Frankenstein's Identity

Option #2:

When I think of Frankenstein I now think of the monster’s creator, Victor Frankenstein. This is of course because I read the book before. Before I ever read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and learned the actual identity of the monster, I also thought the name referred to a green-skinned, square-headed monster with bolts in his neck. Even now the image of a giant, grotesque monster made of stitched together body parts still lingers when I hear the name. When the monster first awakens, Victor describes it as having “yellow skin scarcely [covering] the work of muscles and arteries beneath” (p.35). He continues to describe the monster’s “watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set” (p.35). This description appears to be more of a corpse than any kind of living creature. The monster from the book was something horrid, but also capable of thought and able to form connections like a human being. I think the reason why the image of the monster has developed from such a conflicting, not-quite-human description to that of something slow and dumb is because of fear; the fear of the unknown and at the same time the fear of potentially relating to such a creature. We fear what is different and so we cast it aside and treat it purely as a monster. We also fear how dangerously close it comes to being considered human, so we remove its human aspects and describe it only as a monster. Victor also feared what he had created and so destroyed the potential mate for the monster. He feared what would happen if this creature was allowed to become more human and experience companionship.

I think the reason why the name Frankenstein is so firmly connected to the monster rather than its creator is because the monster embodies what Victor has become. Just as Victor plays God in creating life, his creation plays God by taking life. As the monster is alienated from society for being different, Victor’s secret starts to alienate him from his family. And, of course, in the end Victor destroys the creature’s mate. This is reflected by the monster’s action in killing Victor’s wife. Through the story, Victor’s transformation into the monster becomes clear as in the end he becomes the one obsessed with taking revenge on the monster.