Summary
The creature finally tells his story, revealing a heartbreaking journey from innocent curiosity to vengeful rage. After Victor abandoned him, the monster wandered alone, learning about humanity by secretly observing a family called the De Laceys. He watches them for months, learning language and developing emotions while hiding in their woodshed. The creature sees their kindness, their struggles with poverty, and their love for each other - and desperately wants to belong. When he finally reveals himself to the blind father, hoping for acceptance, the family reacts with horror and violence, driving him away. This rejection shatters something fundamental in the creature. His pain transforms into rage against his creator, Victor, who gave him life but no place in the world. The monster's story forces us to see him not as pure evil, but as a being shaped by abandonment and cruelty. He becomes what society makes him - a reflection of the fear and hatred he encounters. This chapter reveals the tragic irony: the creature's capacity for good was destroyed by the very people he wanted to love. His tale serves as a mirror, showing how our treatment of others - especially those who are different - can create the very monsters we fear. The creature's eloquence and emotional depth make his story even more disturbing, as we realize that intelligence and feeling, without love and guidance, can become instruments of destruction.
Coming Up in Chapter 21
The creature's story continues as he reveals how his rejection led to his first act of murder - and his demand that Victor create a companion to end his terrible loneliness.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
S“uch was the history of my beloved cottagers. It impressed me deeply. I learned, from the views of social life which it developed, to admire their virtues and to deprecate the vices of mankind. “As yet I looked upon crime as a distant evil, benevolence and generosity were ever present before me, inciting within me a desire to become an actor in the busy scene where so many admirable qualities were called forth and displayed. But in giving an account of the progress of my intellect, I must not omit a circumstance which occurred in the beginning of the month of August of the same year. “One night during my accustomed visit to the neighbouring wood where I collected my own food and brought home firing for my protectors, I found on the ground a leathern portmanteau containing several articles of dress and some books. I eagerly seized the prize and returned with it to my hovel. Fortunately the books were written in the language, the elements of which I had acquired at the cottage; they consisted of _Paradise Lost_, a volume of _Plutarch’s Lives_, and the _Sorrows of Werter_. The possession of these treasures gave me extreme delight; I now continually studied and exercised my mind upon these histories, whilst my friends were employed in their ordinary occupations. “I can hardly describe to you the effect of these books. They produced in me an infinity of new images and feelings, that sometimes raised me to ecstasy, but more frequently sunk me into the lowest dejection. In the _Sorrows of Werter_, besides the interest of its simple and affecting story, so many opinions are canvassed and so many lights thrown upon what had hitherto been to me obscure subjects that I found in it a never-ending source of speculation and astonishment. The gentle and domestic manners it described, combined with lofty sentiments and feelings, which had for their object something out of self, accorded well with my experience among my protectors and with the wants which were for ever alive in my own bosom. But I thought Werter himself a more divine being than I had ever beheld or imagined; his character contained no pretension, but it sank deep. The disquisitions upon death and suicide were calculated to fill me with wonder. I did not pretend to enter into the merits of the case, yet I inclined towards the opinions of the hero, whose extinction I wept, without precisely understanding it. “As I read, however, I applied much personally to my own feelings and condition. I found myself similar yet at the same time strangely unlike to the beings concerning whom I read and to whose conversation I was a listener. I sympathised with and partly understood them, but I was unformed in mind; I was dependent on none and related to none. ‘The path of my departure was free,’ and there was none to lament my annihilation. My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean?...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Rejection's Revenge - How Abandonment Creates the Very Thing We Fear
When abandonment or rejection transforms someone's capacity for good into calculated revenge, creating the very behavior we feared.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how abandoning problems when they get difficult often creates bigger, more targeted problems later.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you're tempted to ghost someone or abandon a difficult situation - ask what monster that abandonment might create.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Foundling
An abandoned child with no known parents or family. In Shelley's time, foundlings were often left at churches or orphanages, facing a life of poverty and social rejection. The creature is essentially a foundling - created and then abandoned by his 'parent' Victor.
Modern Usage:
Today we see this in kids aging out of foster care, or anyone trying to build a life without family support or connections.
Social outcasting
The practice of rejecting and isolating someone from community based on appearance, behavior, or circumstances. In the 1800s, physical deformity or difference often meant complete social exclusion. The creature experiences this when the De Lacey family drives him away in horror.
Modern Usage:
We see this in bullying, workplace harassment, or how society treats people who look different or have disabilities.
Noble savage
The idea that beings in their 'natural' state are inherently good until corrupted by civilization. The creature starts innocent and curious, learning right from wrong by observing the De Lacey family. His evil emerges only after society rejects him.
Modern Usage:
This shows up when we talk about how 'good kids' turn bad due to their environment or how people become hardened by harsh treatment.
Moral education
Learning right from wrong through observation and experience rather than formal teaching. The creature educates himself by watching the De Lacey family's kindness and struggles, developing a sense of ethics and emotion without any guidance from Victor.
Modern Usage:
Kids today still learn values by watching their families and communities - they pick up attitudes about fairness, kindness, and behavior from what they see around them.
Deformity prejudice
The automatic fear and disgust people feel toward those who look different or abnormal. In Shelley's era, physical difference was seen as a sign of moral corruption or divine punishment. The creature faces instant rejection based solely on his appearance.
Modern Usage:
We still struggle with snap judgments based on appearance, whether it's disabilities, scars, or just looking 'different' from what society expects.
Revenge cycle
The pattern where hurt creates more hurt - one person's pain leads them to inflict pain on others, continuing the cycle. The creature's abandonment and rejection transform his capacity for love into a desire for vengeance against Victor and humanity.
Modern Usage:
This happens in families where abuse gets passed down, in workplace conflicts that escalate, or in communities where hurt people hurt people.
Characters in This Chapter
The creature
Tragic antagonist
Tells his origin story, revealing how abandonment and social rejection transformed him from an innocent being into a vengeful monster. His eloquent narrative shows intelligence and deep emotion, making his transformation more heartbreaking.
Modern Equivalent:
The smart kid who turns to crime after being failed by every system that should have helped them
De Lacey (the blind father)
Unwitting mentor figure
The only human who shows the creature kindness, because he cannot see the creature's appearance. His blindness allows him to judge based on character rather than looks, offering hope before his family's reaction destroys it.
Modern Equivalent:
The one person who gives someone a fair chance when everyone else has written them off
Felix De Lacey
Representative of societal rejection
Reacts with immediate violence when he sees the creature with his father, driving the monster away without attempting to understand. His response represents society's knee-jerk fear of difference.
Modern Equivalent:
The person who calls security or the cops the moment they see someone who makes them uncomfortable
Safie
Symbol of belonging
A foreign woman welcomed into the De Lacey family despite her differences, showing the creature what acceptance could look like. Her integration highlights the creature's exclusion even more painfully.
Modern Equivalent:
The outsider who gets accepted into the group while others remain excluded
Victor Frankenstein
Absent creator/father figure
Though not physically present, his abandonment of the creature is the root cause of all the monster's suffering and subsequent actions. The creature's story is ultimately an indictment of Victor's irresponsibility.
Modern Equivalent:
The deadbeat parent whose absence shapes their kid's entire life trajectory
Key Quotes & Analysis
"I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?"
Context: The creature explains to Victor why he has become vengeful after telling his story of rejection
This reveals the direct connection between how we treat others and how they behave. The creature isn't inherently evil - he became malicious as a response to being treated as a monster. It's a powerful statement about cause and effect in human behavior.
In Today's Words:
I'm mean because everyone treats me like garbage. What do you expect when the whole world hates me?
"My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy, and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change without torture."
Context: The creature describes the painful transformation from loving to hateful
This shows that becoming cruel isn't easy or natural - it's a violent change that causes internal suffering. The creature had the capacity for good but was forced into evil by circumstances, making his story tragic rather than simply frightening.
In Today's Words:
I was born to love people, and turning into someone full of hate has been agony.
"I had feelings of affection, and they were requited by detestation and scorn."
Context: The creature reflects on his attempts to connect with humans and their rejection
This captures the fundamental tragedy - the creature offered love and received hatred in return. It shows how our responses to others can either nurture their humanity or destroy it completely.
In Today's Words:
I tried to care about people, and all I got back was disgust and rejection.
Thematic Threads
Abandonment
In This Chapter
Victor's complete abandonment of his creation leads directly to the creature's transformation from innocent to vengeful
Development
Evolved from Victor's initial flight to this deeper exploration of abandonment's long-term psychological consequences
In Your Life:
You might recognize this when a colleague or family member becomes increasingly difficult after being consistently ignored or dismissed.
Social Belonging
In This Chapter
The creature's desperate desire to belong to the De Lacey family shows the fundamental human need for acceptance
Development
Introduced here as the creature's core motivation and deepest wound
In Your Life:
You see this in your own need to fit in at work or in social groups, and how rejection from these groups affects your behavior.
Identity Formation
In This Chapter
The creature learns who he is through others' reactions - fear, horror, violence - shaping his self-concept
Development
Builds on earlier hints about the creature's nature, now showing how identity forms through social interaction
In Your Life:
You might notice how others' treatment of you - as competent or incompetent, valuable or disposable - shapes how you see yourself.
Class Exclusion
In This Chapter
The creature is permanently excluded from human society based on his appearance, regardless of his intelligence or capacity for feeling
Development
Introduced here as a form of ultimate social exclusion based on physical difference
In Your Life:
You might experience this through economic class barriers, educational background, or other markers that keep you out of certain social circles.
Responsibility
In This Chapter
Victor's refusal to take responsibility for his creation's wellbeing directly causes the creature's turn to violence
Development
Deepens the theme from Victor's earlier avoidance to show the real-world consequences of shirking responsibility
In Your Life:
You see this when parents, bosses, or leaders create problems then refuse to help solve them, leaving others to deal with the fallout.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What specific experiences transformed the creature from innocent to vengeful, and what was the final breaking point?
analysis • surface - 2
Why did the creature's intelligence and eloquence make his rejection more painful and his revenge more calculated?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see this rejection loop playing out today - at work, in families, or in communities?
application • medium - 4
How would you intervene early if you noticed someone starting down this path of escalating rejection and retaliation?
application • deep - 5
What does the creature's story reveal about the responsibility we have for how our treatment of others shapes who they become?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Own Rejection Points
Think of a time when you felt rejected or excluded from something you wanted to belong to. Map out what happened: What did you want? How were you rejected? How did it change your behavior toward that person or group? Did you become more defensive, angry, or withdrawn? Now consider someone in your life who might be experiencing rejection. What small gesture could interrupt their rejection loop before it hardens into something destructive?
Consider:
- •Notice how rejection changes your behavior toward the rejector - do you become what they expected?
- •Consider whether your defensive reactions sometimes create more rejection
- •Think about times when one person's acceptance helped you recover from others' rejection
Journaling Prompt
Write about a relationship where you might be unknowingly creating the very behavior you're complaining about through rejection or dismissal. How could you break this cycle?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 21: The Creature's Demand
As the story unfolds, you'll explore isolation and rejection can turn someone toward destructive behavior, while uncovering understanding another's perspective doesn't mean you have to agree with their demands. These lessons connect the classic to contemporary challenges we all face.