In the gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, published in 1818, readers can perceive that the true monstrosity does not depend on the appearance, yet the morals of a being.  Shelly’s novel focuses on the inner evil and characteristics rather than physical appearance. She portrays this through Victor Frankenstein, a scientist whose intentions act against the laws of nature. When first read, it would seem as if the creature, the reanimated body created by Victor, is the true monster; however, when taking a second glance the monster is seen as an innocent being torture by the real monster, Victor Frankenstein. Because of his immorality toward his own creation, “attacks” on nature and his ignorance as well as selfishness throughout the novel, Victor is seen as the greater evil and is characterized as the true monster.
If morals determine whether an individual is a person or not, then the humans, most notably Victor Frankenstein, in the novel ”Frankenstein” are all monsters. Michaud, author of I’m the Person You’re the Monster  reveals that " [humans] get to enslave or destroy anything or anyone [they] think is too different"(Michaud 2).  Because, of their sense of superiority, humans, such as Victor Frankenstein, feel as if they can bestow a certain title among those who are characterized as different or weak. This mindset of dominance characterizes humans as the true monstrosity, instead of the creature. This certain harshness and separation exposes the true inner evils of humankind, which Victor, the monsters creator, reveals. Ethically, Victor should raise the monster as a child and teach him right from wrong. However, Victor abandons these morals, due to his fear of his own creation. This selfishness proves that Victor is the true monstrosity in this novel. Even though he was raised with loving parents and a joyous childhood, Victor is unable to raise his creature as he was. Michaud further attempts to verify his claim by stating that “there are many individuals- children and the developmentally impaired, for example--whom we should treat as part of our moral community, regardless of any inability to rationalize”(Michaud 4). Morally, it is the human duty to take care of those who are labeled as different. Because of their weakness, humans should be virtuous and decide to help others. As a parent, “justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due”(Shelly 81). Yet, Victor seems to ignore the monster and his virtues. This however, results in the cruel actions the monster takes.
Victor is also disobeying the laws of nature and sinning by “attacking” nature. By trying to "penetrate the secrets of nature" (Mellor 3), Victor, in turn, creates an abomination which he then has responsibility over. According to Frankenstein: A Feminist Critique of Science through his “attempts to control nature…[and] exploit her”(Mellor 3) the audience understands that Victor is a sexist, a man who believes that the male gender is superior. Not only does he try to steal “mother nature’s” power, but he also tries to act similar to that of God. Since Victor feels that he can create life from the inanimate, he also feels as if he is superior to everyone else. He feels that his scientific research “would bless me[him] as its creator and source” (Shelly 4).  Victor is comparing himself to a creator, revealing his inner desire to be godlike.  This inner desire for power leads him to become obsessed and drives all other emotions and cares away. As stated in “Monsters in Gothic Literature” from Encyclopedia of Gothic ,“the creation of monsters in scientific laboratories was the worse of sins, an act of Godlike meddling into the mysteries of nature”. Not only is Victor committing sinning against nature, which is considered to be an act of evil, but in trying to act like God, he is disobeying the great commandment, which makes him a true monstrosity.

During the story, his selfishness to his own loved ones also portrays Victor as a monstrous being. His obsession in creating life and scientific research is used as “a displacement of normal emotions and healthy affections” (Mellor 5). Instead of caring and paying attention to his father, brother, or even his friends, Victor isolates himself from the rest of the world, which in turn, harms the ones he was close to. Although the monster’s rage did kill Justine and Elizabeth, it was Victor’s ignorance that caused the deaths. Enveloped in his studies, Victor  “neglect[s] the scenes around [him causing him] also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom[he] had not seen for so long a time”(Shelly 35) He is so encompassed and focused on his work and success that he feels no need to spend time with others. Victor’s egocentric personality is emphasized when he “proclaim[s] [himself] a madman, but not revoke the sentence passed upon [his] wretched victim” (Shelley 71).  Victor decides that he will leave Justine to be trialed against in fear that he will be caught for creating a monster. His own selfish desires, puts others in danger and as a result Justine was executed. Not only is Victor at fault for Justine’s death, but if not for Victor’s ignorance, Elizabeth would be alive as well. When Elizabeth tried to converse with Victor in his anxious stare, Victor replied telling her to ‘retire, resolving not to join her until I had obtained some knowledge as to the situation of [his] enemy”(Shelly 172). Only contemplating, that the monster is after himself, and only threatens to endanger him alone, Victor reveals his ignorance and self-centered character. If he realized what the monster was truly after, instead of being oblivious to the situation, he might have been able to save Elizabeth from the monster’s wrath. Although indirect, Victor was the true murderer in the novel, which makes him the true monster.

Victor is seen as the true monstrosity; however the creature also acts murderous and evil throughout the novel characterizing him as a monster as well. According to Robert C. Evans’ article “Elements of the Grotesque in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein”, the creature himself is grotesque since he was reanimated from the dead. Also, Evans believes that the monster is confused with his identity in that “One moment he is the impulsive killer (perhaps unintentionally) of an innocent(if somewhat smug and conceited child); the next moment he hellishly exults in murder; then he becomes sexually aroused; and finally, he is full of violent anger at all mankind”. His identity issues cause him to murder human beings, mostly to just seek revenge upon his creator. The creatures malevolent actions toward humankind is only to hurt Victor, which can be seen as selfish and greedy. Although he committed murderous acts, the monster was not to blame. According to I’m the Person, You’re the Monster, "[the monster] does what he does because of his creator's cruelty, because the whole community hates him and casts him out."(Michaud). His passions, his love for others, his life is all restricted due to his appearance. Throughout the entirety of the novel, Victor accuses his creation of being a monster, a non-human without a soul or morals. However according to Nicholas Michaud, "Human" is a biological category, living or dead; person is a moral one".  Although animated from dead tissue, Frankenstein's creature exhibits emotions and a conscience, therefore he is a person. Furthermore, "he goes about trying to stop harm done to humans, so he seems to act from self- motivated activity… he uses language to communicate with humans”. Also, using the pronoun “I” reveals his inner thoughts and how he considers himself to be a person himself, proving that he indeed has “self-concepts”. The monster’s only difference from a human is his physical appearance, which differentiates himself from the rest of society. By ignoring the monster’s , “dead flesh, [and] hideous[features]… the monster is in fact a person”(Michaud 1). Also, the monster does not kill random persons; he only kills those who are correlated with Victor. This is because he is “ [Victor’s] creature; [he] ought to be thy Adam, but [he is] rather the fallen angel, whom [Victor] drivest from joy for no misdeed(Shelly 81). It was Victor’s duty to take care of the monster, but he strayed from his responsibilities making him the cause of the monster’s rage and murders. Furthermore, before his abandonment, the creature” was benevolent; [his]soul glowed with love and humanity; but [is he] not alone, miserably alone? [Victor], [his] creator, abhor [him]; what hope can [he] gather from [Victor’s] fellow creatures, who owe [him] nothing? They spurn and hate [him] (Shelly 81). The monster was born with good intentions, yet, as he developed and grew into a spiteful world which spurned   him from looking different. Society, Victor included, was the main cause of the creature’s murderous acts, not the creature himself.
Overall, it is evident that because of his ignorance, violence towards nature and immorality, Victor proves to be the greater monster. It was his decision to create the monster, which holds Victor responsible for all the damage that the creature had done. If not for violating the dead and creating the monster, nobody would have died or been traumatized. However, due to Victor’s mistakes and malevolence toward his creature, he, and others, had to suffer the consequences.