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Birth Of A Monster Essay, Research Paper

The Birth of a Monster”

Frankenstein is a compelling account of what happens when a man tries to create a child without a woman. It can, however, also be read as an account of how the relationship between the creator and the child can be destroyed by the lack of love and acceptance. Frankenstein represents the classic case of an abused and neglected child growing up to be an abuser. The heart of the novel is the creature’s discussion of his own development. For approximately nine months Victor Frankenstein labored on the creation of his “child”. When finally on a night in November he witnesses the “birth” of his child . “I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs (Shelley 34).

Instead of reaching out to his child, Victor rushes out of the room disgusted by the abnormality of his creation. When the creature follows after him, Victor runs away in horror completely abandoning his child. This is clear evidence that love and acceptance would be something hard to come by. The way Victor Frankenstein reacts when he first sees the hideous form he has created is a clear indicator of how their relationship will be

While creating his child, Victor never considered whether this creature would even want to exist. He also didn’t take enough care with the creature’s appearance. Victor never considered how such a creature would be able to exist with human beings. He did not take time with the features either and created a being with a horrifying appearance. Unable to accept his creation, Victor abandons his “child” and all parental responsibility. He even wishes that his “child” were dead. “I gnashed my teeth, my eyes became inflamed, and I ardently wished to extinguish that life which I has so thoughtlessly bestowed (Shelley 61).”

Victor Frankenstein because of his scientific curiosity wanted to bring back the dead by animating the life less. Not knowing what will happen to this being after being brought back from the dead. Victor obviously did not take in to consideration that this being will have emotions, giving it the ability to feel, pain, love and sorrow. So by disowning his child Victor created a need for emotional compensation from someone. This caused hate and rage to be embodied in Frankenstein every time he thought he find love and acceptance because he was rejected by society the same way Victor had did. From the moment of the creature’s birth, Victor thought of it as demonical and abused it. The creature, himself, realizes that a child that is deprived of a loving family becomes a monster. The creature repeatedly insists that he was born good but compelled by others to do evil. Thus, suggesting that a rejected and unmothered child can become a killer.

Even without the proper nurturing the creature manages to get an education. It is only later through contact with the DeLaceys (his only true contact with society) that the creature develops a consciousness and realizes that he is a social outcast. The creature obtains a moral and intellectual education through his observation of the DeLacey family. The DeLacey’s provide the creature with an example of a loving, accepting, and virtuous family. They stimulate his emotions and inspire him to do good deeds for others (he secretly collects firewood for the family). Through the creature’s observation of the DeLacey family, the creature is also stimulated intellectually and is introduced to spoken and written language. Not only does the creature learn morality and virtue from the DeLacey family but also acquires a small library, which enlarges his knowledge of human vice and virtue. From Plutarch s Lives of the Noble Romans he learns about human virtue, heroism, and civil justice. In his reading of Milton s Paradise Lost, he learns the

origins of good and evil as well as the roles of the sexes. Finally, in Goethe s The Sorrows of Werther he learns of the range of emotions, from love to depression and despair.

The creature received an excellent education but unfortunately this caused a greater need for love and acceptance. Once the creature left the state of nature and learned the language and laws of society, he gained a self-consciousness; a self-consciousness of his own isolation from humanity.

I learned that the possessions most esteemed by your fellow-creatures were, high and unsullied descent united with riches…but…I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endowed with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; when I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me… I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had ever remained in my native wood, nor known or felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat (Shelley 89). Yet in still Frankenstein felt that since he had learned so much from reading and observing the family he will be loved and accepted because of his intellect. Frankenstein figured that since the old man of the family was blind he could convince him that he was not a threat to society and should be seen, as the devilish being that he looks like. Frankenstein thought that through the old man the rest of the family would take sympathy towards him and accept him because of his intellect and not the way he looked. Obviously Frankenstein was wrong and before his plan could work he was seen by the family causing him to be rejected. Even to the point where the family actually leaves the cottage cutting off his link to the outside world. After being rejected by Victor Frankenstein, his father, the DeLacey family, and society, the creature abandons all good and lives out a course of vengeance against Frankenstein. His first

victim turns out to be Victor s

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