Chapters 11-16 are told from the monster's point of view, while Victor returns to tell the story in Chapter 17. Because of the events that occur to the monster and Victor in chapters 11-17, the reader develops strong sympathy for both. In Chapter 11, the monster tells how he was assaulted and how the sunlight in the countryside oppresses him. Body pain, thirst, and hunger torture the beast, eliciting sympathy. People he meets think he's horrible, which makes him unhappy. In Chapter 12, the monster studies his family and notices that they are impoverished. The monster is also in terrible hunger. In chapter 13, the monster is seen weeping from the atrocities that people have committed against each other. He curses the knowledge he finds as it makes him consider himself as a monster and an outcast causing him into despair. When chapter 13 ends, the monster becomes loveless, friendless and loses hope and thus sympathetic to the reader.
Chapter 14 describes how the monster's family had suffered huge misfortune in their hometown which made them go into exile bringing them more pain. In chapter 15, the books that the monster considers to be his treasures turn to be his greatest crushing despair. Furthermore, the death of Werter in this chapter affects the monster. He speaks to De Laceys on the way he is unworthy of kindness and love. In chapter 16, the creature is also in great despair and he curses his creator for having given him life. He develops great rage that consumes him and develops his desires to revenge. The monster longs to “spread havoc and destruction around him, and then to sit down and enjoy the ruin” (Shelley 30). The great rage that the creature has in this chapter makes the reader become sympathetic. The monster even falls on the ground, utters despair and declares war against human beings for the cruelty and heartlessness done against him. In chapter 17, victor resumes his narration starting the chapter on a sympathetic note. Victor is bewildered by the story of the monster and also furious with the death of Mr. William. In this chapter, the monster still develops sympathy by noting that his “vices are the children of a forced solitude” (Shelley 43). Victor is also torn by hatred and horror and thinks of how the monster’s great strength will lead him into causing massive destruction.
Work Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. St. Martins, 2000.
