18 March 2012
Significance of De Lacey Family
The only thing Frankenstein desires is to be accepted by the people and as well as the De Lacey family. Now the question is: Why is it that no one wants to accept Frankenstein? People should not always judge by looks, but instead look into the inner side of a person and listen to what they have to say because looks can be deceiving. The De Laceys’ significance ties with the creature and at the end he is judged by everyone and is left to do nothing more but kill himself.
To begin with, Victor Frankenstein refers to the creature as a “new born baby” because he is a new human being to the world and is clueless on what’s going on around him. He realizes that he is continuously being judged for his ugliness and “learns that when he approaches the De Lacey family, he ‘ought not to make the attempt until he first becomes master of their language; which knowledge might enable him to make them overlook the deformity of his figure”(Chao 2).
Mr. De Lacey on the other hand is capable of hearing the Creature’s tale because since he is blind and cannot see, all he can do is listen to his words, which persuades him to believe he is sincere. As you can see here, Mr. De Lacey is not only an unbiased friend but also the voice of reason. If the De Lacey family didn’t stereotype so much, then they’d actually understand that the creature has a good heart and doesn’t mean to harm anyone in any vicious way.
The creature, in the De Laceys’ eyes, is viewed as “horrific the supernatural force” and he as well was aware of his monstrosity when he observed his own mirror image in a transparent pool and then came to the conclusion that he indeed looks like a scary, ferocious monster. The creature placed them in a common category like the others that exclude him. “He uses the phrase “thy Creature” when speaking of himself to Victor, always in opposition to the designated of monster and always implying a shared culpability in his misdeeds” (Bernatchez 3).
The Term Paper on Frankenstein: How Are the Creature and Frankenstein Similiar
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, both the creature and Victor become more alike as the novel progresses. Their bond with nature, desire for family, and desire for vengeance are important characteristics that they share. Both Victor and the creature desire a family. The creature starts with no family, as Victor rejects him. Victor starts with a whole family, Alfonse, his father, Caroline, his ...
The poor creature was successful in achieving a sympathetic response, but is as usual ultimately denied due to young De Laceys’ rejection of the ugliness of his body.
Despite the negativities the The De Laceys’ caused with the monster, they did though impact the monster positively by stopping him from stealing some of the family’s food for his own consumption “more importantly the encounter kindles his desire to join human society” (Chao 2).
“The De Lacey family inscribes on the monster’s mind not merely gentle manners but perfect forms, that is, their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions make him realize that he does not look like a normal human being”(Chao 2).
All he wholeheartedly wants is for a good and kindhearted person to overlook his deformed figure and become his friend.
In referring to the society and sympathy of the De Laceys’ fellow creatures, I’ve marked the Creature’s first attempt to imply that both he and humans are all “creatures” meaning all the same kind. “The creature tried to help the De Lacey family anonymously, hoping that by “gentle demeanour and conciliating words, he should win their favour, and afterwards their love” (Bernatchez 9), but he was once again denied.
After his failure with the De Lacey family, he moved more towards violent actions and began to injure people in the community. He also tried to force Victor to create for him another being like him that, in parallel with Scarry’s model, can acknowledge “the other psychic or sentient claims and act like an image existing in the space outside the sufferer’s body.”(Bernatchez 9).
He begged and pleaded for this request but at this point, the request for sympathy constitutes a plea for life. Denied any opportunity to communicate, defeated by his own body, the Creature is driven to self-hatred.
The Essay on Character Analysis – The Monster In Frankenstein
The monster’s physical grostequeness, as well as murderous deeds – his strangling of William, Clerval, Elizabeth and framing of Justine – tempts the unthinking reader to believe that the monster is the embodiment of evil. However, on analysis, the reader realizes that this is not entirely true. Mary Shelley has gone to great lengths to portray the monster as less of a ‘daemoniacal corpse’ and more ...
To recapitulate, all that the monster wants is for someone to accept him for who he is and how he looks. He wants someone to look beyond his looks and educate him, help him when in need, and be there for him like a friend should be. The De Laceys’ were not successful in doing this though. They were a prejudiced family, except for Mr. De Lacey. He was the only one that judged by the words the Creature said and actually listened to what he had to say rather than jump to conclusions and assume he must be a monster due to his appearance. That’s the way everyone should act.
Works Cited
Chao, Shun-liang. “Education As A Pharmakon In Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN.”
Explicator 68.4 (2010): 223-226. Literary Reference Center. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.
Joshua, Essaka. “‘Blind Vacancy’: Sighted Culture And Voyeuristic Historiography In Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein.” European Romantic Review 22.1 (2011): 49-69. Literary
Reference Center. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.
Bernatchez, Josh. “Monstrosity, Suffering, Subjectivity, And Sympathetic Community In
“Frankenstein” And “The Structure Of Torture..” Science Fiction Studies 36.2 (2009):
205-216. Literary Reference Center. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.
Douthwaite, Julia V., and Daniel Richter. “The Frankenstein Of The French Revolution:
Nogaret’s Automaton Tale Of 1790.” European Romantic Review 20.3 (2009): 381-411.
Literary Reference Center. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.
