In what ways does Mary Shelley create sympathy for the monster?
When we see the name Frankenstein, we are instantly reminded of the doctors creation and of how he played God, with out even knowing it. Even by todays standards he went against human nature after being warned not to. Before studying Frankenstein, I stereotypically associated the monster, to hideous rejects in society. However the monster was brought into the world, isolated, unwanted and discarded; he deserved sympathy not cruelty.
Modern day Frankensteins can be seen as people who play God, by making or taking away defenceless creatures lives. For example Cloning is creating another creature exactly like another; this is a type of modern day Frankenstein as the creatures know that the creature is going to have many health problems throughout its life. Terrorists can also be seen as modern day Frankensteins, who play God by taking away lots of innocent people lives. I think that Mary Shelleys influences for the book all blossomed from her childhood, the loss of her unborn children as well as her mother, clearly left a big impact in her life. This could link her to Frankenstein who wanted to extend life, so no one ever need die.
The world as we know it has developed from many scientific advances. At the turn of the nineteenth century many of these were only just beginning. In 1816 doctors participated in the first ever blood transfusion. Scientific knowledge was vastly expanding and this was beneficial to the whole world, for example vaccinations were being produced to cure and save lives.
The novel Frankenstein is based around a lot of Mary Shellys own experiences, a lot of her loved ones had passed away and this had caused her heart ace and suffering. Mary Shelleys mother had died during childbirth, and Mary herself had undergone multiple miscarriages. Mary Shelley was a very rebellious character, and had shocked many people by running away with a married man, she had gone against nature, and so she incorporated her own life experiences into the book. For this reason I believe that Mary Shelley could evoke a small majority of sympathy to Frankenstein.
The novel Frankenstein is based around a lot of Mary Shelleys own experiences, a lot of her loved ones had passed away and this had caused her heart ace and suffering.
In some ways the novel analysis what the author saw as a very superficial society, where people were merely judged from face value. In chapter ten Frankensteins creation was just shunned away. I believe we still live in a very Predigest society; we tend to only accept people that we like the look of, instead of waiting to get to know them. Although we perceive Victor to be quite a clever character he doesnt consider how creating life will dramatically affect both his life and emotions. He had attempted to play God, and gone against human nature to create a catastrophe. Two years of ambition, hard work and scientific knowledge had now transformed Victor into an emotional wreck the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Its only in chapter five when the monster is brought to life, that Victor can see the error of his ways and this life threatening accident that lies before him. Mary Shelley evokes sympathy for the monster by showing that Victor is self centred and cares not for the well being of the monster. Normally a mother and father look after their new born and raise him up as their own. However Frankenstein had created a monster a full grown man, pieced together bit by bit. Victor should have accepted his creation and nurtured it, but instead unable to endure the aspect of the being he had brought into the world he turned his back on .
Shelley evokes sympathy for the monster by showing his creators feelings in chapter five some are dramatic oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. This shows that Frankenstein is very self pitying.
Shelley uses lots of description to show how Frankenstein feels about his creation, disgusted. Instead of being grateful, loving and admiring his creation he describes it as the demonical corpse, hideous and ugly. I think this conveys that he is very selfish and prejudiced. He doesnt seem to care for the well being of the monster, just how disappointed he is with his creation I felt the bitterness of disappointment. When he hasnt even spoken to the monsters. Frankenstein is very self indulgent and never even thought to name the monster showing he was an ignorant secrete, just tried to block it out by escaping to his asylum, but its only now that he feel he is going mad.
Frankensteins self pity is also portrayed when he quotes the romantic poem that Shelley had once heard as a young child. On a lonesome road who, doth walk in fear and dread, creating a dull and dark atmosphere. Surely Frankenstein would have thought about his actions long and hard before creating life, but by going against nature he would never be able to confide his secret with any one.
Shelly decided to show Frankensteins emotions in this chapter rather than the monster as it makes the reader realise how self centred he is and contrast to the monster. She creates moments of pathos by the language she uses towards the monster and we realise he never has a say. The choice of language she uses is to show Victors disgust and rejection.
Shelly creates sympathy for the monster as we realise how unwanted and neglected he is. Also when Frankensteins friend visits we can see how much of a good friend Frankenstein could have been to the monster, we see how differently he treats Henry to the monster. For this reason we sympathise with the monster a great deal. We know the monster has no friends or family and that his creator amongst everyone else are afraid of him. This chapter shows us two very different sides to Frankenstein the horrified and disgusted side when the monster is brought to life, and the happy, peaceful side when his friend is looking after him.
In chapter ten we hear the monsters narration and with his story being the centre of the novel it makes him seem lonelier. The monster is eloquent and articulate and intelligent. Although only newly created he is very intellectual, but after having quite a harsh start in life he has no background; it is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being i.e. his first few hours of life, this is because his creator rejected him. The monster has learnt so much and this shows that he has so much potential and could have became a sensitive, intelligent human being. However his first days of life are spent living in fear and ignorance knowing very little at first. The monster seems to learn from both nature and the happenings around him. He learns about all his senses, I saw, felt heard and smelt at the same time and it was indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations, a man of his age and build should have developed all the uses of his sensations, but he has never been given the opportunity before, and so the reader develops sympathy for him.
The monster learns about pain, suffering and emotions. He enjoys the delight and warmth of fire, but learns that it is very dangerous and painful when he sticks his hand in it drew it out again with a cry of pain. The monster has the ability to pick things up quite quickly. In addition the monster also learns the hard way that he is different and unaccepted to the prejudice society he had been brought into. For example the when the monster was grievously attacked by villages he doesnt judge his attackers. His narrative is objective and detached. He doesnt show emotion, to create sympathy or isolation, and in this way he is not self pitying like Victor. The monster learns to stay away from humans and hide out in their shadows; as hes distressed by human nature. However he shouldnt have to live in the fear and ignorance of other people.
Throughout chapter ten the monster appears to learn a lot about his natural environment I distinguished the insect from the herb, and by degrees, one herb from another and the different noises of birds. This suggests just how lonely and observant he must have been with his surroundings, his only habitat. He was also able to learn how to keep a fire burning and how to dry off wood I discovered the cause, and busied myself collecting a great quantity of wood, once he learns how the wood can dry and then be put upon the fire he is eager to practice this.
The monsters natural environment could provide him with food, shelter and warmth as well as a refuge and a hiding place, we pity him for having to live in such an appalling situation.
The monster can appear quite childlike and excitable at even the smallest things. When the sun comes out Mary Shelley says I gazed with a kind of wonder; everything is a new experience for him. Children constantly learn from everything they see and do especially when they come across something new. When the monster develops a new knowledge he is delighted and refers to it as a discovery, because to him it is. The simple things that most people take for granted, the monster cherishes.
The monster appears lost, with out a home, a family he has no guidance no real life or identity he just travels from place to place without any real meaning. The monster comes across some real civilisation, just a normal village which to him appears miraculous, another amazing first experience for him. He is really pleased and therefore we know everything is about to change. Victors previous reaction showed us that, the monster is eye catching but for all the wrong reasons; I had hardly placed my foot within the door before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted, just because the villages didnt like the look of him the wrongly judged him. All the same the monster is still innocent but rejected, despised and feared; never resentful or self pitying.
The monster is shunned by villagers who attack him with stone and many other kinds of missile weapons. His second encounter with humans is his second pitiful rejection. The monster has so much potential as a sensitive, creative human being and doesnt even judge his attackers. This evokes our sympathy because he is just a misunderstood creature through no fault of his own so we pity him, even though he doesnt pity himself. Mary Shelley doesnt make the monster sympathises with himself, his innocence portrays that he doesnt know life any better.
The monster yearns for a normal life, with a normal family who are all accepted for who they are but he is forced to hide away in a pig-sty and live, eat and drink just like an animal but instead he describes it as a paradise compared to the bleak forest. This just shows how grateful he is. Even when though he owns nothing, he doesnt take it for granted.
Already have an account? Log In Now
4716