The Humanization of a 'Monster'

The first moment within Frankenstein where the narration shifted was when Victor allowed the monster to tell him the story about all of his experiences up to that point. He starts by telling Victor about his realization that all humans shared a mutual hatred and fear of him just based off of his appearance. He also told of how he learned the english language by stalking cottagers and how he found Victor’s documents stating that he hated the monster. The monster swore revenge on all mankind, especially Victor, and admitted to Victor that he murdered his younger brother then framed a friend of Victor’s for it. He ended his tale, hoping that now Victor felt some sympathy for him, by asking Victor to create him a female companion so they could run off and live in peace. After the monster’s tale, the formerly uninformed reader was now able to see what the monster was like in actuality and feel pity for him, this idea was greatly opposed when the reader only had Victor’s viewpoint to base their judgements on.

Once the monster finished speaking to Victor in the cave, the mood of the reader took on a huge change. Before, the monster that was only seen as a hideous abomination, was now receiving sympathy. On the other hand, Victor had turned into a monster in the eye’s of the reader. Victor was seen as being cruel and unaccepting of his own creation which only wanted to be accepted by society, this victimized the monster and allowed for this change of emotion (Griffith). With the humanization of the monster, Victor came off as a bully along with the rest of the population that cast him aside. This gave a good insight on how demeaning the human race can be to one another as well as how judgemental they are.

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Griffith, George V. "An overview of Frankenstein." Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2014. Artemis Literary Sources. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Blumberg, Jane. "Frankenstein and the 'Good Cause.'." In Mary Shelley's Early Novels: 'This Child of Imagination and Misery,'. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1993. 30-56. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Jessica Bomarito and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 170. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Bewell, Alan. "An Issue of Monstrous Desire: Frankenstein and Obstetrics." The Yale Journal of Criticism 2.1 (Fall 1988): 105-128. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Denise Kasinec and Mary L. Onorato. Vol. 59. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York, New York: Penguin Group Inc, 1978. Print.