Frankenstein (Blog 6)
By: Mary Shelley

In chapter 13, the creature explains how he continued to observe the cottage family in secrecy.  The De Lacey's have an interesting family background, which the creature learns when a young Arabian woman named Safie shows up at the cottage.  Safie doesn't speak the same language as the De Lacey's.  This was a comforting fact to the creature; they are both "foreigners" and different than the others.  The De Lacey's are teaching Safie how to speak their language.  This is beneficial for the creature because he watches and learns along with Safie.  Felix reads Volney's Ruins of Empires to Safie, and the creature listens with much awe and curiosity.  "Through this work I obtained a cursory knowledge of history and a view of the several empires at present existing in the world; it gave me an insight into the manners, governments, and religions of the different nations of the earth" (Shelley, 84).  This is an example of an allusion.  This allusion is significant because it gives the creature a sense of hope.  He learns about the violent histories of cultures and their eventual downfalls.  The creature feels better hearing this because he feels like he can relate to the evil within these people.  "Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?" (Shelley, 84).  The creature begins to think that his "evil" side is natural for all humans, and it helps him feel as less of an outsider.