Examples Of Otherness In Frankenstein

The monster in “Frankenstein,” upon the onset of animation, is immediately reviled by his maker, Victor. Though “infusing life into an inanimate body […] [was] desired with an ardour that far exceeded moderation,” Victor was “unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] had created” (Shelley 35). This despondent reaction, it is later revealed, forced the creature away from his place of origin and into a forest near Ingolstadt. Through this immediate ostracizing by his “natural lord and king,” the creature embodies Otherness (Shelley 69). When he is given the opportunity to explain himself to Victor, he asserts his natural benevolence, stating that, initially, “[his] soul glowed with love and humanity” (Shelley 69). The harsh divide between conventional and deviant is illustrated through the monster’s implicit understanding of the consequences of Otherness: “If the multitude of mankind knew of my existence, they would […] arm themselves for my destruction” (Shelley 69). In a similar way, Victor, for being indirectly guilty of his creature’s murders and overcome with grief, is detached from
Bugg’s description of Otherness in “Frankenstein” as “the politics of biology” applies equally here, as African natives are under the control of the invading settlers as a result of race and land (656). The natives represent the “darkness” of the title, and are often presented as imperceptible shadows among the trees. Moreover, Africa and the jungle itself symbolize the Other World as they exist contrary to colonial Europe. In the novel, Marlow describes the “savagery, utter savagery […] [of the] mysterious life of the wilderness, that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men” (Conrad 4). Such prevailing attitudes throughout contemporary Europe, coupled with the sense of wealth, power, and domination, helped facilitate British