Monsters are usually spotted because of their physical appearances. The physical traits that monsters have is what separates them from everyone else. Although a monster may not look like a human or fit into the “normal” category, it does still exists. A monster still has the ability to think and have its own mentality. One of the things that the monster was in the process of doing was learning. The monster was watching others, gaining experiences, and teaching himself.
To begin with, a chapter that stuck out to me the most was chapter eleven. In chapter eleven, the monster highlights “One day, when I was oppressed by cold, I found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth I experienced from it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain. How strange, I thought, that the same cause should produce such opposite effects! I examined the materials of the fire, and to my joy found it to be composed of wood. I quickly collected some branches, but they were wet and would not burn. I was pained at this and sat still watching the operation of the fire”. The author uses symbolism to identify the monsters confusion. The symbol that was used in this case was the fire. The fire revealed to the monster a little glimpse of how life works.
For someone who doesn’t know a lot about the human world, the operation of things and how humans think are bound to be confusing. The fire symbolized a teaching tool for the monster. It taught the monster that the same way something can be beneficial to you, is the same way it can hurt you. In one way, the fire was a way to keep him warm. The fire was at first helpful to him. As he got closer to the fire, it was hot. Anyone on Earth with some type of knowledge would know that if you play with fire, the outcome is getting burned. The monster was never taught that and was unaware of things like this causing the monster to make lots of assumptions. He assumed that since the fire helped him one way it wasn’t likely for him to get hurt. The pain he endured from the fire burn was a shocker to him.
Similar to the example used in class about a child. What are some ways a person can identify a baby? A baby wears diapers, a baby uses a bottle, a baby is in a stroller, or with an adult. So seeing a ten year old with a bottle in its mouth would cause someone like the monster to think this is a baby. The ten year old is not a baby and having the bottle doesn’t make someone a baby.
Lastly, we as humans often assume lots of things based off of what we see, same as the monster. He viewed the family he had run into as a happy family not knowing that they were suffering. He couldn’t understand how people who carry themselves as they did could be dealing with poverty and misfortune. People can have every materialistic item, lots of money, a mansion, and still be unhappy. But outsiders would always question “how could they be so unhappy with millions?” That is the thrill about life there are lots of hidden agendas.