Frankenstein

how does the creature describe his first days of life?

chapters 11-12

Asked by
Last updated by jill d #170087
Answers 2
Add Yours

The monster describes his first days of life as imbalance and a time of struggle. His senses weren't coordinated; he struggled to feed and protect himself, and how he didn't understand why people were running away from him.

Source(s)

Frankenstein

The creature has only the vaguest memory of his early life: he recalls being assailed with sensory impressions, and was for a long time unable to distinguish among light, sound, and smell. He began to wander, but found the heat and sunlight of the countryside oppressive; he eventually took refuge in the forest near Ingolstadt, which offered him shade. The creature found himself tormented by hunger, thirst, and bodily pain. Only the light of the moon consoled him, and he grew to love the sound of birdsong. When he attempted to imitate it, however, he found the sound of his own voice terrifying, and fell silent again. With the same ecstatic astonishment that primitive man must have felt, the creature discovers fire.

All of the people that the creature encounters in his travels regard him with horror: he is often pelted with stones and beaten with sticks, though he attempts to make overtures of friendship. He finally comes upon a miserable hovel; this is attached to a cottage of poor but respectable appearance. Exhausted, he takes refuge there "from the inclemency of the weather and from... the barbarity of man." The creature, in observing the cottage's three inhabitants, contrives a great affection for the beauty and nobility of their faces. They ­ an old man, a young man, and a young woman ­ enthrall him with the sound of their music and the cadence of their language, which he adores but cannot understand.

Source(s)

http://www.gradesaver.com/frankenstein/study-guide/section4/