Is Victor or his creature most deserving of sympathy?

The theme of sympathy is used throughout the novel ‘Frankenstein’. Mary Shelley has used it in order for us as the reader to feel sorrow for both Victor Frankenstein and the monster. A reason why Mary Shelley used sympathy repeatedly could be connected to the fact that she had such a tough life, she had been surrounded by death and sadness; her mum died giving birth to her, 3 of her 4 children died, her half sister committed suicide and her sons first wife drowned herself. This pain and suffering that she has gone through her whole life is very similar to what Victor Frankenstein went through, and Shelley could have related parts of it about her. This is seen when she emphasizes the pain Victor feels for Elizabeth and William, when they are murdered by the monster.

When the monster first comes to life, Frankenstein says “but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and the breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” this is the first point, where the reader sympathise for the monster because his creator, his “father” detests him, and neglects him, he receives no instruction or assistance at helping himself blend into a normal society. Later on in chapter 5, Victor meets up with his old friend Henry Clerval for the first time in ages, Henry comments on his health saying “I did not before remark how very ill you appear so thin and pale; and look as if you had been watching several nights” this makes us feel sympathy for Frankenstein because he is a mess and even if he does manage to just forget about the monster he will never be rid of it. We know Victor wants to go back to his family and pretend that none of this happened but sadly since he has created the problem, he has to now fix it.

In chapter 10, the monster has found Victor, in the mountains of Montanvert and he takes him to a