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Victor The Monster In Frankenstein

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Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary defines a monster as "a person of unnatural or extreme ugliness, deformity, wickedness, or cruelty." The being is unnatural right from the very beginning; his "birth." He was not carried in his mother's womb and delivered as normal babies are. The being is solely a construction of random corpses' bodily parts sewn together and brought to life. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, society continually regards Victor's creation as a monster, both physically and psychologically. Though the being has the physical characteristics of a monster, it is only after he is repeatedly rejected by society that he adopts the personality and behavior of a monster. With that being said, society plays a large role in shaping …show more content…

When he reached a village, immediately: children shrieked, and one of the women fainted. The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country and fearfully took refuge" (Shelley 95). Initially the being had been delighted by the sight of the village, but he was brutally driven from it for no reason other than his appearance. Because he appeared abnormal, they assumed he was evil. Just as society fears the creature, the creature fears society. The only difference is that the being has a reason to fear society; it attacked him. The creature tries to find companionship many times, but he is only met with fear and hostility. Because the being cannot escape society's expectations regardless of his behavior, he eventually confirms them and acts accordingly. He completes Webster's definition of a monster as he commits wicked and cruel acts. Neither Victor nor anyone else considered the being's feelings. They only reacted to Victor's creation's appearance. Victor had "endowed [the being] with perceptions and passions and then cast [him] abroad for the scorn and horror of mankind" (Shelley …show more content…

The being then becomes a monster both externally and internally, ultimately confirming society's previously assumptions. The monster moves from one horrid act to another, indulging in evil. First, he kills William. Then he frames Justine as the murderer and she is hanged for his crime. He warns Victor that "if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear;" (Shelley 125) and "if I have no ties and affections, hatred and vice must be my portion" (Shelley 126). He takes the lives of Clerval and Elizabeth; both innocent victims. We see grief, sorrow, hate, and anger emphasized from the monster throughout the book from his reaction to society degrading him. The monster intensely desires to be a part of society and if the only way he can participate in society is to indulge in evil, then he will. Thus, the being truly becomes the monster that society had feared from the

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