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Kera Hemphill

Professor Jordan

ENGL 3550

April 3, 2023

The Ostracization of the Creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

In our society, an acute perception has been created of what is and is not normal and has

been predicted throughout one’s upbringing and life experiences. For example, people are

viewed as weird or outlandish if they have a disability. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is written

about a creature that was created by Victor Frankenstein. This creature wants to understand why

he was brought to life and if he has a purpose to fulfill as well as why society has not accepted

him, in order to find out this information the creature has to attempt to connect with his creator.

The realization of his ostracization comes forth when he says:

No, they are French. But let us change the subject. I am an unfortunate and deserted

creature; I look around and I have no relation or friend upon earth. These amiable people

whom I go have never seen me, and know little of me. I am full of fears; for if I fail there,

I am an outcast in the world forever (Shelley 126).

Society continually considers Victor’s creation as a monster, both physically and mentally.

Although the creature has the physical characteristics of a monster, it is only after he is regularly

rejected by those around him, and he adopts the persona of and behavior of a monster. Therefore,

society has played a major role in shaping the monster’s behavior, since they expect him to act

like a monster, he unavoidably becomes one. The creature is clearly a victim of a self-fulfilling

prophecy.
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While it is clear that the creature has the physical characteristics of a monster, meaning that he is

someone of extreme ugliness, deformity and wickedness. He is thought to be unnatural from the

very beginning of his “birth” since he was not carried in a womb and delivered as a normal baby

would be. The creature is merely a construction of random corpses body parts that have been

sewn together and brought into existence. As his appearance is utterly grotesque, it confirms his

“extreme ugliness.” Victor even states that “A mummy again endued with animation could not

be so hideous as that wretch” (Shelly 46). Despite the fact that he displays all the normal features

of a man, they are amplified to a level of deformity, presenting a gigantic stature and

superhuman strength and speed. Shelley demonstrates that despite one’s power and knowledge,

acceptance in society is not always guaranteed. Throughout the novel the creature gains

knowledge and power that teaches him to survive in the world by himself once he is abandoned

by his creator. Being ostracized he was forced to learn skills and communicate. Very quickly, he

discovered fire and learned the pros and cons of it, such as; it would warm him on cold nights,

but it could also burn him and things around him.

The creature tries to be as human as possible, so he is accepted by those around him, while his

external features are heightened so are his internal which is shown by his compassionate attitude

towards humanity. He tells his creator that his “soul glowed with love and humanity” (Shelley

91). Even though he is an ostracized creature, he goes out of his way in order to help anyone. For

example, when he helped cottages with wood for their fire that way a man named Felix could

allocate time to other household tasks. The creature says, “Let him live with me in the

interchange of kindness; and, instead of injury, I would bestow every benefit upon him with tears

of gratitude at his acceptance" (Shelley 136). It is clearly demonstrated that while initially, the

creature was monstrous in appearance, he is not at all monstrous in his actions. But the
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continuous expectations that are held by the hostile and insensitive society force him to become a

monster inside as well. He tries to find companionship but is only met with much hostility and

fear because it is hard for him to escape the expectations regardless of how he acts. Since he is

unable to satisfy society, he eventually confirms their assumptions and acts like a monster.

From the beginning, the creature is misjudged because of how he looks even his own creator

wanted nothing to do with him after seeing him. Victor even called his own creature a “wretch,”

and a “monster” before the creature is even able to do anything (Shelley 90). Making the creature

question his creator, “Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in

disgust?” (91). He completely deserts his own creation because he could not stand to look at him.

If Victor sees him with such horror, it is only expected that society would react to him. Only the

appearance of the creation struck fear in the society, they did not give him the opportunity to

prove he was not a monster.

Victor Frankenstein does not want to have contact with the creature he has brought to

life. While this is understandable, the creature yearns to have a connection with Victor

Frankenstein because he sees him as normal and wants to be just like him. Victor views the

creature as abnormal and does not want to attempt to connect with what he has created. It is

evident that he is afraid of what he has brought into the world. His description of his own

creation contributes to the fear and horror. Victor makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with

his creation when he says, “Devil," I exclaimed, "do you dare approach me? and do not you fear

the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head?” (Shelley 89) referring to the

creature as the devil dehumanizes him and creates this evil trope around him. Evidently moving

him further away from society, Victor had “endowed [the being] with perceptions and passions,

and then cast me abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind” (Shelley 131).
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Abandoning the creature and leaving him to wander aimlessly attempting to survive on his own

without knowledge or language around him. His looks scare women and children of a village that

he stumbles upon, further ostracizing him from society, if he is unable to infiltrate a community

then he is unable to find people who could possibly accept him for who and what he is. When the

creature finally encounters someone who can look past his deformities, he gains faith in the

humanity around him. But the one who can look past his deformities is actually a man who is

blind. He is not scared to be alone with the creature since he is unable to see him, and this shows

how one’s appearance can be deceiving and to have expectations on how someone looks is

unfounded.

Society had created the creature’s misery by rejecting him, initially he was not a monster

inside. The rejection that the creature got from his creator and those who he came in contact

with is more consumed by fear and prejudice that is fueled by his hideous appearance since it is

completely different than what is considered to be normal. In society ugliness is usually belittled

and described by cruel descriptions, and the case of the creature is made worse by how he was

created which turns him from a mere monster to a devil in the eyes of Victor. Prejudice can be a

negative attribute that can hurt human societies. With things that are judged beforehand, opinions

are usually formed based on less important attributes rather than the characteristics that actually

matter. Through rejection from his creator, Shelley demonstrates that prejudice is caused by fear

of differences and causes a sense of inferiority in the victims. While Victor created the creature,

society created the monster.

Work Cited

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Penguin Classics, 2012.