“I afterwards found that these labours, performed by an invisible hand, greatly astonished them; and once or twice I heard them utter the words ‘good spirit, wonderful’…”

Shelley, pg 104

C: In this passage, the monster is explaining the good deeds he has done for a family overcome with poverty. He will collect wood or shovel snow, even rationing the bread he had been taking from them so they could have more. The family believes that these simple actions are done by a good spirit- but how would they react if they knew what the monster looked like? It is only his physical appearance that the people are so afraid of, as his morals seem to be in a good place for how much he has experienced since being reborn.

Q: At what physical appearance would the people have shifted their first opinions on the monster? Where would they draw the line between normal and abnormal- how would that differ in todays world?

“Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?”

Shelley, pg 117

C: The monster has just learned to read, and goes through the journal of his creator- dating the four months that preceded his creation. Through this the monster learns of his creators feelings for him and questions why he was made the way he was. 

Q: Why did Frankenstein not notice the horrid appearance of his monster until it had come alive, or why would he make one like this in the first place? Does it mirror how he was not able to see his own morals?