Comparing Frankenstein 'And The Vegetarian' By

Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley in 1818, and The Vegetarian written by Han Kang in 2007 are two horror novels that defined the modern horror genre; while both are considered “body horror” –which is a subgenre of horror described by the unnatural transformation, destruction or mutilation of a physical body– Frankenstein was a very early example while The Vegetarian is a relatively new novel in the subgenre. Throughout the books both the monster and Yeong-hye are forced to conform to society's expectations of them, despite what they wish they could be. In Frankenstein and The Vegetarian the monster and Yeong-hye are both trying to distance themselves from how they were initially created; while the monster tries to disconnect himself from

In Frankenstein, the monster created by Victor wants to be regarded as a human and to live as one. The main characteristic of human life that the monster wants is companionship. More than once, the monster explicitly tells Frankenstein or another character that all he wants is to not be perceived as a monster and to have a friend, or even a “other half.” One example of this is when the monster is speaking to an old man, whose family he has been helping in secret for a variety of months. The monster says to the man,“I tenderly love these friends; I have, unknown to them, been for many months in the habits of daily kindness towards them; but they believe that I wish to injure them, and it is that prejudice which I wish to overcome.” (Shelley 125) One aspect that makes someone or something human is their ability to feel emotions, particularly towards another human being. By mentioning his feelings for the people he's been helping, he is proving that the only thing about him that is not "human" is his physical body. His brain has been developed in a way that

Even his own creator cannot bear to look at him. “I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived.” (Shelley 46) Even when Frankenstein was building the monster, he realized he was ugly, but after the monster “came to life” Frankenstein was horrified so much so that he became extremely sick for many months just from the idea that he had created something so absolutely hideous. Despite this, Frankenstein still uses the word “gaze” when describing how he looked at the monster for the first time. The word “gaze” is a lot different than what would be used when staring at something you hate, like the word “stare.” While staring at the monster would imply a hatred for the monster, knowing that it’s ugly, using the word gaze doesn’t imply the same. To gaze upon something is usually to indicate awe or wonder, which was what Frankenstein first felt as he created the monster; it was not until the monster “came to life” that Frankenstein believed he was truly hideous and monstrous. Another thing to note is the change of pronoun from ‘him’ to ‘it.’ This further engraves into the reader’s mind that the monster isn’t anything like a human, nothing more than a monster. The monster spends the first 7 years of his