More Sympathy for the Creature than Frankenstein Essay -- Mary Shelley

The novel, Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley and was first published in the year 1818. Although it was supposedly a failure at the time it was released, (a time of many scientific advances, especially in human anatomy), the novel has never gone out of print and certain questions about the book have never, and most likely, will never be answered. In the essay I hope to give my view on the question: which of the two characters does the reader have most sympathy for, Frankenstein or the creature. Victor Frankenstein’s narration of the novel immediately puts the reader into his exclusive mindset, and therefore we are only given his feelings and his perspective on the events. This being so, we are more easily able to sympathise with his predicament. For instance, we are able to find sympathy for him at the news of his brother’s death, and indeed the rest of his family. The suffering that Victor goes through here is characteristic of this type of gothic novel, and is common in romantic fiction. We also feel sorry for Victor as he had â€Å"worked hard for nearly two years† in the process, ruining his health and depriving himself of rest, only for the â€Å"beauty of the dream† to vanish with the animation of the creature. He uses personification to make his â€Å"dream† seem more important, and to make his loss more sharply felt. Of course, Victor’s narration adds emphasis to his suffering, something that he does not do when referring to the creature, or if he does it is to emphasise the creatures â€Å"inhumanity† etc. If it were the creature narrating, I believe that the events would be given in a more two sided fashion. Victors narration changes the perspective in which we perceive the novel. Victor is constantly seeking to gain more sympath... ...e of language of Montavert, indicates that he bears the creature hatred, due to his use of words and phrases, â€Å"abhorred monster, fiend that thou art!† words such as â€Å"fiend† sound especially harsh due to the use of the letter F, followed by a vowel. Also the word: â€Å"abhorred can be elongated to give a similar, disdainful effect. I believe that the creature is far more worthy of sympathy than Frankenstein , especially at the beginning before he has committed any crimes. At this stage he is entirely innocent, and so any hatred towards him is irrational, just like hatred towards a newborn child is irrational. However Frankenstein shunned the creature, and this act is extremely hard to forgive, many of Frankenstein’s other mistakes are entirely forgivable, and are part of being human, but this act, was truly monstrous, making Frankenstein impossible to give sympathy to.