Examples Of Prejudice In Frankenstein

Shirley Zhang

Ms. Pojasek

Honors English 1

April 9, 2018

Prejudice

Fair skin covers multitude of sins; plain appearances hide kind hearts. Judgements on appearances prevent people from discovering the goodness that lies beyond the surface, and the reason of those judgements is prejudice. Being one of mankind’s most persistent problems, prejudice has been influencing people of all time periods This feeling has caused chaos and confusion in human society because people have always been blinded from the truth as they judge. The concept of prejudice is explored in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. In the novel, prejudice appears as an important theme when people judge others superficially.

The character being judged prematurely is the monster.

He finds himself assaulted and rejected by entire villages and families despite his attempts to convey his benevolent intentions. The violence and prejudice he encounters convinces him of the "barbarity of man" and that people blinded by their own prejudice. Victor, the monster’s creator, is the first character to judge the monster based on his looks. After Victor animates his creature, he describes the creation as a “catastrophe” before he takes “refuge in the court-yard”, “catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life”(Shelley 38). The immediate actions, fright and disdain of Victor shows that even he, the monster’s own creator, judges the creature based on his looks.
After the creature leaves Victor, he scared away the whole village and was taught not to get close to people.

Nevertheless, as he observes the family in cottage, his will of being accepted is evoked. When he finally approaches them, however, nothing changes but that “In a transport fury, he dashed me to the ground, and struck me violently with a stick( Shelley 94). Terror overcomes the man in cottage before he actually gets to know the stranger, so he expelled the creature out, ignoring the fact that the creature is the one who helps them secretly. It is possible that if instead of being terrified and running away the man decided to be more hospitable, then the monster could have proven himself to be peaceful and learned from the man. This potential better outcome effectively suggests that without prejudices the world could be a better

place
A character that strongly contrasts to the monster is William, Victor’s litter brother.

The fair kid gets everyone’s love and attention by the time he was born with his perfect, innocent looks: “He is very tall at his age, with sweet laughing blue eyes, dark eye-lashes, and curling hair. When he smiles, two little dimples appear on each cheek, which are rosy with health”(Shelley 43). This sweet child whose smiles delighted and warmed everyone's heart is believed to be gentle and gay all the time. The creature once is convinced by William’s innocent appearance that “This little creature is unprejudiced, and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity (Shelley 100), so the creature wants to approach William amicably. However, scared by his ugliness, William “cried;’ monster!ugly wretch! You wish to eat me, and tear me into pieces”(Shelley 100). The reality that hits the creature’s as well as the readers’ hearts is that William is not as gentle and innocent as he seems to be when he is also assuming the creature to be evil by his

appearance.
Nowadays, the multitude separate people with different races, genders, and appearances by labeling each group with certain words based on their experiences. White people have privilege; sumptuous dress means richness; plain looks are not worth paying attention to. Those existing judgements are sometimes true, but preconception is not a feasible means of seeing the world. In the big society, characters of each person are objective and different from other individuals. Because of this diversity of human race, it is almost involuntary for individuals to compare and prejudice. Preconceptions blind people from the reality as well as prevent people from seeing the goodness in others. For instance, well-dressed people could be of low quality; a handsome man who seems genteel could be malicious inside; an ordinary person can yet be erudite and profound. Just like in Frankenstein, nearly every human character assumes that the creature must be dangerous based on its outward, horrible appearance, when in truth the monster is originally warm and open-hearted.
This world should have been beautiful because human nature is originally kind. However, because of prejudice, the scale of this world tilts, and people's hearts become deformed. The prejudice of each other, the prejudice of skin color, and the prejudice of appearance blind people from more opportunities and the potential to pursue an equal society. All sorts of conceivable fantasies exist in the world; therefore, only by respecting families, friends, and every living creature as well as trying to understand and accept can people fill the world with warmth and love, so that human development will make progress over time in justice and acceptance.

Work cite
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. W•W•Norton & company, 1818.