Watch Your Back

             A wise man once said 'do unto others as you want them to do to you'. This "golden rule" is a lesson we have all been taught since we were children. If you are nice to someone, chances are they will be nice to you. Well, how does one respond when the opposite occurs? When one is decided by society to be 'different' and therefore, treated unfairly, based on their appearance or on their ways of life. If one is only treated with disrespect and malice, then one will act out only with disrespect and malice. When pushed to the limit, people snap. It happens every day - the Columbine shootings, cases of abused people getting even. Past experiences cause them to act out irrationally, and it is not their fault. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this theory is proven by the creature throughout the novel. Every time he comes in contact with a human, he is hurt, emotionally and physically, and therefore acts the only way he was treated, causing the same amount of pain and suffering he has had to endure.
             The first example of the creature's rejection (and the start of his demise) is the day of his creation. As soon as Frankenstein lays eyes on him, he runs away, leaving the creature to fend for himself. Frankenstein tries to sleep it off, but the creature finds him, instinctively, the way a baby duck can find its mother. Frankenstein "beheld the wretch", and he "escaped and rushed down stairs" (935). He left the creature "while a grin wrinkled [the creatures] cheeks" and "one arm was stretched out, seemingly to detain [Frankenstein]" (935). Obviously the creature was trying to communicate and start a relationship with his creator, but was shut off before he even had a chance. Frankenstein interpreted the creature's actions the wrong way; the outstretched arm could only mean the creature wanted to be accepted, wanted to be loved, especially by its...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Watch Your Back. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 04:54, April 20, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/27078.html