Primarily, Shelley invites the reader to ponder the notion that culture often embeds in humanity an innate fear of the unknown. Once this fear has been established, stereotypes emerge, ultimately resulting in a strict system with which a society may label outsiders who represent that which they are not familiar with. Hence, a Middle Eastern society may label a blonde woman as frivolous and deceptive while a Western society may label a hijabi woman as overly religious and having terrorist leanings. Both societies, doubtlessly, would be incorrect, as they crafted their judgements based on biased stereotypes. In Frankenstein, Shelley reflects this theme in the Monster’s encounter with the Delaceys and Sadie. When he could not see the Monster and, thus, mistook him for a human traveler, the old man welcomed the Monster and sought to alleviate his pain. When the younger Delaceys arrived and saw the Monster in all his ghastly countenance, they immediately labelled him a “monster” due to pre-determined stereotypical images. Here, we see how Frankenstein’s creation was first named a Monster due to his cultural surroundings and, accordingly, the Monster’s opinion of mankind was initially tainted.

                Furthermore, when he came to realize that his cultural surroundings cause men to fear and detest him so, the Monster lost his innocence. He became not what he wished to be, but a mere reflection of what society wishes to see. The Monster was created innocent, as pure as a newborn child. He sought love and acceptance after being abandoned by his creator. Upon finding none, the Monster develops a desire for revenge, a desire wrought by naught but his cultural surroundings. We see evidence of this claim when the Monster confronts Frankenstein in the twentieth chapter protesting that the former “had feelings of affection, and they were requited by detestation and scorn.” (Shelley ll. 5-6) Consequently, the Monster learns of the power cultural surroundings have over him and of mankind’s capacity for monstrosity. Therefore, the Monster becomes a creature of revenge, abandoning all links to humanity, much like how culture has caused humanity to abandon him. As a result of his detestable cultural surroundings, the Monster murders Clerval and Elizabeth, contributing to the death of Alphonse Frankenstein and ultimately seeking revenge on his creator. With no guidance except that of his surroundings, the Monster ultimately embraces the brutal mold which was determined for him by cultural stereotyping, becoming what society believed him to be.

              Moreover, Shelley examines the belief that while we remain shaped by our surroundings, as the Monster was by his, we continue to be highly vulnerable to stereotypical cultural beliefs. Although originally meant to address the audience of the Romantic Era, the messages embedded in Frankenstein held true for countless centuries and remain true today. In Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Shylock the Jewish moneylender famously asked, “If you tickle us, do we not laugh?/ If you prick us, do we not bleed?/ If you wrong us, will we not seek revenge?” Shylock was in a condition, similar to that of the Monster, in which Shylock sought to criticize the way Jews were shaped by their cultural surroundings. Similarly, in her poem I’m Nobody! Who are you?, Emily Dickinson reveals how cultural surroundings affected her by writing, “How dreary to be Somebody/ How public like a Frog/ To recite one’s Name the livelong June/ To an admiring Bog.” As a result, we wonder if Dickinson’s view of “Somebody” is shaped by her cultural surroundings and not by an unbiased belief. In her speech Can A Woman Become President of the United States of America?, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt emphasized that, “A woman can become President of the United States, but she may not.” Here, Roosevelt implies that women are shaped by their cultural surroundings and judged thus, not according to their personal merits. Today, we see how our cultural surroundings shape our perceptions, hence affecting our moral and psychological traits, on a day to day basis. Although we do not encounter a physical Monster such as that in Frankenstein, we constantly judge others, particularly racial and ethnic minorities, based on the lens of cultural surroundings through which we see. Perhaps, if we were blind like the father in the Delacey cottage, we would come to adopt a clearer and less biased perspective of the metaphorical “monsters” we claim to “see.”

          In conclusion, Mary Shelley fashions a novel of immense proportions and countless underlying themes in Frankenstein. We find that the Monster may not necessarily have lived a Monster, had he not been subject to torment by his cultural surroundings. These surroundings shaped the Monster’s character, contributing to the murders of William, Clerval, and Elizabeth. Today, these surroundings contribute to our daily judgements and interactions with our fellow humans, constantly distorting our perceptions, beliefs, and futures. Do we not cease to be shaped by our cultural surroundings, we may come to be Monsters, devoid of human feeling, capable of naught but revenge.