“Was there no injustice in this? Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all of human kind sinned against me? “(P:273) When the monster of Frankenstein asks this question to Robert Walton in the final dialogue of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, he shows the complete transformation of their views on society, justice and injustice since its creation and initial introduction into the world.
The first experience of the monster in the world, as Frankenstein describes it during his encounter in the cave, was one of wonder and beauty. He remembers his first encounter with nature, recalling that “a gentle light stole over the heavens, and gave me a sensation of pleasure. I started up, and beheld a radiant form rise from among the trees. I gazed with a kind of wonder. ”(P:118) The monster sees humans with a similar kind of wonder and respect, and now wants to be accepted by them, despite his horrible appearance.
However, through a series of rejections from his creator and other humans with whom he has had a close relationship, the monster comes to see the world as a place of evil and becomes obsessed with obtaining justice for the sins committed against him, even if it involves the death of innocent humans. The creature quickly learns that the beautiful and just world in which he so much wanted to believe can not exist, especially for someone as frightening as himself.
Although the first adventures of the monster in human civilization are met with rejection and horror, it persists in the idea that just maybe, it could one day it could be accepted by the same people who scream in terror at his approach. The definition of justice is, for the creature at this point, acceptance. It was created in this world, so it seems fair that it receives a fair place along with its human counterparts. This becomes a reality for the monster through his various encounters with the De Lacey family.
While he doesn’t have a full grasp of the composition of the family, the monster feels the care and love that the three people have for each other, and wishes to share this closeness. Alleviating this would prove to be incredibly problematic given the monster’s horrid appearance, so the monster becomes a “undercover” member of the family, observing the habits of Felix, Agatha and old De Lacey. For the first time in his short life, the creature feels that it has found its place in the world, its justice. He finds solace with his current residence in the shed along with the inclusion of the hut, declaring, “It was indeed a paradise, compared to the bleak forest, my former residence, the raindropping branches, and dank earth.
I ate my breakfast with pleasure”(P:123) The time the creature spent with De Laceys allowed him to be exposed to the love and connection those people shared, but it is through the family that he also comes in contact with his first examples of evil and wickedness of humanity, through the story of the newcomer, Safie.The monster of Frankenstein comes to understand humanity and justice to an even greater extent through his readings of the books he found one day while searching for food.Milton\'s Paradise Lost is a source of great influence for the creature, and he thinks of this work as being a reality rather than a work of fiction, and compares himself to Satan describing himself as being, “wretched, helpless, and alone. The creature tells Frankenstein that the books “produced in me an infinity of new images and feelings, that sometimes raised me to ecstasy, but more frequently sunk me into the lowest dejection”(P:151) While these books teach the creature about the failure of society and the absence of justice in the world, the rejection of De Laceys once the creature has finally revealed himself to the family is his first real example of this. Although this was not the first time he was rejected by society, it is by far the most traumatic, changing forever his views on the supposed goodness of humanity.
Another significant event that forces Frankenstein\'s monster to reconsider his views on justice and injustice occurs following the realization that it will never be a part of normal human society. It is then that the monster begs his creator to make it a female counterpart, a person with whom he can satiate his own desire for love and care that he failed to receive from the De Laceys. Frankenstein, however, can’t live with the repercussions following the creation of such a creature and destroys it before it is fully realized, all the while destroying the monster\'s last chance for happiness. After this, the monster begins to seek justice not of friendship and acceptance, but of revenge for the sins of its creator.
The creature\'s desire for vengeance becomes near unbearable. As Frankenstein trampled the monster\'s only hope of love, for him it is just and just to destroy the people that Victor considers most dear. With each of the murders that the creature commits, it opens its soul to the same evil that plagues society that he once ridiculed. The monster\'s final interaction with Walton is the most telling of the drastic changes in his views on society, justice and injustice. He has this to say to Walton,“Once I had falsely hoped to meet with beings, who, pardoning my outward form, would love me for the excellent qualities which I was capable of bringing forth.
I was nourished with high thoughts of honor and devotion. But now vice has degraded me beneath the meanest animal”(P:273) The creature, who for a time, saw beauty in hope in nature and humanity, is now filled to the brim with wickedness. “Evil thenceforth became my good,” (P:272) he states. This complete change in mental state was caused by his consistent rejection of the ones he once looked up to. Frankenstein\'s creature finally receives the justice he had been seeking while standing on top of the lifeless corpse of its creator, but still feels sorrow when he’s grimly reminded about the death of his former mentor.
Victor was the creature’s final link to the human world, it was a society he had once been jealous of but now only feels disdain for. Now that he had completed his transformation from the \"fallen angel\" to the \"malignant devil,\" the creature comes to the realization that he has no other choice but to allow death overcome him in turn. The change of attitude of the creature with respect to society, justice and injustice is finalized in the last chapter of the novel, but it had been undergoing changes since the first time he first set foot into the world. The monster\'s admiration for society turns into hatred for the wrongs it had so disgracefully committed against him.
The monster had once believed that justice was to be acquired by discovering its place in the world, however now it has been defined by its desperate need for revenge. And the greatest injustice, in the eyes of the monster, was the scorn with which he was treated by humanity, including his very own creator. If he had not been a monster before, he surely was then. As American novelist James A. Baldwin once said: “The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.” This is especially true when taking into consideration the story of Frankenstein’s monster. As soon as he loses his only chance of anything other than a life of solitude, he becomes the loathsome and ruinous monster that had always been viewed as.
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