Seeking Belonging: A Comparative Analysis of “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley and “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™” by Rebecca Roanhorse "Frankenstein" is a novel by Mary Shelley that tells the story of a scientist and his creation and the complicated relationship they have. While Victor finds the creature repulsive, the lonely creature, despite its frightful appearance, wishes to find its place among mankind. "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" by Rebecca Roanhorse, is a short story that follows Jesse Turnblatt, an employee at Vision Quests, who provides tourists with authentic experiences of what it is like to be "Indian." However, as an indigenous man, he is still unsure of his purpose or identity as he continues …show more content…
The Creature is faced with two choices: ask his creator for another female version of himself or seek revenge. He first meets with his creator and claims, "One as deformed and horrible as myself, could not deny herself to me" implying that he needs another being with the "same defects" in order to feel accepted and find comfort. The Creature comes to the conclusion that remaining within a "species" with similar traits is the only way for him to feel fulfilled and have a sense of belonging. (136). Following Victor's rejection to bring another unnatural monster into this world, The Creature is filled with rage and the conviction that if he is condemned to be alone, then so should his creator. This leads to a murder spree as he declares "everlasting war against the species", particularly against the man who gave rise to him "to this insupportable misery." The monster is done trying to understand the human species given that they have shown him nothing but hatred for his kind and that the cause of his unhappiness should suffer just like him, by losing all that he cherishes. After accomplishing his goal of killing everyone Frankenstein holds dear, The Creature declares, "I shall collect my funeral pile and consume to ashes this miserable frame", because even after committing mass murder, he still does not feel any sense of fulfillment, and his last resort for finding peace is to end his life, a life that should never have been created in the first place. While Jesse is seeking acceptance and feels alienated, he loses himself and his authenticity. As a result, he becomes so absorbed in his own built reality that he begins to view the world through the tourist's eyes, distorting his own identity and the reality of his experiences as he “felt himself shifting, his very being warping to accommodate the distorted reality he had created”, this time inverting the roles