The Effects of the Societal Monster

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In the book Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster in his laboratory as a grief outlet for the recent death of his mother. The monster roams around Geneva to learn the patterns of life and how to be accepted into society. Why does the monster turn violent toward Victor’s family and not to society in general? The monster hurts Victor’s family members to punish Victor because he feels rejected by society due to his grotesque appearance. Victor doesn’t try to make him this way; he just is experimenting and happens to create the being this way. The monster is trying to get revenge on Victor for creating him as an “outcast”. Victor expresses his solemn feelings about his mother’s death and sister sickness by creating a companion for himself. Victor’s mother is helping her daughter back to health after she contracts scarlet fever. The mother then gets the fever and eventually dies because of it. This partner Victor creates, turns out to be a monster on the outside that intimidates society, but means well on the inside. In this quote, Mary Shelley describes her perspective on the monster, QUOTE. Shelley talks about how the monster is learning from the family in the woods and shows how he learns to be part of a family and do chores such as stacking the firewood to help heat the house. He chooses to do this to give him the feeling of being part of a family; he cares about the family and treats them as if they were his own, but when the family walks in and Felix sees him with the father he attacks the monster. Felix attacks not because he is with the father and he doesn’t recognize him, but from the look of him he is intimidating and not “normal” looking so Felix jumps to the conclusion that he is inferior... ... middle of paper ... ...rial to further educate himself his presence scares a small child shown in a QUOTE WITH CHILD CRYING. Victor’s monster means well, but wishes he didn’t have to have an indirect connection with the families and that he would be accepted for who he was on the inside and outside alike. The stereotypes society creates for people are harsh, which causes genuinely good people that mean well, but have a different appearance to be treated as “outcasts” in our critical culture. Neither Victor nor his monster have the intention to hurt people, all they are looking for is a companion and someone to appreciate them. Creating this monster that is only looking for love, education, and appreciation is rejected as an equal from society which causes the detrimental effects to Victor’s family. The monster only lashes out because society told him he is inferior for looking different.

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