It wouldn't have been pleasant, but it might have been less violent. If Victor's willing to stick around, there's no saying he'd be unwilling to train the creature to continue his work. A race of those things able to withstand the cold of the Arctic? They'd go up North and form a colony where the rest of the human race wouldn't bug them. The cold would also preserve them, allowing them to last longer.
I know decomposition isn't a thing in the story, but let's face it. It would have happened eventually.
There's gotta be a Young Frankenstein reference I can make somewhere in this thread.
Oh really when?I expect that Victor raising the creature would have resulted in a Madwoman in the Attic kind of plot, with Victor trying to keep his repulsive creature a secret for as long as he could. Depending on how the creature would have reacted to being treated that way, the plot might not even have turned out that differently, except his hatred would probably not have been as focused on Victor specifically.
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He was at first. It was the continual bombardment of negativity from the people he met that broke him. Victor being there would have softened the blow since Frank could lean on him for support and guidance, but the way Frank went in the actual story was likely either way.
edited 8th Jan '14 11:29:24 AM by Journeyman
There are two scenarios to be considered here. Would Victor learn to love his creation and try to be a good father, or would he raise the Creature out of obligation, even though he couldn't stand the sight of him? If the latter is the case, then it might as well end up very similar to The Hunchbackof Notre Dame.
edited 16th Jan '14 8:24:19 AM by Nightwire
People may be forgetting here that Adam was eight and a half feet tall. There's no way he was going to be passed off as human.
There's some question of if he could have found love with his own kind; some of the things he says when he forces Victor to make his bride indicated that he would gain no enjoyment from her aesthetics; but perhaps this is only because of the horrible experiences he holds his own aesthetic accountable for. Maybe he would be able to enjoy the sight of his own kind if he was raised in a loving, err, child-hood.
Though it would have been likely if Victor hadn't rejected him he would have had siblings, as Victor was planning to create a new race at one point in the beginning.
I do wonder to myself if Victor would ever have presented Adam to the university; at first the project started out as an academic project; but that completely went out of the window when he vanished for several months without any word of if he'd fallen ill or something.
To paraphrase someone else - I think it may have been China Mieville - "Frankenstein's sin was not in creating his Creature, it was in refusing to take responsibility for it". I think that's pretty reasonable. I mean, really, that's why the Creature became a Monster.
Edit: found the quotation I was after.
edited 22nd Jan '14 10:49:20 AM by pagad
With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.![]()
No , he could be passed off as human . He could slouch or otherwise try to make himself look smaller . And besides ...... the tallest man ever recorded was 8 ' 11 '' .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wadlow
Yes, but eight foot six means he would never be able to be anything other than the elephant in the room, and only the educated of his time would pass him off as no different from circus people. Though the educated may notice his translucent skin 'that barely concealed the ligaments beneath' as something unprecedented.
Sadly I get the impression the creature had no choice but to be this unfortunate size, I recall Victor talking about the decision to make him of such stature, he did it so that the frame would be large enough to work on I believe?
Really, what general people thought of the Creature wouldn't have mattered in my mind as long as he had a family of some sort and a foundation. If Victor did go one to make siblings and kept his child hidden for a while, I think the Creature wouldn't have had a happy life, but certainly not a miserable one.
Well , even if he couldn't pass for a human in person , perhaps some one might find love with him . Perhaps they could be in correspondence via letters , fall for each other, and latter meet in person. Or perhaps some scientifically minded eccentric might like him after Victor introduces him to the scientific community.
For duty, duty, must be done, the rule applies to everyone;I think Victor at least believed the creature could only bread with his own kind. At least he wasn't worrying about the creature procreating until he started work on the second.
Maybe this is further reason why The Creature would require the company of his own kind in the long run.
And then more logistical questions of what is the Creature's life span? Would he find the life of humans fleeting? His lack of need for rest as well raises the question of if he would bore of the silence of night time in human cities. Would his lack of need for human levels shelter and food leave him unmotivated for human work standards when he could live happily of the land if he wished?

How would the Creature turn out if Victor had not abandoned him? It's clear that the Creature would be at least a somewhat decent person if not for society's rejection of him and cruelty to him. What if the Creature ( you know what , I'm calling him Adam from now on , that's what Mary called the Creature in her letters) was introduced to others and passed off as Victor's deformed son?
edited 7th Jan '14 7:16:55 PM by ElectricalLass
For duty, duty, must be done, the rule applies to everyone;