Who is the real monster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Who is the real monster - Essay Example rrified by what he has done, and abandons the so-called monster to his fate, wandering alone in the world looking at first for acceptance, but as time goes on, increasingly looking for revenge for all the pain and suffering that he is forced to endure. This paper analyzes Mary Shelley’s depiction of the scientist and his creature, showing how a number of key metaphors and similes, along with the conscious exploitation of extreme settings, reveal Doctor Frankenstein to be the real monster. The novel uses an interesting structure of some introductory letters at the beginning, and concluding letters at the end from a ship’s captain, Mr Walton, to frame the main story. The first main character to appear is â€Å"a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature† (letter IV) and the second is â€Å"a human being...not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but an European† (Letter IV). The perspective is of a neutral observer, the captain of a ship stranded in the far north. These descriptions reveal the standard prejudices of the time, in which Europeans considered themselves superior to other races, and through their history of slavery and colonialism treated other nations as â€Å"savages.† The ship’s captain is very impressed with Doctor Frankenstein’s highly civilized character but it is interesting that he also uses the word â€Å"creature† when de scribing him: â€Å"How can I see so noble a creature destroyed by misery... He is so gentle, yet so wise; his mind is so cultivated...† (letter IV). This introduction sets up an expectation that the strange guest on the ship is a good man, who will have an inspiring tale to tell, and that there is something wild and dangerous about the giant figure fleeing into the ice. When the Doctor is taken into the ship, the perspective changes to become his perspective and the main part of the book which follows consists of Doctor Frankenstein’s