The Role Of Cruelty In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, cruelty plays a key role in the development of the plot and the molding of the monster’s character. Frankenstein’s monster becomes increasingly malevolent throughout the novel, a direct result of society’s cruel rejection of him and his quest for companionship. The first major event in the novel is when Victor finally succeeds in creating life after tons of hard work at the University of Ingolstadt. When his creation smiles at him and attempts to embrace him, however, Victor runs away screaming. Victor’s treatment of the incarnate monster, while perhaps only an instinctual response, shows Victor’s lack of preparation for what he thought was his life’s goal. Victor’s initial cruelty breeds despair inside the monster, which turns into a thirst for revenge.

All his human contact either ends with physical pain or societal rejection, as the people he meets have the same gut instinct to shun him for his horrifying appearance that Victor did. However, when the monster stumbles upon a quaint cabin in the woods, his hope of finding a friend is reignited when he realizes that one of the people living there (the de Laceys) is an old blind man who might not immediately ostracize him for his appearance. The monster’s final attempts at amity are squelched when he is chased from the cabin by the other inhabitants. With the cabin that the monster burns die the monster’s last hopes of finding human friends. Because of this devastating spurning by the de Laceys, the monster decides to abandon seeking friendship through amity and kindness. Instead, the monster embraces his own cruelty and attempts to force Victor to procure a mate for