Frankenstein - Movie Vs Novel

...

another. Although there are many themes, the one that is more eye-oppening to me is “Do not judge one by its looks, the beauty comes from within”. The movie is better, in regards to theme, because of the theme’s apparition. In the novel, you don’t get a grasp of the theme until the creature is alone with Frankenstein. He explains to Victor that he is aware that “they would be disgusted, until, by his gentle demeanour and conciliating words, he should first win their favour and afterwerwards, their love. “ (104) Meaning he strongly believes that if he does enough good deeds, his appearance will not matter, therefore he will be respected by the family he is speaking of and he will be treated equally by them. In the film, you get a grasp of the theme from the moment Victor wakes up to the creature’s face and yells with disgust. The creature, then, scurries out into the town, hiding his face from everyone, until his hood falls and his face is revealed to the town. They, suddenly, start beating him and calling him “monster” and “ugly”. Later on, he is asked by a blind old man that he met in the forest why he has not friends. The creature, then, replies “Because my friends are beautiful, and I am ugly.”, obviously meaning appearance-wise, because no person with a beautiful soul would beat someone because they are just simply physically unappealing. But the old man believes the creature is beautiful, yet he is blind. I believe the screen version is better than its novel because it is more implicit. In the book, “gentle demeanor and conciliating words” (104) isn’t too clear, and neither is his physical appearance. Although, in the movie, he is portrayed as physically unattractive and the movie contains a scene of the creature putting himself to work to help the family by pulling out their vegetables from the cold solid ground because they are too weak to do so and they are poor therefore do not have much to eat, but they do not know he is doing this act of kindness. The theme is, therefore, better portrayed in the screen version than the novel.

In short, although the book and movie of Frankenstein tell the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the movie is far more compelling than the novel. The characterization is better portrayed in the movie because it shows more signs of Victor’s ambition, the plot line is better portrayed as well in the screen play because it is more dramatic, and the theme is better portrayed in the film, as well, because it is more implied in the movie than novel. Based on these three points, I rate the movie 5/5 stars and the novel 3/5 stars. I strongly recomend to skip reading the book, because it is boring and reading the book before will only lead to confusion.

...