Jack Hightower Dr. Hudson HE 112; Section 4002 February 13, 2023 The Creature’s Corruption “But his doom reserved him to more wrath, for now the thought / Both of lost happiness and lasting pain / Torments him” (Milton 173). John Miton’s Paradise Lost accomplishes a seemingly impossible task. By explaining the fall of man from the Devil’s perspective, he is able to get readers to sympathize with the character. In the quote, Satan is presented as the victim of his “doom,” which causes him to lose all happiness and be driven to evil. Such is the case with the Creature in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Like Satan, he is also the victim of his story. He also loses his happiness and is driven to act only on wrath and revenge. The Creature is …show more content…
Frankenstein. Immediately after being created, his experiences in nature help reveal his intrinsically peaceful temperament. After escaping Frankenstein’s lab, the Creature describes his amazement upon witnessing his first sunset, “a gentle light stole over the heavens, and gave me a sensation of pleasure…I gazed with a kind of wonder” (Shelley 75). Despite being only a few minutes old, the Creature is awestruck by the sunset, a natural wonder that is universally accepted by humans as being beautiful. Shortly after, the Creature feels similar amazement when he hears birds singing. He says, “sometimes I tried to imitate the pleasant songs of the birds, but was unable to” (Shelley 75). Similar to humans, he feels pleasure when he hears the birds sing. This recognition of beauty not only shows that he is more human than he appears, but also seems to suggest that he is not inherently drawn to evil. At this point in his life, the Creature has only experienced the state of nature. In this state, he recognizes the beauty of a sunset and tries to sing with the birds, pointing to the fact that he is inherently …show more content…
Seeking food and shelter, he comes across a house and enters it. Unsurprisingly, the residents of the house become very fearful and soon the entire village knows of his presence. In regards to the villagers, he describes how “some fled, some attacked me, until…I escaped to the open country and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel” (Shelley 77). At this point in his life, the Creature has no idea what caused the village to attack him. As the quote reveals, the only emotion he felt in the conflict was fear. The attack establishes a dichotomy between the Creature’s passive temperament and society’s treatment of him. Shelley uses this dichotomy to make the Creature easy to sympathize with. At this point, readers have witnessed both his inherent goodness in the state of nature and the subsequent attack by the