Social Geography and Monstrosity: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Social geography plays an important role in a person's life. Social geography includes segregation, economics, class, and race. All of these factors play a role in how a person lives and how they are treated in society. Another factor that influences a person's society is his appearance. Monstrosity can affect a person's entire life, down to where they live and even their class. In the novels Frankenstein, The Monster, and Native Son, there is a relationship between social geography and monstrosity. The characters in the novels were victims of the relationship between monstrosity and social geography. In the novel Frankenstein, the monster was identified for his monstrous appearance. The reason it looked that way was the unnatural way it was created. The monster was created with a mix of stolen body parts and chemicals. One look at the monster would make anyone want to get out of its way. Once the monster came to life it was abandoned by its creator without any direction. He was left to fend for himself and deal with the prejudices people had without knowing his situation. The monster also didn't know how to react to people's reactions which led him to commit crimes. The monster said, “I, the wretched and forsaken, am an abortion, to be despised, kicked, and trampled under foot” (Shelley 19). This outburst of angry self-pity as the monster questions the injustice of how he has been treated convincingly captures his inner life, giving Walton and the reader a glimpse into the suffering that motivated his crimes. As the monster wandered the city he met a family and learned to speak... middle of paper... and monstrosity. They all showed the relationship differently. However, they all had one common theme and that was overcoming discrimination. These stories demonstrate that being different is sometimes a handicap. Oppression by another group of people in their society prevented the previously mentioned characters from enjoying a normal life. None of the things they were criticized for could be changed. All the novels showed how something as small as appearance can play an important role in their life. It can alter their world and the world around them. Work Cited Bann, Stephen. Frankenstein, Creation and Monstrosity. Bronfen, Elizabeth. Rewriting the Family: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" in Its Biological/Textual Context. Diary 1, volume 1. Reaction books. 1994 Howe, Irving. “Black Boys and Native Sons.” http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/howe-blackboys.html