The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

You should have made mention of the circumstances under which the novel was written (namely the bisexual orgy/drug party at Lake Geneva).



I've always read the novel from a psychological perspective with very Freudian undercurrents. The monster is in the interesting position of having an adult body and a child's mind. This eliminates our previous dispositions toward children, and helps us analyze the character with less bias. This is important because the monster on the chopping block is essentially humanity. It espouses the belief that humans are essentially good, with their circumstances and experiences leading them to commit horrific acts. We watch the monster develop, shunned by his father and isolated from others. He is very much the typical profile for a serial killer. The monster is meant to arouse both pity and contempt, and your ultimate condemnation of him reveals quite a lot about your disposition toward human nature. The model is not perfect of course, but I’ve found it to be quite the useful tool when trying to examine the culpability of others for their own actions.