Snow White Character Analysis

In the classic Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Snow White is tricked by the evil queen into being poisoned. Disguised as an old woman, the queen hands Snow White a perfectly ripened, deep red apple. Deceived by its appealing appearance, Snow White takes a bite of the poisonous fruit and the rest is history. Similarly, misleading appearances is what makes up the core conflict in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. The plot begins with a hopeful scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who embarks on a journey to create life. Ultimately succeeding, Frankenstein creates a being who, despite his horrid appearance, has no evil intentions. In fact, the monster, as he is called, searches for love and companionship from Frankenstein or any other

The monster’s creator, Frankenstein, first lays eyes on the monster and, being filled with “breathless horror and disgust”, immediately shuns his own creation (Shelley 59). Frankenstein makes the assumption that the monster is evil based solely off his appearance. His feelings of terror far overpower any desire to investigate the condition of the being he tirelessly toiled over. Alone and confused, the monster wanders into a hut where he encounters a man who “shriek[s] loudly” and flees, which “somewhat surprise[s]” the monster (Shelley 111). This surprise conveys the monster’s naive and innocent nature, contrary to his assumed evil and monstrous characteristics. He fails to understand why people flee when he intends them no harm. He encounters similar reactions in a village where he was attacked and “grievously bruised by stones.” Managing to escape, he “fearfully took refuge in a low hovel” (Shelley 112). He was forcibly alienated from society, when he had done nothing wrong. The fear for his safety not only physically isolated him, but emotionally scarred him. The monster is even “terrified” of his own reflection, suggesting there is no hope of acceptance from humankind since he cannot even accept himself (Shelley 121). The monster later comments that he was “drivest from joy for no misdeed” (Shelley 105). People were too quick to judge the monster’s image instead of

Instead of being a poison disguised as a delicious and pure apple, the monster is a kind and gentle soul in the body of a horrid creature. This deception caused society to unfairly deem him as evil and isolate him. Despite his attempts to reach out and make his true intentions known, humankind’s judgement refused to budge. The monster, therefore, went against his true nature and chose to become evil to fit society’s assumptions and get revenge. His subsequent feelings of remorse bring the story full circle and show humankind’s detrimental weakness of judging a person by their appearance. Although the plot of the book includes no resolution or improvement to this societal flaw, its theme educates the reader on the dangers of visual