Human Qualities Of The Monster In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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In the novel Frankenstein, the monster created by Frankenstein shows some human qualities. Some qualities that make people human are reason, pain, anger, sadness, growth, and ultimately being made by God; the monster expresses the human qualities of pain, anger, sadness, and reason, but he does not have the quality of being made by God, and growth. One of the first qualities that the monster exhibits is reason. When the monster is sharing his story with Frankenstein, he explains how he discovered the rules of fire by saying, “ I quickly collected some branches; but they were wet, and would not burn. I was pained at this, and sat still watching the operation of the fire. The wet wood which I had placed near the heat dried, and itself became …show more content…

Soon after he gets rejected from the De Lacey family, he exclaims to Victor, “Cursed, Cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge” (117). The monster explains that he had been truly overcome with anger because of the De Lacey family’s rejection of him. On the other hand, the monster does not experience two of the most important qualities of being human: growth, and being made by God. The monster is aware of this and admits this by saying, “From my earliest remembrance I had been as I then was in height and proportion” (103). The monster has been the same height since his oldest memory. He also implies that he was not made by God when he says, “I remembered Adam’s supplication to his Creator. But where was mine?” (112). The monster is trying to point out that if God was his creator he would have known God. Experiencing reason, pain, anger, growth, and being made by God are just some of the qualities of being human. Even though the monster experiences the human qualities of reason, pain, and anger, he lacks the most important human qualities: growth, and being made by