Oscar Wilde once said “ the true perfection of man lies not in what man has, but in what man is”. In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the author makes that point very clear when society treats the monster with hasty disapproval of his presence solely off his appearance. Societies treatment of the monster illustrates the shallowness of society and how they believe that true perfection lies in what man has and not what man is.
Throughout the book the monster exhibits traits such as Kindness, Love and Intelligence much like a model citizen in society. When the monster is out on his own he discovers a cabin out in the woods, in this cabin there was a family, who were unaware of the monsters presence in the woods. During this time the monster proves that he is actually quite intelligent when he took it upon himself to indulge in “[Discovering] that the [old man] uttered many of the same sounds when he read as when he talked”(Shelley,108). This provided evidence of the monsters intelligence and capability to comprehend communication among people in society this proves that he is quite capable of being civilized. When the monster is persistent towards learning, it demonstrates that the monster is intelligent enough to become self educated. This is enough to understand that he is not just some dumb monster but a quite capable and intelligent individual. On another occasion however the monster had been accustomed to stealing food from the family but when he “[Realized it] inflicted pain upon the cottagers, [he] abstained and satisfied [himself] with berries, nuts, and roots”(Shelley,106). This proves the monster is beginning to understand that by stealing from these people he would only do them harm, by abstaining himself from stealing the food he has proven that he is capable of understanding the difference between right and wrong and by doing so he instilled an act of kindness. Not only that but his ability to deny his primal instincts to do what ever he can...