Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is but the story of a monster. What is a monster? Well a monster is more generally defined as an animal or plant of abnormal form or structure, but also defined as one who deviates from normal or acceptable behaviour or character. In this novel, Victor Frankenstein brings to life a creature that has the likeliness of a monster. He portrays this creature as being so horrible and different from him, when in fact the two are eerily similar. Both Victor and his creature are very isolated from family and society. The danger of knowledge also comes to the understanding of both of them at points through the novel. Although not apparent to himself, Victor begins a slow descent into de-humanization from the time of the creature’s creation until his demise. Through this descent, it is apparent that the real monster in Frankenstein is not the hideous creation, but the creator himself.
Victor Frankenstein’s creation is the only creature of its kind in existence. The creature is shunned from all of humanity because of his deformities. His appearance and circumstance of creation label him as the ultimate outsider. Victor is also an outsider, as his awful secret separates him from family, friends and society. This separation is displayed throughout many places in the novel when he is away for extended periods of time with no contact to his family. A prime example of Victor’s separation is displayed in a letter written to him by Elizabeth after a long period of no contact: “...it is now several months since we have seen your hand-writing; ... Surely, Victor, you must have been exceedingly ill; and this makes us all very wretched” (Shelley 91). It is apparent that Victor has become so over-ridden with guilt; he even neglects to think of his family until their worry is brought to his attention.
Both Victor and his creature grow throughout the novel in terms of knowledge. Through this growth, they also learn that knowledge can be...