Prejudice in "Frankenstein" and "A Passage to India"

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Prejudice in society is represented by the characters on the receiving end of injustice in the novels, "Frankenstein" and "A Passage to India." In "Frankenstein", the creature chooses to act out in violence due to the way he is oppressed by society due to his hideous appearance. In comparison, Aziz in "A Passage to India" reacts to the oppression of the English in a similar way at first, but soon realizes forgiveness is a much better way to handle it. The discrimination in both novels force a character's choice between an act of noble forgiveness and one of spiteful revenge.
The creature in "Frankenstein" is first wrongly judged by his own creator which sparks the hatred he has of all humans by the end of the novel. He is abandoned by the one who made him and is left confused and clueless. The creature quickly learns many things, most definite though, the unjust prejudice people have towards him because of his unfortunate ugliness. His hopelessness and hatred of humans is solidified when he learns of his creator's feelings of disgust towards him. When speaking to his creator he explains, "instead of threatening, I am content to reason with you. I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind,"(Shelley 170). The society in the novel "categorized him as being a danger to society just because of his monstrous appearance," (www.studymode.com). Eventually he meets one character who he believes may not run from or misjudge him. He befriends DeLacey, a blind man, and has a glimmer of hope that he will not be alone forever. However, all his hope is stripped away when he is immediately rejected by DeLacey's children who, like everyone else, judge the creature unfairly. The prejudice and discrimination the...

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...ling victim to his own rage.
Both Aziz and Frankenstein's monster are driven toward bad choices. They are forced to hate those who judge them. Aziz chooses to forgive and let go of some of his prejudice. The creature instead chooses an act of violent revenge which is his ruin. These novels clearly demonstrate how discrimination in society has negative dramatic effects on those who receive it and leads to expansion of prejudice.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. New York: Viking, 1998. Print.
Forster, E. M. A Passage to India. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1924. Print.
Frankenstein. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Perf. Robert De Niro. Tristar Pictures, 1994. DVD.
"Frankenstein." StudyMode.com. StudyMode.com, 01 2011. Web. 05 2014. http://www.studymode.com
A Passage to India. Dir. David Lean. Perf. Judy Davis and Victor Banergee. EMI Films, 1984. DVD.

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