Looking How Sympathy Is Created For Frankenstein And Quasimodo English Literature Essay

The spirit certainly wastes away in a misshapen body.  Quasimodo barely felt within him the blind stirring of a soul made in his own image… He was mischievous because he was an untrained savage; he was a savage because he was ugly… But we must do him the justice to say that his mischievous spirit was not innate…  As he grew up, he encountered nothing but hate…  He adopted the weapon with which he had been wounded (145-146). 

In other words, Quasimodo’s a monster because he hasn’t been nurtured.  Hugo discusses Quasimodo’s warped nature and “mischievousness” because Quasimodo is bestial to others; but that’s because he encounters nothing but hate from them and nobody bothered to teach him decency.  In Frankenstein, Victor narrates the story, and reacts to his creation with disgust.  When the Creation first wakes, Victor is overcome by its ugliness and flees from it multiple times.  (34-35)  When Victor next sees the Creation, he assumes it killed his brother because, “Nothing in human shape could have destroyed that fair child.” (48) and when he speaks with the Creation, he begins by threatening and cursing it. (65)  When Victor is moved towards feeling compassion towards the Creation, he ends up overcome by its ugliness, “I compassionated him, and sometimes felt a wish to console him; but when I looked upon him… my heart sickened, and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred.” (99).   Victor knows the Creation had compassion and integrity before it was rejected by society, but assumes it is innately a monster who will wreak havoc on humanity regardless.  Thus, both narrations label Quasimodo and the Creation monsters.

     Changes in the narration re-humanize Quasimodo and the Creation by revealing their admirable qualities.  Hugo’s narration grows more sympathetic after Esmeralda gives him water.  At first, Hugo continues with the assumption that Quasimodo is a monster, “It would anywhere have been a touching sight, to see this lovely girl… devoutly hastening to the help of so much misery, deformity, and malice” (225); however, when Quasimodo next appears, he is no longer described as horrid, but with a tender, charmed, and gentile air (249-251).  When Quasimodo saves Esmeralda from the gallows, Hugo ignores even his ugliness, “His gnome-like eye resting upon her, flooded her with tenderness, grief, pity, and was suddenly lifted, flashing fire… at that instant Quasimodo was truly beautiful.” (339).   As Quasimodo cares for Esmeralda, the narration emphasizes his sadness, gentleness,  and willingness to help Esmeralda in any possible manner.  When Quasimodo kills the gypsies attempting to break into Notre Dame, the narration describes him as frightening (402), yet later as, “the brave deaf man.” (441)  Hugo begins referring to Quasimodo as “poor deaf fellow”(475) instead of “horrid hunchback”.  When Esmeralda is hung and Quasimodo throws Frollo from the tower, he is described as ugly, but also as “avenging” (480).  Thus the narration focuses on Quasimodo’s ugliness throughout the book, but moves from focusing on Quasimodo’s monstrous actions to his kinder mannerisms.  In Frankenstein, Shelley changes narrators, exposing more of the Creation’s traits then those described by Victor.  When the Creation narrates, the reader sees his virtues and his frustration with society.  At first, he is fascinated by the gentleness and love in the De Lacy cottage and repulsed by murder and crime.(80) However, he grows increasingly frustrated and despairing as he realizes that their gentleness and love will not extend to him (92).    He still saves a young girl who falls into a river, and as he attempts to revive her, the girl’s father arrives and shoots him (95).  Every kind action he performs is rewarded with fear and hatred.  Any other narrator would assume that the Creation is evil, and only with the Creation’s point of view can one see his benevolent motives.  It is also revealed that the Creation’s first murder is an accident, “The child still struggled, and loaded me with epithets which carried despair to my heart: I grasped his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet.  I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph.” (97).  He does not intend to murder, but William’s accidental death shows the Creation how to hurt those who hurt him, which begins his downfall.  The Creation’s account reveals society as the monster that turns him into a killer with their hatred, giving him more human motivations.  Walton’s narration, after the Creation murders Victor’s family, reveals the Creation still possesses a sense of right and wrong.  It becomes apparent that the Creation is disgusted by his actions, but also enraged at his rejection, which causes him to continue his destructive path, “A frightful selfishness hurried me on, while my heart was poisoned with agony and remorse…I was the slave, not the master of an impulse, which I detested, yet could not disobey” (153).  He tells Walton, “You hate me; but your abhorrence cannot equal that with which I regard myself… My work is nearly complete.  Neither yours nor any man’s death is needed to consummate the series of my being… it requires my own.” (155)  At first glance, it seems the Creation is a monster, but his actions are the result of his rejection and the pain that causes him.  Even when striking back, his virtues make him despise himself.  His human needs, reactions, and motives are revealed in these other points of view.  These admirable qualities in the “monsters” provide the first step to humanizing them.

     Hugo and Shelley emphasize the “monster’s” qualities by contrasting them with their father figures.  One contrast used by Hugo is Frollo’s versus Quasimodo’s treatment of Esmeralda.  Frollo stalks, harasses, and condemns Esmeralda to death, “‘You must die, my beauty, or be mine… The tomb, or my bed!”‘ (456) because he cannot look past his own desires, even though he knows Esmeralda loves Phoebus and cannot love him (because he stabbed Phoebus).  Thus, Frollo thinks only for his own happiness.  Quasimodo, conversely, strives to protect Esmeralda at his own expense, “he would rather be maltreated by her than distress her.  He kept all the pain for himself” (366).  Esmeralda cannot love Quasimodo due to his ugliness, he knows this, and instead of trying to force Esmeralda to love him, he protects her.  When Frollo sentences Esmeralda to the gallows, Quasimodo saves her and gives her everything he can (339-340, 351-367).  He still hopes she could love him, and he tests her to see if love is possible (the flour vases (367)), but when he is certain she won’t love him, he doesn’t press the matter, and continues protecting her,

“That day [after the test] she did not hear the voice from the tower singing… She had entirely ceased to see or hear Quasimodo… But one night, when she could not sleep… she heard a sigh close by her cell…  It was Quasimodo sleeping there upon the stones. (367) 

Quasimodo feels true concern for Esmeralda, whereas Frollo objectifies her.   In Frankenstein, Victor fails to consider others in his decisions.  For example, when Victor is making the Creation, he neglects letters from his family even though they worry for him (33).  He is possessed by his desire to create a race of people who would bless him “as its creator and source” (32) and doesn’t put his family at ease because he’s obsessed with becoming the god of a new race.  Furthermore, after Victor destroys the female monster and the Creation threatens misdeeds on Victor’s wedding night, Victor assumes that the Creation means to kill him.  He doesn’t consider Elizabeth’s safety, despite the fact that the Creation threatened misery for Victor, not death. (133)   He knows the Creation will strike against him, but fails to consider the safety of his loved ones.  The Creation, conversely, is considerate of others.  He stops taking the De Lacey’s food because it causes them difficulty (74), begins collecting wood for the De Laceys so Felix doesn’t have to (74), and saves a stranger from drowning without any thought to himself (95).  He changes, however, as he is constantly rejected.  After Victor destroys his last hope of companionship, he kills innocents for the purpose of hurting Victor, and although he feels remorse, he is still driven by a selfish desire for revenge.  In this case, the difference between Victor and the Creation is that the Creation recognizes his selfishness and disregard towards others (and feels guilt) while Victor does not.  Second, Frollo makes excuses while Quasimodo accepts responsibility.  Frollo claims he stabbed Phoebus, made his attempts on Esmeralda, didn’t interfere in his brother’s murder, and sentenced Esmeralda to the gallows because she is the devil incarnate, “‘and it was because of this woman, because of her-” (455).  He never considers that his fall is his own fault.  Quasimodo, however, accepts responsibility for his actions.  For example, he doesn’t blame Frollo for asking him to kidnap Esmeralda, but tells her, “You have forgotten a villain who tried to carry you off one night… You have forgotten that villain; but he remembers… we have very tall towers here…whenever it would please you to have me fall… one glance will be enough” (357).  He recognizes his improper actions, and could blame them on Frollo, but accepts them as his own while Frollo blames them on others.  Victor doesn’t accept responsibility either.  He feels guilty for the Creation’s murders, but only because they’re caused by his creation.  If Victor hadn’t rejected the Creation’s every effort to gain companionship, his Creation would never have murdered, yet, he blames the Creation’s actions on inherent evil, not his own failure to nurture him.  Also, when he fails to consider Elizabeth’s safety, he doesn’t blame himself, but he blames the Creation, “But, as if possessed by magic powers, the monster had blinded me to his real intentions” (133).  The Creation, conversely, is under no delusion regarding his guilt. He kills because he is disenfranchised from society, and could use society’s scorn as an excuse to rid himself of guilt, but doesn’t,

Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all human kind sinned against me… But it is true that I am a wretch.  I have murdered the lovely and the helpless; I have strangled the innocent as they slept, and grasped to death his throat who never injured me or any other living thing. (155) 

The Creation feels guilt and accepts responsibility for his misdeeds, while Victor doesn’t accept responsibility for his darker side.  Third, when convenient, Frollo shuns Quasimodo,

As soon as he saw that mule and that priest, the poor sufferer’s [Quasimodo] face softened… It was as if the unhappy man hailed the coming of a savior.  Yet, when the mule was near enough to the pillory for his rider to recognize the prisoner, the priest [Frollo] cast down his eyes, turned back abruptly, spurred his animal on either side as if in haste to avoid humiliating appeals, and very far from anxious to be greeted and recognized by a poor devil in such a plight… The smile lingered for some time, although it became bitter, dejected, profoundly sad. (222-223)

However, when Quasimodo can protect him, Frollo is happy to use Quasimodo, “[After Frollo reproaches Quasimodo for being the Pope of Fools and the crowd tries to remove Frollo] Quasimodo placed himself before the priest, put the muscles of his fist into play, and glared at his assailants, gnashing his teeth like an enraged bear” (68)  Frollo also uses Quasimodo as an outlet for his anger.  During their confrontation, when Frollo attempts to rape Esmeralda, Frollo is content to kill Quasimodo “‘My lord… do what you will afterwards; but kill me first!’ So saying, he [Quasimodo] offered his knife to the priest.  The priest, beside himself with rage, rushed upon him.” (372).  Quasimodo, however, cannot bring himself to harm Frollo because he feels love and gratitude towards Frollo, “although his [Frollo’s] speech was usually brief, harsh, and imperative, this gratitude never for an instant failed him.” (150)  Even after Quasimodo realizes that Frollo has stolen Esmeralda, he still cannot bring himself to hurt Frollo.

He remembered a thousand details, and soon ceased to doubt that the archdeacon had stolen the gipsy from him.  However, such was his respect for the priest, his gratitude, his devotion, his love for the man were so deeply rooted in his heart, that they resisted, even at that moment, the claws of jealousy and despair (477)

However, when he realizes that Frollo handed Esmeralda to the executioner, he overcomes his docility (but not his love) and throws Frollo from Notre Dame.  Quasimodo feels true love for Frollo, while Frollo does not.  Victor, like Frollo, only indulges his Creation when it benefits him.  This is shown when he agrees to hear the Creation’s story, “I had hitherto supposed him to be the murderer of my brother, and I eagerly sought a confirmation or denial of this opinion.  For the first time, also, I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were… These motives urged me to comply with his demand”(67).  The fact that Victor had never “felt the duties of creator” shows he didn’t care about the Creation after his formation (when Victor discovers he doesn’t want to be the Creation’s god, the Creation stops being useful).  Victor only cares for the Creation then because he could provide information about William’s death. Alternatively, the Creation respects Victor as his, “natural lord and king” (66) and always attempts to reason with Victor before hurting him (he does this twice before the female creation is destroyed and again before he murders Clerval).  Even after the Creation swears revenge on Victor, he still respects him.  This regard is shown at the end of the book, when Walton finds him over Victor’s body “uttering exclamations of grief and horror” (152).  By contrasting the two types of characters, the authors reveal that the “monsters” are compassionate, accept responsibility for their own actions, and can feel more love than their masters.  Quasimodo and the Creation possess more virtues then those who are not ostracized, humanizing them further.

     Hugo and Shelley also add or remove virtues as the relationship with the father figure changes.  The closer Quasimodo and the Creation are to their fathers, the more monstrous they become.  As mentioned before, Quasimodo is bestial at first.  He undergoes a transformation, and becomes more human, when Esmeralda gives him water while he’s on the pillory.  Her single act of compassion changes him completely because, up until that point, the only other person who showed him compassion was Frollo.  Before the pillory, Quasimodo, “had relations with but two things in the world,- Notre-Dame and Claude Frollo” (150).  He follows Frollo unconditionally and Frollo is Quasimodo’s model of a decent person because Frollo is the only one who showed Quasimodo compassion; naturally, Quasimodo emulates Frollo.  However, Frollo abandons him on the pillory while Esmeralda helps him. ( 224)  Up until that point, others endlessly mocked Quasimodo, especially while on the pillory.  Esmeralda’s action causes him to feel gratitude towards her, much like he feels towards Frollo, “A drop of water and a little pity are more than my whole life can ever repay” (357).  Esmeralda is compassionate and kind to Quasimodo, while Frollo is not; Quasimodo sees her virtues, and is compassionate and kind in response.  He loves Frollo and Esmeralda, who are in conflict. A warring nature within Quasimodo is created when he prevents Frollo from raping Esmeralda, but cannot bring himself to hurt Frollo (371-372) and when he discovers that Frollo has stolen Esmeralda from Notre Dame.  He sees how twisted Frollo is, but cannot bring himself to harm him, “the thirst for blood and murder which he would have felt for another were turned in the poor deaf man to added grief where Claude Frollo was concerned.” (477) However, when he observes Frollo’s demonic laugh after Esmeralda’s hanging, Quasimodo cannot ignore that Frollo is a monster who handed Esmeralda to the executioner.  He is forced to choose between Esmeralda, and her virtues, and Frollo, and his monstrousness.  He chooses Esmeralda by throwing Frollo from the tower (480-482).  However, he still loves Frollo, hence his, “Oh, all that I ever loved!” (483) after both die.  He loves Esmeralda more because she is not a monster, so he chooses her and dies holding her body to his own. (485)  As Quasimodo becomes increasingly disillusioned by Frollo, he becomes more compassionate, kind, and more human.   The opposite happens in Frankenstein.  At first, the Creation’s role models are the De Laceys, who are affectionate and kind, making him feel that way in turn, “As yet I looked upon crime as a distant evil; benevolence and generosity were ever present before me” (85).  Once he is rejected by the De Laceys, he turns to Victor.  At first, he is angry, “Cursed creator!  Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?” (88) and deeply hurt by his rejection.  He feels miserable, then discovers a way to strike back at his creator when he accidently kills William (who rejects him again).  He regains control of his darker impulses when Victor agrees to create the female, “‘I swear… that if you grant my prayer [like Victor is a God]… you shall never behold me again [and that he will not interfere with other humans]”‘ (100).  His hopes are destroyed when Victor destroys the female, and he swears Victor his enemy, however, he is “bonding” with Victor because each murder draws Victor closer to him.  He will be abandoned unless he makes someone hate him.  Victor is the ideal companion, since he respects Victor and since Victor is his creator.  With each death of Victor’s loved ones, Victor becomes angrier and more alone, causing him to turn towards the Creation for revenge.  After the death of Victor’s father, Victor has no one left, so he decides to destroy the Creation, who becomes the entire world for him.  The Creation has his only possible companionship, and keeps it by taunting Victor to maintain Victor’s hatred and desire to stay alive, “‘I am satisfied: miserable wretch! you have determined to live, and I am satisfied”‘ (141).  He claims Victor is his enemy to encourage Victor’s hatred, but this is not his true view of Victor as is shown by, “‘I have devoted my creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love and admiration among men, to misery”‘ (155).  After he meets Victor, he ceases to view him as an enemy, but his anger at being constantly rejected and his desire for companionship cause him to begin his destructive path.  While Quasimodo and the Creation act more monstrously the closer they are to their father figures, it is because they love their “fathers,” and are emulating them or attempting to have a relationship with them.

     After the characters are re-humanized, they must be placed in situations that inspire sympathy.  Hugo does this by showing the reader that, no matter how kind Quasimodo is, he will never be accepted.  Even in the first part of the book, when he behaves like an animal, the reader sees he has been twisted by the hatred displayed by others.  Society made its own monster because it saw Quasimodo as hideous, therefore monstrous, and didn’t nurture him.  Here, the reader can at least pity Quasimodo.  His transformation reveals his admirable qualities and that he can break out of the hatred and beastly mannerisms inflicted upon him by society.  This transformation would not be possible for many people, making it especially tragic because it shows that Quasimodo is more intelligent and independent then many who are not outcasts (like Frollo or Phoebus).  After his admirable qualities take shape, acceptance remains unobtainable for him.  For example, Esmeralda feels compassion for Quasimodo, but cannot overcome his ugliness, “she was but little troubled by this willful absence of the poor hunchback.  In her secret heart she thanked him for it” (366).  Despite Esmeralda’s aversion to him, Quasimodo continues to protect and love her.  He knows that no one will ever love him because of his ugliness, but still does all he can to make those he loves happy,

He reflected… that woman, love, pleasure, were forever to pass before him, while he could never do more then look on at the happiness of others.  But what pained him most in this sight, what added indignation to his annoyance, was the thought that the gipsy must suffer could she see it (363). 

The reader can observe his sadness, love, kindness, and admirable character while, at the same time seeing that everyone else ignores these because of his misshapenness, trapping him in misery he doesn’t deserve.  His awareness of his situation makes it even sadder, allowing the reader to feel sympathy for him.  Shelley places the Creation in a similar situation to Quasimodo, just in the opposite order of events.  At first, the reader observes the Creation’s kindness, selflessness, innocence, and intelligence.  Like Quasimodo, the Creation is full of virtues which are overlooked because of his ugliness.  One feels sympathy for the Creation because one sees how he doesn’t deserve the others’ hatred.  His anger at his circumstance is also understandable.  After he accidently kills William, and feels triumphant about it, he recognizes that he is falling, “Every where I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded.  I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend.  Make me happy and I shall again be virtuous”‘ (66).  He tries to stop his fall with Victor, but Victor doesn’t understand and further rejects him by destroying any chance he has of happiness.  Even as the Creation grows increasingly murderous, the reader feels his pain.  He lacks the nurturing to save himself, even as remorse destroys him from the inside.  His passion for life and love is his strength, but it also becomes his fatal flaw (the cause of his rage and remorse).  One cannot help but feel sympathetic for the Creation because he is virtuous, but forced by his lack of nurturance and other’s contempt to become a monster, and he knows exactly how far he’s fallen, as well as the causes of his fall.   The sadness in this situation causes the reader to feel sympathy for him.  Hugo and Shelley create sympathy for their “monsters” by showing the reader how their beastly actions are caused by a lack of nurturance, and that they possess more virtues then many who are not ostracized.  These virtues are ignored because of the way they look, preventing them from ever being happy.  The sadness, that someone so good could be so rejected, is the key to allowing the reader to feel sympathy towards these characters.

     In conclusion, the word “monster” comes from Latin words meaning “to show” and “to warn.”  In this case, these “monsters” show us that we create our own demons and warn us against the hatred we can display toward others.  Without Esmeralda, and the compassion she displays toward all living things, Quasimodo would never have been humanized and would have stayed in his beastly state.  The De Laceys, and later Victor, do not come to the Creation’s aid, and only add to his suffering, making him lose his link with humanity.  This shows that, with nurturing, kindness, and compassion, we can prevent the creation of our own monsters, and even reverse their monstrous actions.  Monsters are not born; they are made when we fail to nurture them.  All it takes is nurturing, compassion, and guidance to prevent, and possibly reverse, the formation of a monster.