Following each malicious crime, society questions whether the criminal was either born innocent and later corrupted by his or her surroundings or was born with the evil already engrained within. The same question surfaces following the Creature’s crimes in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. While many critics argue that the Creature was evil and violent from the instant he was created, others believe that the monster was innocent upon his creation and learned violence, anger, and hatred from the humans he interacts with throughout the novel. Ultimately, the second proves true; Frankenstein’s Creature was born innocent and becomes violent as a result of his rejected life.
Several instances in Frankenstein validate the claim that the monster was innocent …show more content…
Through months of watching through a crack, the Creature finally connects to the migrant family, believing to have found a new family, and soon gains the courage to introduce himself to the family (123). But just like his introduction to Frankenstein and the old man, the Creature is violently rejected, and must again continue with a lonely life (124). As a rule, evil people do not feel sympathy for others. Thus, when the Creature feels sympathy for the DeLacy family, helping through small tasks such as gathering wood and clearing a path in the snow, the monster proves to “secretely [care] for [the] family living in poverty,” which proves he is not evil (Allen 3). Even with his lonely life, Shelley depicts the Creature as benevolent. As the creature leaves the village where he had been rejected by everyone, he returns to his quiet forest, where he sees a girl fall into the river. Quickly, his instinct is to save the girl, and he does. However, rather than thanking the creature for saving his child, the father shoots the Creature in the chest (130). The Creature is constantly benevolent, but constantly …show more content…
One day, in a dejected yet frustrated state of mind, the Creature finds Victor’s brother, William, in the woods, and hopes that William will become his friend (131). But after revealing his relationship to Frankenstein and rejecting the Creature’s proposal, William is soon murdered by the Creature – the first sign of violence (131). Nearby, the Creature finds a young girl sleeping in a barn, and in fear of future rejection, implants a miniature that would prove her as William’s killer, and later the young girl is executed for the murder – the second sign (133). Like a chain of dominos, each time the Creature is rejected, he kills someone, but he soon finds Frankenstein and exclaims that his only reason for so much violence is because of rejection, and begs Frankenstein to make another creature so he would have a friend, promising to end the cycle of murder (133). But soon after Frankenstein creates half of the new creature, he rejects his original monster’s proposal, and destroys the new (156). Rejected again, the creature continues his killing spree, murdering Frankenstein’s wife and indirectly killing Frankenstein’s
Several instances in Frankenstein validate the claim that the monster was innocent …show more content…
Through months of watching through a crack, the Creature finally connects to the migrant family, believing to have found a new family, and soon gains the courage to introduce himself to the family (123). But just like his introduction to Frankenstein and the old man, the Creature is violently rejected, and must again continue with a lonely life (124). As a rule, evil people do not feel sympathy for others. Thus, when the Creature feels sympathy for the DeLacy family, helping through small tasks such as gathering wood and clearing a path in the snow, the monster proves to “secretely [care] for [the] family living in poverty,” which proves he is not evil (Allen 3). Even with his lonely life, Shelley depicts the Creature as benevolent. As the creature leaves the village where he had been rejected by everyone, he returns to his quiet forest, where he sees a girl fall into the river. Quickly, his instinct is to save the girl, and he does. However, rather than thanking the creature for saving his child, the father shoots the Creature in the chest (130). The Creature is constantly benevolent, but constantly …show more content…
One day, in a dejected yet frustrated state of mind, the Creature finds Victor’s brother, William, in the woods, and hopes that William will become his friend (131). But after revealing his relationship to Frankenstein and rejecting the Creature’s proposal, William is soon murdered by the Creature – the first sign of violence (131). Nearby, the Creature finds a young girl sleeping in a barn, and in fear of future rejection, implants a miniature that would prove her as William’s killer, and later the young girl is executed for the murder – the second sign (133). Like a chain of dominos, each time the Creature is rejected, he kills someone, but he soon finds Frankenstein and exclaims that his only reason for so much violence is because of rejection, and begs Frankenstein to make another creature so he would have a friend, promising to end the cycle of murder (133). But soon after Frankenstein creates half of the new creature, he rejects his original monster’s proposal, and destroys the new (156). Rejected again, the creature continues his killing spree, murdering Frankenstein’s wife and indirectly killing Frankenstein’s