Examples Of Prejudice In Frankenstein

A society without prejudice would be one filled with love and compassion. However, judging others has become a major aspect in determining their goodness and these judgements are often biased. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creature is alienated and rejected by society, simply based on his looks. Abandoned from birth by his own father, rejected by those who he felt were filled with love, and misunderstood for his whole life, the creature is pulled on a preventable pathway to becoming a monster. Born with a pure heart, Victor Frankenstein’s creation is twisted into a monster by society. His alienation starts because his creator does not take responsibility for his actions and abandons him.

Victor Frankenstein, although an intelligent man,

turns his back on his creation as an act of cowardice. He puts himself in the shoes of God and creates a being; though he does not follow through with the duties of a father because he fears the outcomes. Victor started the task of creating a being with a great passion, “but now that [he] [has] finished, the beauty of the dream [vanishes], and breathless horror and disgust [fills] [his] heart,” (Ch. 5.3). Seeing his creation, he is astonished by its hideousness and decides he no longer wishes to be associated with it - this disassociation has its consequences. Essentially, Victor aborts his creation and makes him fend for himself. The creation is an innocent creature put into this world and “whose future lot it [is] in [Victor’s] hands to direct to happiness or misery” (letter 1), though Frankenstein does not realize this. Shunning him as he is Satan, rather than Adam, Victor starts the alienation of his creation and allows others in society to lead him to misery.
Although many members of society isolate the creature because of his looks he thinks he has finally met a family that will accept him – the De Lacey family.

Living beside them for sometime and learning how to speak and read through his secret observations of the family, the creature feels as if he is a part of the family. Observing the family, he gains a sense of what it means to be loved and have others care for one: he “[admires] [their] virtue[s] and good feelings and [loves] the gentle manners and amiable qualities of [his] cottager [family]” (Ch. 13.19). He begins to think of them as his own family and worries why Felix and Agatha, the children, are so miserable and sad - he wishes to restore happiness to them and can imagine scenarios where he “[wins] their favour and afterwards their love” (Ch. 12.17). However, the idealistic images that the creature imagines in his head are not how he is welcomed by the family. Rather, he is kicked out of their cottage upon their first encounter. The family, although loving and caring for one another, does not share their compassion with the creature. Instead they show prejudice towards him. Being treated based on his looks, by people who he thought were filled with love, causes the creature to believe that because of his deformed figure he is loathsome and “a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men [flee] and whom all men [will] [disown]” (Ch.13.17). From the De Lacey family’s reaction to him he learns that he will never be accepted by society because he does not fit in. Furthermore, because of how he is treated by society, even those whom appear to be filled with compassion, despite the pureness that the creature was born with he is now becoming the monster that others believes he

is.
As every child is, the monster was brought into this world untainted by its evils and filled with the opportunity to stay pure and happy. However, instead of having support along the way to help him overcome his differences, the monster is shunned and hated. Regardless of how hard he tries to be nice to others he is rejected and he realizes that mankind is short-sighted. He realizes that people tend to look at what is in front of their eyes and make judgments, whether they be correct or not, despite learning more and thinking of their consequences. The violence and hatred that the creature is drowned in is what causes him to become a monster - “[he] was benevolent and good; [his] soul glowed with love and humanity” (Ch.10.13), but the misery that he has endured made him a monster. However, the desolation that he endures is not a justifiable reason for him seeking revenge and spreading violence. Though he does not know this since he has had no parent figure to raise him and guide him through his life. It is “the companions of [people’s] childhood[s] [that] [always] possess a certain power over [their] minds which hardly any later friend can obtain” (Ch.24 part 2.9) and since the monster has only had experiences with ‘enemies’ and violence in his ‘childhood’ that is which has power over him. It is violence that possesses him. Despite his pure intentions the creature is categorized as a monster for being different and not allowed to show his inner self.
From the day that he is brought to life, Victor Frankenstein’s creature is surrounded by circumstances that cause him to become a monster. He is neglected by his own father and not given the opportunity to prove his innocence, nor his benevolence. The creature is immersed into a negative lifestyle that pushed him towards becoming a monster. He is alienated by society, though if he were accepted for who he is and had someone that supported him along the way he could have not become a monster. The creature was aborted at birth and left to be mistreated by others, which led him to seek revenge in the only form he knew – violence. Society plays a major role in supporting its members and a negative environment can cause preventable changes that destructively impact all its members.