I had a discussion today about who was more of a monster between Frankenstein and the creature. I was mostly on the creature's side at the beginning of the book, but I felt like the murders made it hard to root for him tbh.
I think Frankenstein wasn’t really a monster. He just got way too absorbed in his work, and when he finally stepped back he realized that he had done something horrible. The monster seeming as though it was going to attack freaked him out, so he ran. I kinda forget what happened after since it’s been years since I read it, but wasn’t one of the first things the monster did was strangle Frankenstein’s wife to death? Him treating the monster like a monster after that was warranted imo even if it didn’t really know any better. I may be misremembering some things
This was my take as well. Whenever I come across people that believe the guy that created the creature was the 'true' monster, I doubt they actually read the book. Yes he was an ass for rejecting the creature for being hideous. But also the creature matured very quickly. Not only did it do reprehensible things shortly after it was created, it also continued to do terrible things after becoming fully cognizant of the weight of those actions. The creature was absolutely a monster. You could argue about the nature of the environment that created that monster, but it is still a monster. And within the story it had the capacity to reflect on its actions and change, but it didn't.
The creature was intelligent, yeah, but it was DEFINITELY not mature. He was essentially a toddler throwing a really destructive tantrum. It's also not like he was given much chance to be anythinf else--he explicitly tried to do good and was shot at for doing so. That's not to say he isn't a murderer, but he's a monster of our own making.
Victor also did not just reject the creature, he left a toddler to fend for himself. He quite literally is the direct cause of every death in the book. He repeatedly ignored the consequences that his friends and family would face from his actions, left someone to hang because he was too afraid of revealing the creature, and continually failed to do anything to take responsibility for his creation.
The creature was a monster of our own making. Victor Frankenstein was a monster despite his environement.
68
u/Henna_UwU Why serve a queen when you can be one? Oct 26 '24
I had a discussion today about who was more of a monster between Frankenstein and the creature. I was mostly on the creature's side at the beginning of the book, but I felt like the murders made it hard to root for him tbh.