FREE ESSAY ON CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MONSTER

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MONSTER

Julie Kirkland
ENGL 1101-TH
Evaluating Essay
Characterization of the Monster
The characterization of Victor's creature, the monster, in the movie although somewhat
dramatically different from Mary Shelley's portrayal in the novel Frankenstein also had
its similarities. Shelley's views of the monster were to make him seem like a human
being, while the movie made the monster out to be a hideous creation. The creature's
appearance and personality are two aspects that differ between the novel and movie while
his intellectual and tender sides were portrayed the same.
From the novel the creature's physical appearance is left up to each reader's
imagination. Shelley wrote: 
His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected
his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God!
His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of 
muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a 
lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly 
whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a
more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that 
seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white
sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled 
complexion and straight black lips (p.56). 
Although I imagined the creature a human being with somewhat distorted features, another
reader might view his appearance as a grotesque monster. On the other hand, the movie has
shown him as a hideous monster created by a mad scientist. The monster's appearance was
focused on creating life out of dead body parts, sewing the pieces together that left
horrid physical scars, and activating him with electricity.
The creature's personality, or actions toward society, was displayed as being very calm
and compassionate in the novel. He made many attempts to converse with society, but
society feared and mistreated him because of his hideous appearance, forcing the creature
to run away. Rejection by society and even his creator, who abhorred his creature, taught
the creature to hate and seek revenge. Shelley wrote: 
'Hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in 
agony. 'Accursed creator! Why did you form a 
monster so hideous that even you turned from me 
in disgust?' (p.124). There was none among the 
myriads of men that existed who would pity or 
assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my 
enemies? No; from that moment I declared everlasting 
war against the species, and more than all, against 
him who had formed me and sent me forth to this 
insupportable misery (p.130). 
The movie, as well, showed the creature's creator and society rejecting him, but the
movie demonstrated his personality as being very violent. Instead of the monster running
off when people acted harshly towards him, he lashed out in rage by destroying things and
hurting others. An example of his violent nature in the movie was when he killed Victor's
wife by ripping her heart out of her chest, compared to him only strangling her in the
novel.
The movie's interpretation of the creature's intelligence level seemed to be captured
just as Mary Shelley had written in her novel. Although, everyone should take note that
Shelley's description of the creature's intelligence was more vivid and detailed to give
us a better understanding of how the creature learned to read, speak, and understand
human nature. The movie only showed a couple of scenes and then left it up to the
creature to tell Victor how he had acquired the traits. The creature first learned how to
speak by listening to Felix read to the old man and Agatha, but it wasn't until Safie
moved into the cottage that the creature was taught the meanings of words and how to
pronounce them. While he sat in the hovel everyday he would peer through a crack in the
wall and listen to Felix teach Safie how to speak. They both "improved rapidly in the
knowledge of language" (p.113) everyday. When the creature was able to read he retrieved
the book, Frankenstein's journal, that he had found in his pocket on his first night of
living in the hovel. This is how the creature learned of his existence and to even hate
the day he was created. Although society and his creator rejected him, he made one more
attempt to make friends. When the cottagers also rejected him because of his physical
features, he knew that he would never be liked by the human race and vowed to bring harm
to any man that tried to harm him.
The movie also showed the monster's tender side to be just like the novel. This was a
total surprise to me, because the movie made every attempt to make the creature appear to
be a very cruel and non-caring monster. The creature attempted to help the cottagers by
gathering their food for them and providing wood so they would survive the cold season.
The creature also requested a companion of the opposite sex, so he too could feel love
from another instead of total rejection. At the very end of the novel and movie the
creature was caught grieving over the death of his creator. Even though we are made to
think that the creature was cold and destructive, in the end his human emotions
prevailed.
The Frankenstein movie focused on outward action scenes rather than emotional themes to
make it more popular and entertaining. It also portrayed Victor as a mad scientist
engrossed in his desire to create human life. I was very impressed that the movie did
keep some of the good qualities that came from the novel. I enjoyed the novel more,
because it gave me the opportunity to put my imagination to work instead of having to
accept someone else's interpretation of Mary Shelley's literary novel. 
Bibliography
Frankenstein by Shelley