Response 3 (9/22)

From all that has happened in the story so far, the Creature seems to me like he is meant to be a symbolic form in the story. It would seem as if Shelley wanted the Creature to be something specific. To me, I think the Creature represents the oppressed. At the time of Shelley nearly everyone was oppressed both mentally and socially. Those who were not high class males had barely any say in what went on. And those in the Victoria era were oppressed mentally (no matter the level of hierarchy) by the Queen’s extremely conservative views. The Creature not only represents the “Id” (coined by Freud) within Victor, but within Shelley as well. Not only that, but he seems to represent those who didn’t have a voice, which would consist of all minorities in Europe at the time (mainly women and Europeans of African descent). The Creature isn’t even telling his story, the words he says, everything he is, is told through Victor, a highly privileged member of society. It shows how little of a voice he has. It would seem as though Shelley wanted to display what it truly meant to be undesirable (which is a trait thrusted onto minorities) through the Creature. The Creature is the total embodiement of what it means to be shunned from society and human civilaization and the horrible consequences it can have as well as  the toll it can have on one’s psyche. In all, the Creature is a much more complex character than he is given credit for, both as his own character self and as the bodiement he represents.