by David Adelman

Created on: May 18, 2009

The Creature- Fallen Angel or Born Devil

In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the creature commits premeditated murders in cold blood and demonstrates 'electrifying' moments of rage. Despite these passionately violent and deadly outbursts, the creature is innately good. Eight feet tall and composed of materials from a "dissecting room and slaughterhouse", (page 55), the creature is physically "hideous" (, page 58) and is rejected by his creator, Victor Frankenstein who abandons him. This nameless creature, unable to comprehend being spurned by his creator, must hide in the forest to avoid the bright light as he adapts to his senses. Without knowledge, without food and shelter, without the nurturing of a care giver, the creature is completely alone. His first reactions to nature are delightful as he watches the moon and hears the songs of birds. Watching people living in their shacks, the creature is able to experience feelings of warmth and compassion; he even performs acts of goodwill and kindness. When the creature realizes his physical appearance is terrifying to people, he cannot bear this life sentence of alienation and rejection. The acts of violence are always in response to rejection either by Frankenstein or other people who come into contact with him. The creature wants only companionship and friendship." Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good, misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous." (Shelley, page 300)

At the beginning of its life, the creature displays the innocence of a child towards nature and quickly learns to feel compassion and love for the people he encounters. Living in the forest, the creature expresses delight with the sights and the sounds he learns to discern. "I gazed with a kind of wonder." (Page 103) The words the creature uses to describe his feelings convey pleasure and warmth towards his surroundings. "Sometimes I tried to imitate the pleasant songs of the birds, but was unable." (Page 104). The creature admires nature and wants to be one with it. "I wished to express my sensations in my own mode, but the uncouth and inarticulate sound which broke from me frightened me into silence again." (Page 107) This appreciation of nature extends to the creature's discovery of humans and their habitats. He was "enchanted by the appearance of the hut". (Page 107) The creature eventually finds a cottage with an empty shack attached to it where he lives and

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