Frankenstein Family Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (chapter.paragraph)

Quote #4

I lay on my straw, but I could not sleep. I thought of the occurrences of the day. What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people, and I longed to join them, but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night before from the barbarous villagers, and resolved, whatever course of conduct I might hereafter think it right to pursue, that for the present I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching and endeavouring to discover the motives which influenced their actions. (12.1)

The "motive" behind the way the cottagers treat each other is—family. They're nice to each other because they're related. (Incidentally, "Because they're family" is also the excuse for a lot of not-so-nice behavior.)

Quote #5

I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers—their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions; but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification. Alas! I did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity. (12.13)

Aw. The monster is totally the unloved middle sibling. We feel you, monster.

Quote #6

"You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This you alone can do, and I demand it of you as a right which you must not refuse to concede." (17.2)

"The interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being" is a roundabout way of saying, "I need someone to wish me good morning and yell at me for not taking out the trash." The monster wants someone to just be normal with.