In this chapter, the monster is explaining to Victor what occurred in his life after being created. The monster does not fully remember the beginning of his life, but he discusses the challenges he faced, and the initial confusion that he experienced. He describes that he fled from Victor's apartment and began a journey into the wilderness. Thus beginning the monster's life on his own. The monster had to learn everything on his own, and explained how it took him a while to understand and differentiate between his senses.
The monster had to discover the feelings of being hungry, thirsty, cold, and warm. The monster begins to distinguish the feeling of hunger, and realizes that eating food will cease the pain of hunger. In search of food, one morning, the monster discovers a hut. An elderly man inside the hut screams out in fear at the sight of the monster, and runs away. The monster enjoyed the hut, and ate the food that the old man had been preparing. The monster begins to decide which foods he enjoys, and which foods he does not like the taste of. After eating, the monster becomes tired and falls asleep.
When the monster awakes, he begins his travel once more. He proceeds to a village, where more people flee at the sight of him. Because of this, he shuts himself away from other people and begins to realize he is a social outcast. One night the monster decided to reside in a hovel. In the morning, he finds that by looking through a crack in the wall, he can see an elderly man, as well as a young woman, and a young man occupying a cottage.
Theme
The theme of this chapter is that it is very easy to judge people by the way that they look; however, you must look within a person to see who they truly are. In Frankenstein, the monster is only known as a monster, as he looks this way. If people had not judged the monster before actually learning to understand him, he would have became a much different person. In this chapter, people flee before the monster as he approaches them. This makes the monster feel alone and unaccepted, which commences a change within him, as he begins to shut himself away from the rest of the world.
Study Questions
1. Why do you feel that people flee at the sight of the monster?
I feel that people flee at the sight of the monster, because he looks differently than what society is usually accepting towards. Because he did not look the way the average person looks, he became somewhat of a "threat" to the people, and caused them to run away as they were uncertain as to what the monster was capable of doing. People judged the monster before he had the chance to prove who he truly is.
2. How do you think the monster felt after people fled before him?
I think that the monster felt really upset and hurt about this, and wondered what he had done wrong. I think that he didn't understand how people could run from him, yet that hadn't even tried to understand him or know who he is. I feel that he felt horribly about himself and just wondered what was wrong with him, and why he was unable to fit in with regular society.
