Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
When the creature told Victor the story of his development, I felt pity and sympathy for him. The creature seemed to be kindhearted in regards to his actions. Before I heard his account of the story, I believed that he had killed William. Now, I am not so sure. When the creature told his story, he told anecdotes about how he learned from a family. In his first encounters with the family, he stole food from them. After learning that the family was poor, the creature stopped stealing food from them. This action shows that the creature does have a conscience, and he is not just some wild monster. In addition to this, the creature helped the family by secretly chopping firewood for them. This act saved the family time, and it allowed the family to focus their attention on other tasks like home repair, gardening, and quality family time. "...brought home firing sufficient for the consumption of several days...I observed with pleasure, that he did not go to the forest that day, but spent it in repairing the cottage and cultivating the garden" (Shelley, 78). This selfless act that helped the poor family caused me to feel pity for the creature who was alone and unloved.
Despite these good actions, I still hold reservations about the creature's innocence in William's murder. When trying to persuade Victor into listening to his story, the creature threatened Victor's friends and family. "If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends" (Shelley, 68). Besides the fact that this is a death threat, the word remaining suggests that the creature previously killed a friend or family member of Victor. Also, how would the creature have known that William was Victor's brother if he had not been the murderer? Questions still remain about William's murderer, but I hope that further explanation later in the book will reveal the true murderer.
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