The monster’s beginnings are vague, as are the memories of most adults when they recall their childhood. He learns about his bodily sensations and the strange world around him. How the monster leaves Ingolstadt is not described, but the reader can assume it may be due to the monster’s limited sensory abilities during this early period. The monster becomes a vegetarian, living off of the land and the food that he steals from others.
Readers cannot help but be moved by his descriptions of the De Lacey’s family life and the monster’s reaction to them. Shelley takes pains to develop a full account of the creature’s adventures. She describes a pastoral family, living by their own volition, in a plain and simple life. Brother Felix performs outside chores, such as gathering wood for fire, and sister Agatha tends the garden and home. Their father, now blind, is the children’s source of joy and inspiration. Shelley makes us want to know this family in all their rustic charm — the kind of people Romantic writers often wrote about and praised.
