Old man De Lacey

By usurping the role of the woman, he can be perceived as monstrous because this is against the laws of nature. The creature leaves Victor and sets out to find other people. His creator has abandoned him. Later in the story, Victor by chance glimpses the creature. It seems that whenever they meet somewhere, the weather is always bad and often storms seem to follow them. A vivid picture is portrayed of the scene, "Vivid flashes of lightning dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake, making it appear like a vast sheet of fear.

" This is a classic gothic scene. The atmosphere is being built up and the scene is tense.

Recently Victor's brother, William, had been murdered. He was strangled by an unknown killer. When Victor catches sight of the creature at a distance, he immediately comes to the conclusion that he is William's killer. Mary Shelley has now introduced the possibility of the creature being a monster. The reader is unsure whether the creature has murdered William but now starts to sympathise with Victor.

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Victor starts to pursue the creature intending to kill him, but gradually realizes the enormity of what he has created. He has no hope of overpowering the creature who has superhuman strength and power and doesn't seem to feel the cold.

It disappears into the night and as soon as this happens, the storm and the thunder and lightning all disappear reinforcing my opinion that when Victor and the creature meet, there is a natural reaction to the unethical life form.

Victor starts to feel a great amount of anguish over the possibility that the 'wretch' he has created may have killed his brother out of revenge. " Alas! I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch, whose delight was in carnage and misery; had he not murdered my brother? " This quote can be interpreted in two ways.

The first is that Victor is condemning the creature for killing his brother. The reader may perceive the creature to be the monster after this sentence. But the other way the quote may be interpreted is that Victor is condemning himself for bringing the creature into the world and then setting it free to cause havoc and destruction. I feel that the latter interpretation is the true one and that Victor is the monster in this scene because of the creature he had created and because he is now not willing to suffer the consequences for his actions. He has neglected his responsibilities as a 'parent'.

Victor starts to say things that could once again lead the reader to the conclusion that the creature is another side to Victor's own character. "Nearly in the light of my own vampire, my own spirit let loose from the grave. " This quote reinforces my opinion that Victor is the monster in this particular passage. Later in the story, Victor has just witnessed Justine, a servant, being hanged for William's murder. He is very upset and angry with himself, for making the creature who he thinks is responsible for the crime, so he decides, in an attempt to forget his sorrows, to go to the Chamounix valley.

The beauty of it and all the nature around him entrances him. This comforts him and takes his mind off the murder of William and of the wrongful judgment of Justine. But the creature has followed Victor to the valley and confronts him. As at the last time Victor and the creature met, a storm begins. Victor is forced by the dreadful conditions to confront his creation. The storm prevents him from continuing on his journey or retracing his steps, so he decides to kill the creature in a moment of pure anger and vengeance. Victor has now become furious and out of control.

He begins to use violent language towards the creature, 'Devil' ' vile insect! ' He is angry, desperate and confused. The creature is now in complete control of the situation due to his calm and composed stature and his eloquent, reasonable language, which he uses in an attempt to calm Victor. He is acting as the reader would expect Victor to act. They have changed roles and this shows the reader another glimpse of the idea that the creature is another side to Frankenstein. The creature reinforces this impression by eloquently saying, "Thou hast made me more powerful than thyself.

" Victor is enraged by this comment and flings himself at his creation who, with superhuman reflexes, sidesteps out of reach. This emphasises the gulf between creator and created. Victor's savage actions indicate to the reader that he is the true monster in the passage. This underlines the feeling that the creature is the other side of Victor. Whilst Victor wants conflict, the creature declines, only talking eloquently to put forward his view. Another side to the theory that the creature is Victor's double is that Victor rejects what the creature craves: love and companionship.

Victor has avoided marrying Elizabeth who would provide him with love and companionship. As the story progresses, the reader learns about the creature's experiences when he relates his life story to Victor. The creature has learnt how to speak and write, things that are usually learnt by children from their parents. Victor rejected the creature 'at birth', so he never learnt anything from Victor. All his knowledge has been learnt from books or, incidentally from the de Lacey family as he secretly watches and listens when Safie is being taught her lessons by Felix.

Once the creature discovers Victor's journal in his pocket, he learns how he was made and from this moment he is changed emotionally. He calls Victor "Accursed creator" and damns the "Hateful day when I received life. " He is filled with bitter thoughts and is filled with sorrow about his repulsive appearance. He also thinks of Victor bitterly, "He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him. " His spirits are momentarily lifted when he 'introduces' himself to old man De Lacey. The creature approaches the old man because he is blind and can't judge him by his appearance as everyone else does.

He finds comfort for the first time in months when the old man offers to help him and gives him the friendship he craves. He receives the contact with humans which he has desired for so long. However, when the old man's son Felix returns, he reacts in just the way the creature suspected he would and beats him and throws the creature out. The creature learns the vicious cruelty of man towards those alien to themselves, "At once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base. "

He realises that he has no family and friends to turn to and with a deformed and detested appearance is the ultimate alien,"I saw and heard of none like me. " This pitiful picture of a figure with not much hope in the world makes the reader sympathetic. Victor, although he is not mentioned in the passage, is the monster in it because he has created such misery. Shelley is once again suggesting how society judges people. Victor is once again perceived to be monstrous for creating such an unloved and repulsive creature. In the next passage I examined, the creature tells Victor about his meeting with William. The creature is seen as a monster for the first time in the book.

This passage begins with the creature frightening little William with his horrid appearance. William is obviously scared and tells the creature to go away or his "Papa" will "punish you". When the creature learns his father's name is Frankenstein he strangles him. The creature has started his systematic killing of everything dear to Victor. He desires revenge for his creation and this is the most painful way of exacting it. He is pleased with himself for what he has done, "I, too, can create desolation; ............. This death will carry him to despair and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him.