Alex Ironside

Professor Lovejoy
English 101
10 December 2014
Real Monsters
What is a monster? By definition a monster is a big and strange creature that cannot
be controlled. Are these monsters born? No they are made by the events they went through
in life. If a person is portrayed as a monster their whole life, then that person is going to
become a monster because they are accepted as a monster. This is seen everywhere. People
just accept stereotypes because they are seen that way their whole life. The Monster in
Frankenstein is classified as a monster from the day he is created because he is big, ugly,
and disfigured. However, the Monster is just like a newborn baby because he does not
know language or culture. The day the Monster was brought to life he went looking for his
father around the apartment and he finds Victor lying in bed. Victor opens his eyes to see
the Monster standing over him, His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate
sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks (Shelley 99). He is basically harmless and ready
to learn how to become a normal human being. Victor Frankenstein never takes on the
responsibility of teaching the Monster values and morals because Victor classifies him as an
abomination from the moment the Monster comes to life. Victor then abandons the
Monster in hopes of never seeing him again. It is not just that the Monster never got a fair
shot to prove he is a normal person; instead, he is shunned because of his hideous
appearance. Monsters should not be defined as big and scary, but rather actions committed

purposely for evil. A monster is not born. They are created through a troubled upbringing
and how they are perceived by society.
Monsters are created by a troubled upbringing. For the Monster in Frankenstein, he
was brought into this world already without a mother. Then his creator, Victor
Frankenstein, who is trying to play god, brought the Monster to life without thinking about
the consequences. When Frankenstein witnesses his creation come to life, he is absolutely
terrified and wants nothing to do with the Monster. Victor is essentially the father of the
Monster and it is his responsibility for the upbringing of his creation. It does not make
sense to create another being without thinking of the consequences or taking the
responsibility for the creation. Frankenstein is truly the monster in this situation. Any
parent that would just leave their innocent newborn child to fend for themselves in a vast
unknown world sounds like the real monster. Not only does Victor abandon the Monster
when it needs him the most, Victor is happy that the Monster is gone from his apartment as
he returns. The Monster is now roaming around with nowhere to go and no one to teach
him how to live life. While he is roaming, he does not know how to eat or stay warm and
create shelter at night. The Monster even tells Frankenstein about all the horrible events he
went through while he was abandoned. The Monster says to Victor, I was a poor, helpless,
miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all
sides, I sat down and wept (Shelley 70). This is not a monster, the person who would put
someone through that is a monster. The Monster can do no wrong because he was never
taught the difference between right and wrong. He needs an authoritative figure to teach
him norms, values, and morals. In the story, the Monster has to learn language by spying on
a family. He reads books he finds and picks up his values from these novels. The Monster

also needs to be loved and cared for like a normal human. The Monster in Frankenstein is
not a monster at all. He is just a poor lost soul searching for love and meaning to his life.
Unfortunately he will never find these things because he was never loved or taught how to
live in his upbringing.
Monsters are labeled by the way they are perceived by society. People all around the
world learn while they are growing up that a monster is a big scary creature that is evil.
Throughout Mary Shelleys novel the Monster is seen as revolting by everyone who lays
eyes on him. He is even shot after saving a girl from drowning. The father of the girl is the
one that shot the Monster because he saw a big deformed creature. The father assumed the
Monster was harming his daughter just by the Monsters appearance. You are never
supposed to judge a book by its cover, yet everyone in society judges by appearance. After
being shot for saving a life, the Monster is infuriated with mankind. He has all the right to
be outraged with the human race because of all the terrible actions committed against him.
However, the Monster is lonely, and needs to find companionship with someone. He tries to
seize the chance when the perfect opportunity comes along. He encounters a young boy
while wandering, and is convinced he can make a companion of the boy. The Monster
assumes the boy is young enough, unprejudiced, and has not learned to be horrified by his
appearance. The Monster grabs the boy to try to explain his situation, but once the boy
catches sight of the Monster he screams and covers his eyes. The boy struggles to break
free and says, Let me go, monster! ugly wretch! you wish to eat me and tear me to pieces -You are an ogre -- Let me go, or I will tell my papa (Shelley 100). Even this little boy that
should be innocent and pure hearted already has a view of what monsters are. Growing up
in his society has taught him that monsters are big, scary, and deformed creatures.

The boy who was murdered is Frankensteins kid brother, and little did he know the
real monster was his older brother. Victor brought pain and suffering to many people
throughout this novel. He was the reason four of his loved ones past away. Frankenstein
also allowed an innocent creature to venture into a dangerous world without any
knowledge. Do not be fooled by the way society perceives monsters as just big scary people
and creatures; monsters come in all different shapes, sizes, and even colors. The characters
in Frankenstein could have prevented a lot of misery by stopping the true monster. Victor
was the cause of all the unfortunate events that plagued his family, but no one suspected
him because his exterior features did not match societys definition of a monster.
Frankenstein has always been associated with the Monster. The Monster, who never
actually gets a name in the novel, is most commonly known as Frankenstein. Society has
always portrayed the monster as big, ugly, and bad. For example, Susan Tyler Hitchcock
talks about how Frankenstein is interpreted through centuries in her piece The Monster
Lives On. Hitchcock says, Most references through the nineteenth century used
Frankensteins creation to symbolize a monstrous mistake (Hitchcock 265). The blame is
always put on the creation, but not the creator. The Monster in Frankenstein should not be
symbolized as the mistake. It should be Victor symbolizing the true monster to show
monsters should not be characterized by appearance, but instead by actions.
The definition of a monster is very misconstrued by society. Monsters are created by
the way they are perceived by society and a troubled upbringing. Monsters are not born. As
seen in The Monster Lives On society can perceive something differently, and it will take
on a life of its own. Monsters should not be defined by their appearance, but rather the

actions they purposely commit with evil intentions. In the case of the Monster vs. Victor
Frankenstein, Victor is found guilty as the real monster!

Works Cited
Hitchcock, Susan Tyler. The Monster Lives On. Frankenstein. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. 2nd ed.
New York: Norton, 2012. 263-270. Print.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2012. Print.