We all know the classic story ofĀ Frankenstein’s monster, whether that be from one of the movie adaptations, Mary Shelley’s original novel, or some other adaptation. Most people seem to agree with the surface portrayal of Dr. Frankensteinās creature being a monster, but what I think people fail to consider is that heās a monster purely through our own perception and his first experiences with human emotions and interactions. If we were to put ourselves in his shoes, we could realize that he has an infantile understanding of the world, so each of his interactions with others has a large impact on his psyche.Ā
When I take a look at Dr. Frankenstein as a person, heās inherently curious. His main goal throughout the beginning of the novel is to find a way to conquer death, achieve scientific glory, and unlock the secrets of life. This vapid curiosity is what led him to create the āmonster.ā While I donāt believe that his creation is a monster, I can see how someone may think that. When we take a look at how the creature came to be through experimentation and the collection of different peoplesā body parts, it becomes obvious that it isnāt entirely his fault that he acts the way he does. Even when it becomes animated, the creatureās own creator is so terrified of him that he runs away. Having an experience like that right when it begins to exist takes its toll on his development. Thereās also the fact that it has been abandoned by what is essentially his mother figure, so it has no way to develop regular human emotions and morals because it has no model to go off of. It’s understandable that the creature would feel negative emotions to an extreme degree given that it has only experienced negative emotions when in the presence of others because of his alarming appearance.Ā
The creature’s first notable experience with positive emotions is when he observes the De Lacey family from the shadows. This is where he learns to read and speak by listening to the De Lacy family and looking at the books in their cottage. He learns about feelings of sorrow and love through the interactions he observes between the family members, and it truly shows how his actions were a consequence of his circumstances. When the creature attempts to reveal himself to Mr. De Lacey, who is blind, his family returns home and sees him. They react with shock and fear at his appearance; Agatha faints, Safi flees the cottage, and Felix grabs a stick to beat the creature with. Being met with fear purely based on how he looks made the creature resent what Dr. Frankenstein had done to him.Ā
When I initially look at the creature Dr. Frankenstein created, I feel disgusted at how someone could have created something so awful, but Iām not necessarily associating the creature with monstrosity. When I dive into the creatureās actual character, heās just learning how to exist, so, in essence, heās like a newborn baby in an adult body. Due to this, I canāt fault the creature for acting the way he does because he has no positive base to build off of since he has only experienced negative emotions and observed negative reactions. The fact that the creature acts in such a monstrous way is not a fault of his own, but rather a fault of how he was treated and how he has interacted with the world around him. Therefore, the creature is not a monster; heās just a being who was judged too quickly and is treated unfairly as a result.Ā