Pacl 1

Matthew Pacl

Ms. Acosta

English 12

18 March 2022

Frankenstein the human treated as a monster

The fiend in the story, while may have murdered and killed the family and friends of

Victor, may be more human than a monster. Throughout the story, Victor and his creation are in

constant conflict with each other. Victor wishes to never see the creature again and the monster

wishes for attention and another like him. However, throughout the story, Victor refuses any

attempt for his creation to communicate and the monster kills Victor’s friends and family leaving

Victor in misery and disarray. The reasoning left for why the creation takes this leap of action is

to make Victor feel what he felt, an eye for an eye, but in the end, no one gets their wish and they

all meet a similar fate. While the creation may look different and is rejected by everyone because

of that, the creation still feels, acts, and thinks like us, he communicates with others clearly in

our language, and his structure, the framework, was based and created on the human body.

A monster is a devastating creature that is supposed to have a cruel shell and takes the

enjoyment out of despair, however, our creature doesn’t seem to express his emotions the same

way someone would expect a monster to. A sick sense of humor or unbearable actions could be a

sign that a person is a monster, but the monster feels remorse for its actions instead and actually

tries to help people at some points in the story. After the creation’s reign over Victor, while

talking towards Robert the creature directly states to him, “After the murder of Clerval I returned

to Switzerland heartbroken and overcome. I pitied Frankenstein” (page 207). Even when the

monster sought to destroy Frankenstein he never always liked the journey it took him to do so,

yet he still did it because of all the pain and suffering he felt because of Frankenstein. The
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Matthew Pacl

Ms. Acosta

English 12

18 March 2022

creation has also been seen to show emotions of kindness as well, like towards the cottagers

throughout his story. On page 100 the monster says towards Victor, “The gentle manners and

beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to me: when they were unhappy, I felt depressed;

when they rejoiced, I sympathized in their joys” showing a brighter side to the creation that isn’t

shown much where else. In addition, the monster sought to help the cottagers at some point

giving the monster a feeling of kindness and affection towards others that might reject him.

People may say that all animals may communicate in their own way, but Frankenstein

decides to talk and communicate through the human language. The creature’s wish is to truly be

with people and to learn our language that can close the gap between him and his goal. Through

the creature’s words and tale is how Victor learns of his creation in the story and feelings, “Will

no entreaties cause thee to turn a favourable eye upon thy creature, who implores thy goodness

and compassion” (pg 87). To have a conversation with the outside world was degreed impossible

because of his looks, but with DeLacey’s blindness, it became a possibility, “My voice, although

harsh, had nothing terrible in it” (pg120). Once the monster had gained enough courage he went

towards DeLacey and conversed with him for a while, until the younger group came back from

their walk. Victor with his dying words even had stated that his words are manipulative and

persuasive as well as in reference to the past when talking about his tale.

The final reason that Frankenstein of a human more than a monster is with the details of

his creation. In the story, before the creation’s birth, Victor is seen taking inspiration from his

surroundings and brainstorming ideas for what he should build, until his mind is set, “I began the
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Matthew Pacl

Ms. Acosta

English 12

18 March 2022

creation of a human being”. Victor had in the construction of a human being gathered the parts of

other corpses for his project as stated on page 40, “I collected bones from charnel-houses; and

disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame”. The choices of

parts were chosen for the best proportion to not stand out which Victor does succeed in a way.

Aspects of the monster range from lustrous black hair, white teeth, black lips, and water eyes, all

of which are ways people look and stand out for who they are. Having been created from human

parts and showing them in its final finished form how can it not be considered a human from a

science perspective? Everyone may look different either by looks or size, but what makes the

monster stand out from the rest is that he is not accepted for having such differences or

disabilities as the monster puts it. The creation is self-controlled and doesn’t wish to threaten

society and isolates himself in the forest because of the way he looks.

Although some may argue that the creature is a monster because of his terrifying looks,

however, the creature is not to blame but maybe society itself and its quick judgment against

him. In the book, the creature references itself as a different species due to its appearance even

though it has every part of being human. Thus comes the need for another like him so he can

convey his feelings and human-like nature, “My companion must be of the same species, and

have the same defects” (page 132). The monster was quick in understanding how judgmental

humans can be upon creatures and had suffered because of it, for nothing.

As the creation of Frankenstein, it was fashioned to be accepted with love and

sympathy either through the way of expression through emotions, communications, and human
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Matthew Pacl

Ms. Acosta

English 12

18 March 2022

body-like structure. The creature has been shown to be able to express emotion and communicate

with others like Victor and old DeLacey. The creation however can’t get any further and is

attacked instead for its frightening appearance. As a result, the creature is treated more monster

than a human simply because of its appearance which plays an important theme in this book

showing people to be the blame for being too judgemental never giving anyone a chance to show

who they are.

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Matthew Pacl

Ms. Acosta

English 12

18 March 2022

References

Shelley, M. W. (1999). Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus: With Connections. Holt

Rinehart & Winston.