

kills is Victor's soon to be wife. “It appeared to be a handsome young man, about five and twenty

years of age. He had apparently been strangled; for there was no signs of any violence, except for

the black mark of fingers on his neck” (Shelley, 162).However, if the monster hadn't been treated

so poorly he would have never done any of his crimes and if he was treated with respect. If the

monster was never abandoned by Victor he would have never had such a need for revenge and

murdered Elizabeth, Henry, or William.

Finally, it may be concluded that Victor's creation of this monster is in fact a human. Not

only does he show multiple occurrences of emotions such as kindness, anger, and loneliness, but

he shows how he has compassion for others. He did make many mistakes which involved the

deaths of Victor's brother, William, his best friend, Henry, and lastly his soon to be wife,

Elizabeth. These deaths were all caused by the anger that the monster had towards his father and

God. If he had only been treated like a true human being nothing would have happened to

anybody. And even if he looks a little different on the outside what matters is who the monster

truly was, a human.

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Works Cited

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus: with Connections.

Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1999.