In addition to Victor's ill treatment of the creature,
society does bear some of the blame for the creature's downfall. First, when the
creature escapes from Victor's apartment, the first humans he encounters chase him out
of town when they see him. This causes the creature to realize that
appearance is important and that his falls short of what society
expects.
Secondly, the creature learns much about society
and seemingly about human kindness through his observations of the De Lacey family and
his reading. Through them, he realizes again that appearance is important even to the
seemingly benevolent De Laceys when he is run off by Felix De Lacey. After burning down
the De Laceys' cottage, the creature ponders where to go. In Chapter 16, he explains to
Victor that society has so demoralized him that even though he knows that he can
physically go wherever he wants, he thinks,
"but to me, hated and despised, every country
must be equally
horrible."
Finally, when the
creature kills little William, it is society's final rejection of him. He perceives
William's fear and negativity toward him as another part of society (even such a small
innocent part) discarding him. While he still chooses to approach Victor, by that point,
he simply wants a female monster who will not reject him, and he does not expect
Victor's acceptance.
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