The creature's hovel

The creature's hovel is the cramped, low wooden shelter attached to the De Laceys' cottage where the monster hides for months, observing human life, learning language, and forming his desperate plan to seek companionship, only to be violently rejected and driven to revenge.

Discovery and Description

After being violently driven from a village by stones and missiles, the monster fled to the open country and took refuge in a low hovel attached to a neat cottage. The hovel was constructed of wood, so low that he could with difficulty sit upright in it; no wood covered the earth floor, but it was dry, and although the wind entered through innumerable chinks, he found it an agreeable asylum from the snow and rain. It was situated against the back of the cottage, surrounded on the exposed sides by a pig sty and a clear pool of water. One part was open, and through that he had crept in; he then covered every crevice by which he might be perceived with stones and wood, arranging them so that he could move them on occasion to pass out. All the light he enjoyed came through the sty, and that was sufficient for him. He carpeted the floor with clean straw and provided for his sustenance by purloining a loaf of coarse bread and a cup for drinking water. The floor was a little raised, so it was kept perfectly dry, and by its vicinity to the cottage chimney it was tolerably warm. He resolved to reside in this hovel until something should alter his determination, finding it a paradise compared to the bleak forest, the rain-dropping branches, and dank earth of his former residence.

Observation and Learning

From this hovel, the monster became a hidden observer of the De Lacey family. Through a small, almost imperceptible chink in the filled-up window, he could see into the cottage's single room. He watched the blind old man, the gentle Agatha, and the melancholy Felix, learning their routines, their expressions of love and sorrow, and their poverty. He discovered their method of communicating through articulate sounds and, by great application over several revolutions of the moon, learned the names of familiar objects—"fire," "milk," "bread," "wood"—and the names of the cottagers themselves: "father," "Agatha," "Felix." He also learned the science of letters from the book Felix used to instruct Safie, Volney's Ruins of Empires, which opened before him a wide field for wonder and delight. During the night, he would steal their store of food, but when he found that in doing so he inflicted pain on them, he abstained and satisfied himself with berries, nuts, and roots from a neighboring wood. He also secretly assisted their labors, taking Felix's tools at night to bring home firing sufficient for several days, an act that astonished the family when they discovered the pile of wood at their door.

The Plan for Acceptance

As the monster's understanding improved, he became acutely aware of his own deformity. When he viewed himself in a transparent pool, he was filled with the bitterest despondence and mortification. Yet, contemplating the virtues of the cottagers, he persuaded himself that if they became acquainted with his admiration of their virtues, they would compassionate him and overlook his personal deformity. He resolved to fit himself for an interview with them, postponing the attempt for months. His plan was to enter the dwelling when the blind old man, De Lacey, should be alone, reasoning that if he could gain the good will and mediation of the old man, he might be tolerated by the younger protectors. The hovel was the site of his secret preparations and the repository of the books—Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives, and The Sorrows of Werter—and the papers from Victor Frankenstein's laboratory that he had found, which detailed his own accursed origin and rendered his sense of isolation indelible.

The Failed Encounter and Aftermath

One day, when Safie, Agatha, and Felix departed on a long walk, the monster executed his plan. He removed the planks he had placed before his hovel to conceal his retreat and approached the cottage door. The interview with De Lacey began promisingly, but before the monster could fully explain himself, Felix, Safie, and Agatha returned. On beholding him, Agatha fainted, Safie rushed out, and Felix, in a transport of fury, tore the monster from his father's knees, dashed him to the ground, and struck him violently with a stick. The monster, overcome by pain and anguish, quitted the cottage and escaped unperceived to his hovel. The next day, he saw Felix and another man discussing the family's decision to abandon the cottage forever. His protectors had departed, breaking the only link that held him to the world. In a state of utter and stupid despair, he placed a variety of combustibles around the cottage and, as night advanced, fired the straw, heath, and bushes he had collected, quickly enveloping the cottage in flames. He then quitted the scene and sought refuge in the woods, his mind bent toward injury and death, beginning his journey toward Geneva and his creator.