As a child I’ve always held an
intense fascination when it came to monsters. The deformed, horrible, or
inhuman creatures that went bump in the night or lurked in the corners of mans’
very nightmares. What really attracted me to the whole monster thing though was
the idea behind them. But more importantly, what initially makes a monster a ‘monster’?
Is it because of their non-human appearance, their abilities, fear inducing
qualities, or just their very nature? Reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein had
me rethink this old question with a surprising amount of consideration. I’ll
admit ,and with some shame, that until this class I’ve never actually picked up
the Frankenstein novel and read it. I’m glad I’ve read it now though and can
appreciate how well Shelley’s novel really encompasses the questioning of human
nature and what a real ‘monster’ is.
At first when I had started reading
Frankenstein I had held the initial idea that the so called ‘monster’ the main
character, Victor Frankenstein, had put together and brought to life would be
the sole antagonist of the story. With it’s horribly disfigured appearance and
the way it was created I couldn’t help but consider the creature the monster
that the main character would conflict with throughout the story. It wasn’t
until after I had finished the novel that I came to realize that it was really the opposite of this and that
maybe Victor was the real monster in this tale.
In Shelley’s Frankenstein we’re
thrown into the story of a young Victor Frankenstein. Victor is at first a
character which I sort of sympathized and related with. He seeks to further his
knowledge and understanding of life, something many of us wish to do. However
over the course of the novel this really becomes an unhealthy obsession and
ends up really backfiring on him in the end in the most tragic of ways. After
studying for a good number of years Victor undertakes creating life through his
acquired knowledge. He puts together various cadavers and makes a new being
which he successfully brings to life. However, Victor then becomes horrified by
the abomination he’s created and flees, leaving his creation behind. From here
on the novel focuses on how Victor seeks to get rid of the creature and how
disgusted he is by its creation.
Through Shelley’s fantastic use of
switching the narrative around I really started to feel for Frankenstein’s creation.
Despite it’s horrible appearance the so-called ‘monster’ was really just a
misunderstood being who was incredibly lost and lonely, basically a newborn in
the body of an unfortunately hideous and hulking creature. Through it’s point
of view we come to understand that the creature just wants to be accepted and
escape the void of loneliness that it’s been cursed to. It also expresses very
noticeable human emotions and shows a surprising amount of intelligence and
individualism when it confronts Victor in the story, something which isn’t
common with how we consider a monster to be like.
I found that as the story
progressed and I learned more about the characters that there was a somewhat
saddening reversal going on between Victor and his creation. Victor is at first
the character I felt sympathy for and followed with interest, and as for the
creature I expected it to be the horrible bad guy that I should feel obligated
to be against since it’s essentially the ‘monster’. But I ended up realizing
towards the end of the novel that those first thoughts had switched. The
monster was not a real ‘monster’, but a being which sought to find acceptance
by its creator and various other people. I felt bad for the creature as it had
to endure such a horrible existence that it had no control over. Although the
creature had killed Victor’s loved ones it really didn’t know any better since
it was abandoned by the very person who brought it to life. It also shocked me
how creature expressed a level of humanity that really made me forget that it
wasn’t exactly human in the first place. With Victor however, he lets his selfish
obsession and thirst for revenge against his creation devour him. I really felt
that he was slipping into the role of the ‘monster’ as he sought out to destroy
the creature that he hated so much.
Monsters aren’t only just some
made-up characters that are meant to scare us or invoke fear. I really feel
that the monsters we read about and watch are really a representation of us in
a form which is reflective of our thoughts and emotions, and essentially are
there to have us question what makes us human.
