Sara Hutchins

English 2600-004
Professor Brittany Stephenson
December 4, 2016

An Ode for the Rejected

Mary Shelleys Frankenstein:

Mary Shelley was an English writer of the early 1800s, known most famously for her
renowned story, Frankenstein, which was completed in 1818. This gothic novel centered largely
on the theories, advancements, and discoveries in science that were being studied and replicated
at the time. One of the major ideas Mary Shelley played around with had to do with corpses
being reanimated by electricity, a theme that scientists like Luigi Galvani were basing their work
around.
Shelleys cautionary tale introduces us to Victor Frankenstein, a
young man born in Geneva, Switzerland to a doting family. From a young
age Frankenstein is obsessed with finding the secret to life, immortality.
This novel idea would lead him to reanimate a corpse he had created
through mining body parts, using elements of chemistry and electricity to
bring this creation to life. Upon his success, Frankenstein immediately
realizes the mistake he has made in playing God, shrinking away from his
hideous creation in horror and guilt, and then fleeing the scene. He had
created what he deemed to be a monster. This moment is the marked
event that signaled the beginning of his downfall.
Through the progression of this story, we learn that the creature leaves the laboratory in
which he was created and drifts through Europe, ultimately being rejected by his creator and
mankind. The creature makes a plea to his creator, asking him to create one more being, a female
that he could share the remainder of his life with in solitude. Frankenstein begrudgingly agrees to
stop any more people from being murdered, but later goes back on his promise.
This results in the monster deciding to take revenge upon his master by murdering those
closest to him, taking away his happiness. The creature decided that if he should be alone, that is
was only fair his creator suffer the same fate. Driven to madness by the loss of his loved ones
and the role he played in their untimely demise, Victor Frankenstein spends the remainder of his
life chasing after the monster he created until the books conclusion. Frankenstein, having taken

ill and being so emaciated from his quest to kill the monster, dies aboard Robert Waltons ship
without having captured the monster and taking retribution.
The end scene depicts the monster climbing aboard the vessel and mourning over Victors
corpse, explaining to Walton that the death of his creator signals his own death. The creature then
takes his masters corpse with him and disappears into the icy night, leaving the reader to
imagine the destruction of the monster at his own hand.
Though this novel is told largely through the perspective
of Victor Frankenstein and is framed with the letters of Robert
Walton, of the three volumes the book is comprised, volume two
revolves around the unique perspective of the creature
Frankenstein has created.
From the very beginning of his existence, the creature is
loathed. His own maker, Victor Frankenstein, lays his eyes upon
his disfigured monster and flees; doing all in his power to forget
the thing even exists. But he does, and he spends the two years
preceding his birth stumbling through existence, wanting to be
accepted by mankind.
His understanding of the world around him is very
limited at the start, referring to the sun as an orb in the sky,
stumbling around and not understanding why his skin prickled with cold or why his empty belly
rumbled. The creature soon began making conjectures about the world around him, simple as
they were. He found a cloak to clothe himself with, a fire to warm himself by, and berries to fill
his aching belly. He was having these very human thoughts and experiences while learning about
the natural world around him like a newborn would.
It was not until the creature meets the De Lacey family, watching them furtively through
a small crack in the hovel he hides in, does he truly begin to understand. He observes this family
from a distance, and grows attached to them even though they dont know he exists. He begins
helping around their small cottage at night when they sleep, the family thinking an angel is
looking after them. He learns to read and to appreciate the music they play, and even learns how
to speak French because of his constant scrutiny of their habits.
A fondness for this family grows within the creature and he made a decision to take a
chance and introduce himself to the blind head of the family, who cannot see his disfigurement.
His attempt is met initially with a bit of hope, before being dashed when he is rejected and
shown hatred and violence once again.
Mary Shelley did a wonderful job in this volume, allowing her audience to make a
personal connection to the monster by showing his perspective of events and what led him to
make the callous decision of vengeance and murder. She exemplifies the creatures rejection
again and again until he realizes that he has no place in the human world, that humanity will only

show him disdain and cruelty because of his

physical appearance, despite his lack of choice in
the matter.
An eloquent being was born, or created rather, but
the world would not have him despite the attempts
he made. The creature was an outsider looking in,
and ached to be a part of the world around him and
to enjoy the amenities afforded to everyone else. So
he set out to destroy his creators happiness, and he
succeeds, although by the end of their collective
journeys, it appears that both of them were left
equivocally dissatisfied.

Gaston Lerouxs The

Phantom of the Opera:
Gaston Leroux was a French author
whom published the gothic novel,
The Phantom of the Opera in 1911.
The Phantom of the Opera had
initially been written and released in
small segments but was eventually
developed into novel format.
Leroux actually wrote this story
based upon some strange events
occurring at the famed Paris Opera
house at the time, and after a
personal tour he had taken of the
facility.
The story centers around the Paris Opera house, the
people who run the opera house have heard rumors
that it was haunted; people having seen glimpses of
a cloaked figure, causing disturbances and
frightening the workers and singers. They had given
this ethereal being the moniker, The Phantom as
well as Opera Ghost.
In reality, The Phantom was actually a man named
Erik who was born with a congenital disfigurement
of his face, a deformity that had caused him to steal
away into the many hidden passageways the opera
house was laden with. The text strongly implies the

rejection Erik faced because of his appearance, explaining his haunting of the opera house and
bitter disposition towards humanity.
He falls in love with one of the singers named Christine Daae, only for her to fall in love
with her childhood friend Raoul. Because of his
jealousy and resentment he ends up kidnapping her,
giving Christine an ultimatum. She would marry
him or she would die with him and along with
everyone else inside the opera house.
At first glance, the texts may not seem
related, however if you look at how Eriks
interaction with the world around him and the actions
of Victor Frankensteins monster, you might find
some surprising correlations.
Upon some examination and contemplation,
I realized that Erik bore some character similarities
to the monster. They were both disfigured, and were
rejected by society because of this. In turn, they
both became menaces to society, becoming selfish
and violent when their needs were not met by the
people they wanted to be accepted by, people who
then became targets.
Another interesting element that brings The Phantom and Frankensteins monster
together is that they are characters in which the audience shows a lot of pity and empathy for,
which allows a connection to be made and this graying between good and evil, right and wrong
happen.
They both also observed people from a distance, spying really, on the people around
them. The monster did this with the De Lacey family, observing their interactions with one
another and teaching himself through their routines. The Phantom spent a lot of his time spying
on Christine, the other singers, and the managers of the Paris Opera House, using the information
he was learning to use against them for his own person gain.

Both Erik and Frankensteins monster ached

for acceptance and love. The monster plead his case
to his creator, asking him to create a female
companion, one to be produced the same way he
had been. He saw this as his only option for gaining
some kind of acceptance, believing this second
creature would fill the emptiness and despondency
he struggled with.
Erik on the other hand, had a connection
with Christine Daae, tutoring her as the Angel of
Music, despite how he manipulated her into
believing he was a godsend. It makes sense that he
did this because he feared being rejected by her,
using her dead fathers belief in the angel of music
as a way to get closer to her. It is not until he fears
that he will lose her to Raoul that he reveals his true
self, without a mask.
Unlike Frankensteins monster, Erik actually
got a shot at acceptance in the form of Christines
reciprocation. However, Eriks fear drove him to
kidnap Raoul and torture him, and giving Christine an ultimatum of either marrying him or dying
with him and everyone else inside the Opera house. In a dramatic turn of events, Erik has a
change of heart and lets them both leave, finally getting the reciprocation he had longed for. He
realized that he wanted Christine to be happy, and that the only way she could to that was to be
with Raoul De Chagny.
It was unfortunate that Frankensteins monster didnt get the same resolution and
acknowledgement from Victor before he died, but in the end, there was a kind of amends given.
The monster chose to end his life in his own rendition of a resolution, one that would succinctly
end the creature that never should have been along with the corpse of the one who had created
him.

Gris Grimlys Frankenstein:

Gris Grimly is a New York Times bestselling artist and
illustrator, known for putting a gothic twist on classic works of
literature. Gris Grimlys Frankenstein is an accompaniment piece to
Mary Shelleys original Frankenstein. This book has been textually
pared down to accentuate the main points of the original novel, but
with the added twist of illustration to give the audience an even more
vivid image of the events happening.
The illustrated book was released in 2013 and uses gothic style
art, with earthen hues and drawn characters who are depicted with

sharp, angular bodies reminiscent of Tim Burtons well-known style. The illustrations match up
with the content and tone of the original story perfectly, adding an artistic twist to help the
subject matter really stick with the audience.
I personally enjoyed the comic-strip style
scenes depicting the monster observing the De Lacey
family, volume two was by far my favorite of Mary
Shelleys novel. The particular set of scenes depicted
in Gris Grimlys Frankenstein
show visuals of the monster,
but without any words,
beginning in strictly black and
white, color only seeping into
the scenes as he began to
become more aware of what
was going on. In the original book, the monster was having internal
thoughts about the things going on him around him, but they were
fraught with confusion and a lack of understanding. Gris Grimly took a
very unique and impactful stance on these particular events in the book
by choosing to do them in black and white and with an almost a
childlike scrawl to them, illustrating the creatures lack of
understanding. Color and detail really didnt begin to seep into the
illustrations until Frankensteins monster began to comprehend more of
what was going on around him.
It was with the De Lacey family that he truly began to comprehend the differences
between himself and other people. This in effect separated him from the rest of mankind; he
intrinsically knew that he was one of a kind, and not in a particularly good way. He watched
from afar and slowly grew discontent with what he believed he was lacking, what he was
realizing he would never have.
In turn, it is in this moment that he begins to feel resentment
and hatred towards his creator, Victor Frankenstein for creating him
and then abandoning him. The consequent rejection the De Lacey
family showed him was the moment that really pushed the creature
over the edge of sanity and solidified his plan for vengeance against
his master. The illustration Grimly did during this scene was very
impactful, because the audience could now very literally see what it
looked like for the monster to be chased away from this little family
he had such high hopes of joining, and the aftermath of those events.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, we are left with a cruel irony that these texts
have presented us with. There are several ways in which the audience can pose the question
about whether these stories would have ended up differently had these creatures been accepted

rather than rejected, right from the start. We understand that their longing and loneliness led to
bitterness and resentment, which fueled the need for vengeance and violence.
Frankensteins monster made a choice to murder his creators loved ones to destroy him
and his happiness, because he is unhappy and has been cast as an outsider. The Phantoms
decision was to terrorize the people within the Opera house, and to manipulate and control them
to get what he wanted. These events are all directly tied to the rejection they felt and the yearning
for companionship and acceptance despite their deformities and the elements of themselves that
made them outcasts by general society.
The texts do well to keep things at least a little open ended. We never did figure out
whether the monster really took his own life, or if Erik actually perished in the Opera house in
Paris. There have also been some very creative twists on these texts over the past couple hundred
years. The messages regarding rejection, loneliness, and isolation are themes that persevere
through time, and continue to unfurl in different formats, taunting humanity with the possible
repercussions and outcomes of rejecting someone for being different.
Works Cited
Grimly, Gris. Gris Grimlys Frankenstein. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2013. Print.
Leroux, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. Reprint. Originally published: New York:
Grosset and Dunlap, 1911. Print.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. London, HarperCollinsPublishers, this edition published
2010 (original 1818). Print.
Images:
Image 1: Google Images: Mary Shelleys Frankenstein book covers. Web 2016.
Accessed December 1, 2016.
Image 2: Bernie Wrightson. Published 1983: Bernie Wrightstons Frankenstein.
Web Accessed 2016.
Image 3: Google Images: Gaston Lerouxs Phantom of the Opera book cover.
Web 2016. Accessed December 1, 2016.
Image 4: Psycho Magazine Edition #6 Cover. Web Accessed December 1, 2016.

Image 5: Psycho Magazine Edition #6 excerpt: Phantom of the Opera Meets

Frankenstein. Web Accessed December 1, 2016.
Images 6-9: Grimly, Gris. N.p.: Harper Collins Publishers, 2013. Print. Cover
page, pages 86, 99, 108.