The Frankenstein’s monster is a central figure in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel about the scientist Frankenstein’s relatively successful attempt to create artificial life from cadaver parts. Shelley recounts how the reanimated monster turned out not to be what Frankenstein wanted it to be, forcing the scientist to deny his creation and condemn it to tragedy. Specifically, the hated monster begins to search for his creator and commits murders, including members of the scientist’s family. After reading this novel, one wonders whether one should feel sympathy for the monster or whether it turns out to be immoral.
At first glance, Shelley shows the monster to the reader from a terrifying perspective. The author describes the monster as a yellow-faced creature of enormous stature, with watery eyes and a black mouth, which, in the tradition of literary Gothicism, is intended to instill fear in the reader. Frankenstein’s young scientist experiences nervousness, insomnia, and paranoid visions of his creature in bright flashes of light. Because the audience associates itself with a human rather than a fantastical monster, it is assumed that the reader should experience the same feelings of fear and anxiety. The monster’s actions are horrific: the creature kills the scientist’s younger brother and childhood friend and is responsible for the execution of Justine’s maid and the death of her father. In other words, the monster caused Frankenstein to lose his entire family. This view of the monster created by Shelley does not allow one to feel sympathy for him but rather a sense of disgust and rejection.
Meanwhile, the reader may have positive feelings for the creature, given its fate. Artificially created and deprived of a “father” from birth, the monster is forced to seek the means to survive and find meaning in life. Shelley describes the Monster as experiencing coldness, loneliness, and existential incomprehension in the first hours of his life, which is natural for a person who sees no reason for his existence. Though not human, the monster learns language and is shown to be a responsive creature capable of human-like emotions. Once the monster gains the ability to speak, he is almost immediately beaten by the family in whose barn he lived, reflecting the monster’s tragic fate. At the end of the novel, the reader sees the monster mourning the death of its creator, reflecting some of the strongest human feelings of grief and compassion. Thus, it is difficult to say that the audience of the novel should feel sympathy only for the monster- these are contrasting feelings. However, in addition to hatred and disgust for what he has done, the reader can also feel sympathy for the monster because of the human feelings he has gained.