Prejudice Flashcards
How is Justine prejudiced?
Justine is prejudged against and assumed to be guilty. This, in part, is what leads to her execution.
How is the Monster prejudiced?
-The Monster never seems to be able to escape the innate prejudice of a society which focuses so heavily on appearances.
-He is shunned and attacked by villagers, violently rejected by the De Laceys and shot by the companion of a girl he saved from drowning.
How is Victor prejudiced?
-Victor is treated poorly by the Irish locals because he is foreign to them.
-Victor himself is prejudiced towards his creation of the Monster, immediately responding negatively to its hideous appearance.
‘I rushed from my hiding-place; and, with extreme labour from the force of the current, saved her, and dragged her to shore. […] when the man [the girl’s companion] saw me draw near, he aimed a gun, which he carried, at my body, and fired.’ (Volume Two: Chapter 8)
-The way in which the Monster is attacked for committing a kind deed seems particularly cruel and the reader sympathises with him.
-The people that the Monster encounters are small-minded and hold prejudices based on his hideous appearance.
‘I had hardly placed my foot within the door, before the children shrieked and one of the women fainted. The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country, and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel.’ (Volume Two: Chapter 3).
-This is the Monster’s first experience of prejudice.
-The Monster doesn’t do anything to cause alarm (merely taking a step inside) and so the villager’s violent response seems unfair and disproportionate.
