Despite seeming incompatible at first sight, pain and humor often go together in fiction writing, creating realistic plots in which the entire palette of human emotions finds use. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is among numerous works that demonstrate the co-existence of the ridiculous and the painful, thus conveying a deep meaning. In the novel, suffering and humor interact as mutually reinforcing themes, making the work’s broader meaning related to encouraging compassion and moral excellence.
In Mary Shelley’s seminal work, humor and the monster’s suffering that permeates the plot reinforce each other. Satirical humor helps the author to illustrate the pain of facing rejection and the ugliness of mistreating others based on something they cannot control. The brightest example of this interaction is seen in the monster’s initial encounters with the public, revealing the latter’s inability to treat him with basic respect because of his looks. By developing the theme of humans’ first impressions of the monster and reactions to his appearance, Shelley contextualizes suffering caused by rejection while also ridiculing society’s shallowness and lookism. Aside from mocking society’s worst aspects, the suffering caused by physical limitations creates the basis for the monster’s developing sense of humor, enabling him to comprehend the ridiculousness of some sad situations. Specifically, as he learns to imitate birds’ chirping and express feelings verbally, the monster recognizes the inadequacy of his physical abilities. However, he can still turn it into a sad joke by understanding that his own sounds scare him to death. Thus, the hidden humor of the monster’s unsuccessful interactions and learning is inseparable from his tremendous suffering.
To continue, by showing how undeserved suffering launches a chain of pain, the author creates hidden irony when it comes to Victor’s fate. Victor’s monster is unaware of his senses and struggles with comprehending things, thus suffering as a result of Victor’s carelessness as a researcher. Victor’s own anguish when the monster kills his family might be a kind of repayment for proceeding with his crazy scientific project and causing the innocent creature to suffer. Ironically, the protagonist’s absorption with his chief goal turns out to consume everything he has. Victor does everything to master the art of creating life, but his seemingly successful project eventually brings suffering and even death to his family. The irony of hoping to bring life but getting pain and death instead could be the most striking example of the interaction between the two themes.
The interactions discussed above produce various effects on the novel’s overall meaning, making it tied to compassion and moral lessons. First, the combination of humor and suffering that satirizes lookism’s absurdity turns Frankenstein into a novel about the unfulfilled desire for acceptance and the injustice of causing pain to people who are different. Second, the inter-thematic interactions that enable the monster to laugh at his suffering make learning to cope with tremendous pain a part of the meaning. Third, the ironic incompatibility between Victor’s intentions and his project’s outcomes makes the novel’s key meaning incorporate moral lessons focused on bearing responsibility for one’s actions. The work teaches the audience to be extremely careful with one’s desires and avoid fulfilling them at the expense of another being’s suffering.
In conclusion, the two themes in question actively interact, thus enriching Frankenstein’s general meaning with valuable lessons for humanity and those obsessed with endeavors that involve causing any suffering to achieve success. The novel’s dark humor is built on the moral and physical suffering of the characters. It brilliantly demonstrates how causing pain results in receiving greater pain, which helps in creating a message to promote rightfulness.