Don't judge a book by its cover. So says a famous American proverb which says that a person's character cannot be judged based on his appearance. This proverb is very appropriate regarding Frankenstein's monster. On the outside he looks terrible and as a result he is victimized and made to suffer by those who cannot see beyond his appearance. Yet he has a kind soul and simply seeks happiness and a little compassion from others. Both the book and the play present him as a sufferer in a cruel world, but ultimately the book does a better job describing his pain and eliciting empathy from the reader. The monster in the book describes his suffering in more detail, is more eloquent and persuasive, and also experiences a more tragic ending, and as a result the reader feels more sympathy towards him than an audience member would feel towards the monster in the play . the more detail the book provides about the monster's experiences allows the reader to sympathize with the monster more than an audience member. When Frankenstein's monster tells the story of the hardships he has endured, he mentions events that have been overlooked in the play. An example of this is when the monster saved a girl's life. Such an act would normally be considered very heroic and would receive much praise under any circumstances, but instead the monster is rewarded with a gunshot, receiving only "the miserable pain of a wound that shattered flesh and bone". (Shelley 135) The book also examines the months of hard work the creature put into learning human nature and language in order to be fully accepted when it chose to reveal itself. The monster hid in the cottage for about a year, listening and learning as he ...... middle of paper ......understand, but did everything in his power to adapt. He did his best to help others, wanting nothing more than acceptance in return. Yet he was cursed with a monstrous appearance. This was the one trait he had no control over, but it was the one that negated all of his good intentions in the eyes of society, causing him a tremendous amount of misery and ultimately leading him to do terrible things. If his monstrous appearance is just one example of a trait despised by society, then his story is a powerful lesson for any reader. It brings to light the misery and pain inflicted – perhaps unknowingly – by society on those who don't fit in. Taking this into account, a simple question remains: who really was the monster in the novel? Work cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. Susan J. Wolfson. New York: Longmann, 2003.