Sunday, January 18, 2015

I am creating a criminal profile on Frankenstein's creature: What does the creature look like? How does he carry himself? How does he dress? How does he speak, any speech impediments? Where was the creature born and raised? What was the time period in which the creature lived and how did this affect his thinking and actions? What were the creature's motivations and why? Were there any redeeming qualities about this creature? What were his personality flaws? What did they stem from and how did they affect the choices he made? What does the creature hold dear? Does the creature have his own secrets? Who is the creature's contemporary counterpart?

To help with your assignment, you may want to take another look at chapter 5. This is the chapter where Victor brings the creature to life.
Victor tells us that he tried to make the creature beautiful by building it with proportional limbs and appealing features. When the creature first opens its "dull yellow" eyes, Victor provides us with a horrifying description:

His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.

Victor runs and does not see his creation again until chapter 10. He perceives

the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing towards me with superhuman speed. He bounded over the crevices in the ice, among which I had walked with caution; his stature, also, as he approached, seemed to exceed that of man.

In the next few chapters, Victor converses with the creature, and we get to hear his story from his own perspective. You should review these chapters, as they give insight to the creature's motivations and explain how he learned to talk and interact with others.
The creature is able to speak eloquently with Victor because he learned how to speak by observing and listening to Felix and Agatha. Any time he interacts with humans, they are frightened by his appearance. This certainly has an effect on the creature.
I think the creature's attempt to help the family in the cottage shows redeeming qualities. I also think it's important to consider that he was created, not "born," and was not properly raised by his creator. We can trace his personality flaws back to his experiences in life, or lack of.
I hope this helps with your criminal profile!

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