The monster's attempt to befriend De Lacey
The monster's attempt to befriend De Lacey represents the single most consequential bid for human connection in his brief, tormented existence. After months of clandestine observation and self-education, during which he learned language, history, and the moral codes of society by watching the De Lacey family through a chink in his hovel, the creature resolved to present himself to the blind old man when his children were absent. He believed that De Lacey, unable to see his hideous form, might judge him by his words alone and become an intermediary who could persuade the others to accept him. The failure of this attempt, and the violent rejection that followed, extinguished the last of the creature's benevolent impulses and set him irrevocably on a path of revenge against his creator and all humankind.
The Plan and the Opportunity
The creature had long recognized that his monstrous appearance was the chief obstacle to human acceptance. He had seen how even the gentle cottagers, whose virtues he admired, would recoil from any stranger who looked unusual. The old man De Lacey, however, was blind, and the creature reasoned that if he could first win the father's goodwill, the younger members of the family might be persuaded to tolerate him. He waited for a day when Felix, Agatha, and Safie departed on a long country walk, leaving De Lacey alone in the cottage. The servants had gone to a neighboring fair, and the creature knew this was his best—perhaps his only—opportunity. His heart beat quickly as he approached the door, but his limbs failed him and he sank to the ground before rising again with renewed determination. He removed the planks that concealed his hovel and knocked.
The Conversation with the Blind Old Man
De Lacey invited the stranger to enter. The creature, speaking in a voice he had trained to be gentle, explained that he was a traveler in need of rest and warmth. De Lacey, apologizing that his children were away and that he was blind, offered what help he could. The creature, seizing the moment, began to speak of his own situation in veiled terms. He described himself as an unfortunate and deserted creature with no relation or friend on earth, about to seek the protection of amiable people who had never seen him and who might be prejudiced against him. De Lacey responded with kindness, urging him not to despair and assuring him that the hearts of men, when unprejudiced by self-interest, are full of brotherly love and charity. The creature pressed further, saying that his friends were indeed the most excellent creatures in the world but that a fatal prejudice clouded their eyes—where they ought to see a feeling and kind friend, they beheld only a detestable monster. De Lacey, moved by the stranger's words, offered to help if the creature would confide in him fully. "I am blind and cannot judge of your countenance," the old man said, "but there is something in your words which persuades me that you are sincere." The creature, overwhelmed by this first voice of kindness directed toward him, thanked De Lacey as his best and only benefactor.
The Moment of Revelation and Catastrophe
Just as the creature was about to reveal his identity and beg for protection, he heard the footsteps of his younger protectors returning. In desperation, he seized De Lacey's hand and cried out, "Now is the time! Save and protect me! You and your family are the friends whom I seek. Do not you desert me in the hour of trial!" The old man, startled, exclaimed, "Great God! Who are you?" At that instant the cottage door opened and Felix, Safie, and Agatha entered. The sight that met them was one of pure horror: a gigantic, misshapen figure clinging to the knees of their blind father. Agatha fainted, Safie rushed out of the cottage, and Felix, with supernatural force, tore the creature from his father and dashed him to the ground, striking him violently with a stick. The creature, who could have torn Felix limb from limb, refrained. Overcome by pain and anguish, he quitted the cottage and escaped unperceived to his hovel.
Aftermath and the Descent into Revenge
The rejection was absolute and final. The creature spent the night wandering in the wood, giving vent to his anguish in fearful howlings. He felt like a wild beast that had broken its toils, and for a time he contemplated destroying the cottage and its inhabitants. But after the initial fury subsided, he reflected that he had acted imprudently—he ought to have familiarized De Lacey with him gradually before revealing himself to the others. He resolved to return and try again, but when morning came, the cottagers did not appear. Soon he overheard Felix telling a neighbor that the family could never again inhabit the cottage, that his father's life was in danger, and that his wife and sister would never recover from their horror. The De Laceys departed, and the creature never saw them again. The last link that held him to the world was broken. That night, in a state of utter despair, he set fire to the cottage and watched it burn to the ground. From that moment, he declared everlasting war against the human species and, above all, against his creator, Victor Frankenstein. The creature's attempt to befriend De Lacey thus marks the tragic turning point where his innate desire for love and companionship, which had survived months of solitude and suffering, was finally crushed by the ineradicable horror his appearance inspired, leaving only hatred and the thirst for revenge.
