The Importance Of Prejudice In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Prejudice is defined as, “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” The majority of humans tend to judge others by appearance rather than personality Prejudice and appearance is prevalent in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein as well as today’s culture which has major effects on others through race, age, religion, etc.
In Frankenstein, the monster is a hideous, vicious being of large stature that has the potential to cause injury, so he is perceived to be malicious due to these characteristics. The creature desires human interactions to acquire companionship, but later met with violent reactions leading him to flee. The monster recounted,”...but I had hardly placed my foot within the door
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The man shoots the monster as a result of believing he is hurting her. The monster recalled,”...when suddenly her foot slipped, and she fell into the rapid stream..save her and dragged her to the shore...I endeavored my every means in my power to restore animation...but when the man saw me draw near, he aimed a gun, which he carried, at my body and fired”(Shelley 142). It is seen that the humans judge the monster by his appearance. The monster was perceived as someone he was not. In both situations, the monster fled out of fear when the humans reacted violently towards …show more content…
Accepted appearances are perceived differently based on race, religion, or age, etc. The ways people handle these situations has various effects on others which could in turn be devastating for the receiving victim. In the past few years, African Americans have been treated harshly which include being beaten, killed, imprisoned, etc. These actions have been made by police officers who believe they are a threat to others. A large amount of African Americans are innocent to these actions, but still to blame because of their appearance. These consist of: walking down the street, shopping, giving assistance to others, etc.
According to Introduction: African Americans, Police Brutality, And the U.S Criminal Justice System, ”...as the city’s black population increased and the professionals fled to the suburbs, the police used brutality as a means of controlling the black poor and working-class population”(qtd. In Moore 1). Moore’s ideas were included in this article to show further evidence that African Americans were treated unlawfully, and the development of African Americans in white cities had begun by the end of World War ll. Whites were enraged and fearful by this and thought their only defense was to attack

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