Dr. Frankenstein's Creature: Would have acceptance by his creator helped him be accepted by society?
So many characters in both literature and film have been characterized as monsters because of their appearances. The creature created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein appears to be a monster, but he truly is not one. His creator, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, is really the true monster for rejecting his creation and not taking responsibility for it. The creature is lonely and wants to be accepted and loved, but instead it only finds rejection and hatred. The creature is truly scary looking and very large, which is very intimidating and frightening, but he is truly misunderstood by humans and reacts violently. Do you believe if he had been accepted by Victor Frankenstein, he would have been accepted by others even though he was so large and scary looking? Have you ever not accepted someone based upon their acceptance only to find later that they truly are a good person?
Everyone needs to be loved by someone, and certainly from the very beginning of Frankenstein's life he was rejected and that's all he knew. His creator even thought he was hideous and wanted nothing to do with him. Even though his creator only wanted to accomplish the feat of creating human life, he didn't even want to acknowledge that he had created such a hideous monster. Since Frankenstein's creature never had a mother and Victor abandoned him, he had no one to nurture him and teach him important life skills and how to act in a humane manner. All Frankenstein's creature wanted was to be accepted and one day find someone that would love him. His hope of having companionship is also lost when Victor destroys the female mate that he began creating only to devastate the creature once again and make him feel rejected and alone. Do you think if Victor would have stayed around to teach and love his creature, he would have had a better quality of life? Do you think a female mate would have helped the creature turn his life around?
One of the worst tragedies for Frankenstein's creature was social discrimination. People were afraid of the creature's appearance, and this fear prohibited people from knowing his inner beauty. Although Frankenstein's creature was given life, he never had an opportunity to really live and enjoy life. Frankenstein's creature was very lonely and just wanted to find companionship and acceptance. Do you believe his loneliness contributed to his violence?
The setting of this story was influenced by Shelly's surroundings and it seems fitting that the creature would escape into the woods because it was isolated and a place where he would not have much human interaction. The story of Frankenstein certainly is a sad one and definitely targets our theme of "monsters," but once again it is a monster that is misunderstood because of his appearance and the true monster is really someone that does not appear to be a monster at all and that is his creator, Dr. Victor Frankenstein.
Group 5
Contributing Members: Bryan Kuhlman, Charlita Hagwood, Lu Su & Kessy Evans
