Prejudice in Frankenstein

Definition of Prejudice

• Pre-existing idea or bias against someone based on factors they can't control
  • Examples: gender, skin color, nationality
• Leads to stereotypes
  • Judging people based on appearance and superficial characteristics

Prejudice in Frankenstein

• Story's Message: Illustrates the flaws of judging based on external appearance
• Beautiful appearance can mislead; ugly outside can hide a good heart
• Creature's experience: Kind but hideous, faced prejudice and rejection
  • Human prejudice against him leads to his hatred and subsequent violent actions
  • Kills Victor Frankenstein's family members and pursues him until death

Key Quotations and Analysis

William Frankenstein Encounter

• Creature meets Victor's younger brother, William
• Initial hope as William is a child, presumed innocent
• William calls creature a "monster" and "wretch"
  • Semantic field of devil: prejudice from a young age
  • Exclamatory sentences show strong negative emotions
  • Illustrates how ingrained prejudice is even in children

Creature's Realization of Exclusion

• Quote: "I am alone and miserable; man will not associate with me."
  • Creates pathos (empathy) in readers
  • Words "alone" and "miserable" align with loneliness theme
  • Alliteration of "m": emphasizes resentment towards prejudiced humans

Direct Confrontation with Victor Frankenstein

• Quote: "You, my creator, detest and spurn me."
  • Shows Victor's hatred based solely on appearance
  • Contrasting pronouns (you/my): highlights creator-creature separation
  • Violent verbs (detest/spurn): Victor's strong negative emotions

Reflecting on Human Prejudice

• Quote: "Am I to be thought the only criminal when all humankind sinned against me?"
  • Rhetorical question: questions fairness of blaming the creature
  • Alliteration of "t": emphasizes theme of prejudice causing division

Highlighting Human Barbarity

• Refers to human behavior as "the barbarity of men"
  • Hyperbole: showcases extreme human uncivilized behavior due to prejudice
  • Humans, not the creature, portrayed as barbaric due to prejudicial actions

Encounter with De Lacy

• Blind kindness: De Lacy, a blind man, shows kindness without prejudice
  • Quote: "Do not despair ... men ... are full of brotherly love and charity"
  • Irony: De Lacy's family displays prejudice upon seeing the creature
  • Words "love" and "charity": semantic field of kindness, contrasted by family’s actions

Victor's Horror at Creation

• Quote: "The beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart."
  • Metaphor of "dream": shattered ideal of perfect creation
  • Alliteration of "h" in "horror" and "heart"
  • Adjectives "horror" and "disgust": Victor's reaction to creature solely based on appearance

Village Encounter

• Quote: "The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me."
  • Repetition of "some": illustrates uniform negative reaction
  • Violent verb "attacked": emphasizes prejudicial and violent response

Conclusion

• Theme of prejudice deeply embedded in the narrative
• Human shallow judgment and reliance on appearances explored throughout