Who Deserves My Sympathy?
Understanding the creature’s side of the story made me thoroughly reconsider whether, as a reader, I should sympathize with Frankenstein or the creature. Mary Shelley clearly wanted every reader to struggle with this because both characters so vividly account for their misfortune and woes, but the ending of the text does a lot to clarify in what ways the reader should empathize with either Frankenstein or the creature. Walton’s perspective is crucial in understanding this because he himself can understand so well the misery they both ensure. While death encroaches, Frankenstein concedes “In a fit of enthusiastic madness I created a rational creature, and was bound towards him, to assure, as far as was in my power, his happiness and well being. This was my duty; but there was another still paramount to that. My duties towards the beings of my own species had greater claims to my attention, because they included a greater proportion of my happiness or misery” (191). Frankenstein’s acknowledgment of his wrongdoings encourages the reader to realign their sympathies with him, but the creature admits to his own crimes at the end of the text as well. He imparts to Walton that he took no pleasure in having “murdered the lovely and the helpless” (196) and only did so because of the rage he felt after seeing Victor so happy and content. Shelley decided that the reader will sympathize with the character who most directly relates to the inherent struggles man endures every day. A holistic examination reveals that Frankenstein battles his ego most in the novel. While he shows consideration for the ones he loves, it is really only because they directly inspire his optimism. Without his friends and family Victor is just as wretched as the creature. Loneliness is exactly what the creature battles most and readers who relate to this well may find they align their sympathies with the creature. While this approach provides some insight into how a reader might sympathize with either character, the answer is ultimately impossible resolve. The duality of both characters is Shelley’s method for raising question and imparting strife upon the reader.
While reading the novel I also struggled with which character deserves sympathy. However, in the case of having to endure loneliness, I feel as though the monster deserves more sympathy. A dislike towards being alone is a fear that is instilled within us innately and is something that all readers are able to relate to. In the novel, both Victor and the monster suffer from loneliness in some way. However, Victor brought his bought of loneliness upon himself. He isolated himself from society to commit himself to the creation of his monster. After he was successful in his endeavors, his possession of the knowledge of how to reanimate pieces of dead organisms into a living whole and his unwillingness to share his discoveries further separated him from society. On the other hand, the monster was forced into a life of loneliness after being rejected by both his creator as well as society. Whereas Victor could decide whether or not to take part in society, the monster was not given a choice. Therefore, in the case of loneliness, I sympathize with the monster.
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