Frankenstein thoughts because I forgot how creation works
Okay but Frankenstein genuinely makes me feel insane every time I think about it because people keep calling it a “man creates a monster” story and I’m like. Did we read the same book. Or did you skim the sparknotes and run.
Because the Creature is not born evil. He is born confused. And in pain. And the very first thing he does is look for Victor like a child looking for the only face he knows. He tries to speak. He tries to be understood. And Victor sees him and immediately goes “absolutely not” and runs away.
Which is. Kind of everything actually.
Victor wants to be a god so badly until the second being a god requires responsibility. He wants the accomplishment, not the aftermath. He creates a life and then abandons it because it’s ugly and inconvenient and doesn’t fit the fantasy he had in his head. And that moment sets the tone for literally everything that happens next.
What kills me is how hard the Creature tries to be good.
He doesn’t start out angry. He starts out hopeful. He watches the cottagers because he wants to understand people. He learns language. He learns kindness. He genuinely believes that if he proves he has a good heart, someone will accept him. That goodness will be enough.
And then he saves a child from drowning. Like, no hesitation. Pure instinct. Pure empathy. And for that he gets shot.
That is the moment where something breaks, I think. Because it’s not just Victor anymore. It’s everyone. The world looks at him doing something undeniably good and still decides he’s a monster. His voice doesn’t matter. His intent doesn’t matter. His actions don’t even matter if his body is wrong.
And that’s when Frankenstein stops being subtle and just starts screaming at you: monstrosity is not inherent, it is assigned.
The Creature keeps reaching for connection and keeps getting punished for it. Every door is closed before he even learns how to knock. Every attempt at softness is met with violence. And eventually he realizes he’s never going to be Adam — he’s always going to be the outcast they think he is.
The second creature is what finally makes Victor irredeemable to me. Because the Creature isn’t asking for power or revenge or domination. He’s asking for one person. One being who won’t recoil from him. Someone to share exile with so he doesn’t have to be alone forever.
And Victor destroys her. On purpose. After promising.
He doesn’t just deny the Creature love — he denies him a future. He decides the world would rather the Creature suffer alone than risk a world where someone like him gets companionship. And in doing that, he locks them into this horrible, mutual destruction loop that Victor pretends he didn’t create.
“If I am a demon,” the Creature basically says, “it’s because you made me one.”
And that’s the part people ignore. Frankenstein isn’t asking “what if science goes too far.” It’s asking what happens when you create something and refuse to care for it. When you abandon a being and then blame it for what abandonment turns it into.
Anyway this book makes me feral and sad and I clearly have feelings about it. I tried writing a diary-entry-style thing from the Creature’s POV for class and I genuinely can’t tell if it’s insightful or if I completely misunderstood him, so if anyone wants to read my shitty attempt at it let me know. Or tell me to delete it. Both are valid.
