It is impossible to sympathize with the monster

Initially, the term “sympathy” may not come to one’s mind when they think of the monster
in “Frankenstein” (possibly due to the killing spree and murderous rampage). However, it is
obvious that the monster is not a one-dimensional character only made to play the villain in
Shelley’s story. Readers are able to see many different sides of the character throughout the
monster’s development, making it seem nearly implausible to say that people will find it
“impossible to sympathize with the monster”.

The creation’s first days are spent in confusion and pain and his experiences are described
as though he is a newborn baby. When Frankenstein abandons his creation, the monster
flees and describes his first impressions of the world around him "A strange multiplicity of
sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time.” This quote shows
the creature’s “helplessness” and reminds one of an infant being abandoned. The creation
even “wept” like a child would do when they need help. This allows the reader to feel
sympathy for the monster, as he is essentially a rejected new born, left to fend for himself.

The monster’s constant rejection, not only from his creator but from everyone around him,
is a strong argument for sympathy as he is not even allowed into society and is treated like a
pariah from the moment he opens his eyes. “The whole village was roused; some fled, some
attacked me”. Even when the monster tries to act on moral values that he learns from
humans, he is attacked by his “friends” and when he tries to save a young girl, his only thank
you is a bullet. This trauma to the monster in his first few years of life (only two years old
technically) would have taught him that the only way he could get things done is by being
violent “I am malicious because I am miserable” making his murderous rampage harder to
justify as a point for the reader to be unable to find sympathy for the monster.

The monster hates himself due to this abandonment, constantly calling himself “miserable
wretch”, even asking “why did I live?”. His entire existence is called “suffering” and “misery”
as he constantly unable to find anything permanent and good in his life. He even goes as far
as to say his situation is worse than that of Satan in the book “Paradise lost”, “Satan had his
companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him, but I am solitary and abhorred”.
His own creator calls him a “daemon” and regrets creating him. This idea that the monster is
hated by everyone he comes across “Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?”, even
himself, is a strong point for sympathy as one of the basic human needs is a relationship,
whether it be familial, platonic, or romantic.

The monster’s sheer loneliness and need for companionship is meant to make the readers
feel sympathy for his situation. Within the novel we can see the desperate need for
companionship felt by the monster. The monster refers to people he has never spoken to
before as his “friends” and thinks of himself as an Adam without an Eve. When he asks for a
companion he is initially outright rejected despite his tragic story and need for another
being’s contact. The monster describes how Adam was alone but he had guidance from his
creator, exactly what the monster wasn’t able to have due to his creator running away from
him literally from the moment he opened his eyes. This moment is meant to make the
readers feel sympathy for the monster as not only is he lonely, but he is also still being
rejected by everyone around him, even when he promises to leave forever and never cause
havoc again if he is given a companion.
The monster eventually kills himself in the end. We are given hints throughout the novel
that the monster is suicidal, most notably right after he rejected by the De Lacey’s “Why in
that moment did I not extinguish the spark of existence” so it is not terribly surprising when
the monster, “with a sad and solemn enthusiasm”, offers to destroy himself. This end to a
“miserable” existence causes the reader to feel sympathetic towards the monster as he has
spent his entire existence feeling horrible and lonely, he has had no one to relate to and in
spite of speaking to R. Walton at the end and trying to explain Frankenstein’s mistakes, he is
not listened to as R. Walton remembers what “Frankenstein had said about his powers of
elegance and persuasion”, causing everything he says to be taken with a grain of salt.

Mary Shelley created Frankenstein in moments where she suffered immense pain and there
are many parallels between her and the monster, it can even be pointed out that people are
meant to feel sympathy for the monster’s situation. The monster was cast out from its
original “home”, Frankenstein’s laboratory and is then forced to wander alone. While Mary
Shelley did have her husband with her when she was forced out of her home, he was
constantly in a bad mental state and was emotionally unavailable to her, causing her to feel
alone. When thought of in this way, the monster becomes a much more human character,
full of Shelley’s pain, worries and loneliness. Therefore, to feel sympathy for Shelley, is to
feel sympathy for the monster.

The most obvious argument against feeling sympathy for the monster is the fact that he
goes on to kill a lot of people. Including Frankenstein’s younger brother, indirectly Justine,
Elizabeth Lavenza, and Henry Clarvol. The monster also commits a number of violent acts,
most notably, setting the cottage in which the De Laceys lived, on fire and dancing around
the flames. The most disturbing part of this is that the monster describes happiness upon
doing these things “my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph, clapping my
hands”. This is a strong argument that the reader should be unable to find sympathy for the
monster.

Overall, it would seem that it is not impossible to feel sympathy for the monster, but initially
it is hard to see exactly where to find that sympathy, due to the violence in the book that
causes the reader to overlook the monsters sad and upsetting story. It is clear that Mary
Shelley did gain inspiration from her own life while writing the monsters character and that
she also took ideas from books and stories where characters suffer and therefore relate to
the monster, most notably ‘Satan’ in “paradise lost. With all points considered it is clear that
it is very easy to find sympathy for the monster and not “impossible”.