Artifact 1 Rough Draft
Chapter 4, Page 4
“I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers—their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions: but
how was I terrified, when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe
that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in
reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and
mortification. Alas! I did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity.”
Songs:
“Part of Your World”
Jodi Benson. "Part of Your World." Walt Disney Records, 2006. Apple
Music, https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-little-mermaid-an-original-walt-disney/1440661291
“Go the Distance”
Roger Bart. “Go the Distance.” Walt Disney Records, 1997. Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/us/album/hercules-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1412858854
“Monster”
Imagine Dragons. “Monster.” KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records, 2015. Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/us/album/smoke-mirrors-deluxe/1440831203
“Cool Kids”
Echosmith. “Cool Kids.” Warner Records Inc., 2014 Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/gb/album/cool-kids-single/944743929
“Losing Hope”
Keven Williams. “Losing Hope.” Keven Williams, 2021 Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/au/album/losing-hope-single/1585760506
Book:
https://ia903405.us.archive.org/9/items/ghostseer01schiuoft/ghostseer01schiuoft.pdf
Cover Art Image:
Artist’s Statement
Throughout this Artifact I have chosen songs to represent the monster’s duality in this scene as well as
the development. The songs represent the monster’s perspectives on himself and the world around him.
Metaphorically, humans can see themselves as monsters and creative artists can embody those
sentiments into a piece of music. The monster here, however, literally is by definition a monster and
relates to some of these songs on another level. Each of these songs was written regarding humanity,
not monsters, and yet, each of these songs can relatively represent the monster. Therefore, we can
relate to the monster as he experiences normal feelings of loneliness and a desire to belong. The
playlist’s title “Outside Looking In” embodies this perfectly. Through careful consideration of the
monster’s disposition in regard to his physical appearance and thus how people see him, I have selected
songs that best embody the development of those thoughts specifically here in this scene and
throughout the novel.
“Part of Your World”
The monster begins by describing his admiration for the cottage-dwellers. He fancies their “grace and
beauty and delicate complexions…” to the point of longing to know more about them. “Part of Your
World” also describes someone admiring another’s world and therefore presenting that same longing to
know more. Ariel, the mermaid trapped in her underwater realm, collects human trinkets, and analyzes
them with the same admiration the monster analyzes his humans. In verse one of the song, Ariel
describes how she wants to “be where the people are” and she wants to see them dancing. Outside of
this scene, the monster conveys his desire to be accepted by human society and to be “a part of [their]
world” as Ariel put it in the Disney song. Ever since the monster’s conception, his creator has abandoned
him and his left him on his own. Frankenstein literally fled as the monster “seemingly tried to detain
[him]…” (pg. 44). Although Ariel was not abandoned by anyone – the dynamic is a little different given
the human portrayal of a father figure in her life – she falls in love with a human man. She feels
alienated from him given the literal change in element between their lives. And yet, both feelings, both
emotions are powerful enough to bring misery upon Ariel and the monster.
“Cool Kids”
The context, and dynamic could not be more different than this song and this scene. “Cool Kids”
describes high school teenagers and their high school problems. It tells of the subtle observations
“uncool” kids make upon their popular peers. The monster, rather, is not a highschooler, nor a teenager.
He does not observe cool kids, but rather poor cottage-dwellers struggling to make ends meet. Both
situations, however, are more focused on the what rather than the who and where. It is the subtle
observations from a distance that link the “uncool” kids and the monster. Here in this scene the monster
clearly conveys his admiration for them; in earlier scenes, however, he expresses subtle and unsure
observations, such as when he first entered the house and first encountered the cottage, the food, and
the old man (pg. 89). Both songs depict the observed parties as unaware and oblivious to the observer’s
observations. The song in verse 2 describes the observed as “living the good life, can’t see what he is
going through.” The monster also tells Frankenstein how the cottage dwellers are unaware of his
presence until he helps them accomplish an everyday chore, in which case they were astonished and
grateful (pg. 98). It is easy the observers to fall into the background as the observed are completely
oblivious to their surroundings; the observed are busy being cool or busy trying to find food to survive,
but nonetheless busy. Busyness in our lives can push people aside and cast feelings of unimportance
onto them. The monster consistently experiences that “casting of unimportant feelings” onto him along
with feelings of fear and hatred. His own creator has left him alone, abandoned, and uncool.
“Go the Distance”
Go the distance gives the perspective of another kind of monster: a god. Hercules – the god – is too
strong, too powerful, to freaky to belong to humans. Although he looks human, his powers excel far
beyond any human capacity, and he is therefore shunned. The monster is not nearly as powerful, but he
does have to advantageous qualities that, as a being, make him physically superior. More importantly
though is the – again – the desire to belong. In the first verse, the song describes a hero who wants the
crowds to cheer, when they see his face. When they see his face. In this scene, the tipping point for the
monster’s dismayed disposition is his hideous face (and body). Victor clearly and vividly describes the
monsters physical facial qualities, using supposedly normal features to characterize the monster as
unattractiveness. To overcome this physical hideousness, both Hercules and the monster make
conscious efforts to show others who they truly are. The song mentions “going the distance” which,
although in the movie is a literal distanced traveled, really represents the metaphorical distance of
putting in the work to be a better being. The monster also embodies this same spirit as he observes the
cottage dwellers: he notices their mannerism, learns their language, and aids their needs (from a
distance). Both central characters believe that if they work hard enough, they can be accepted.
“Losing Hope”
The very end of this specific scene ends with the monster’s acknowledgement that in this point of his life
– in this point of is interactions with humanity – he still was unaware, oblivious, and naïve to the extent
of the aggressive rejections he would face because of his physical differences. He clearly states in the
last line that he “did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this physical deformity.” “Losing Hope”
embodies that struggle to cling to that last bit of hope. In the first verse, Williams begs: “Love me this
way, I ain’t the same” and “look at my face, tell me it’s fate.” This is a clear and direct connection to the
physical self-consciousness the monster expresses as he peers into the water. At this point, the monster
becomes “fully convinced” he is a monster due to his physical appearance and yet he still attempts to
reach out to the cottage dwellers. One must commend the monster for attempting to reach out to the
cottage-dwellers and consider means by which he introduces himself. Clearly, he was very intentional in
mitigating the effects his physical deformity would have on humans and yet, it all fell apart, ripping away
the last bit of naivety and hope he still held as he stared back at his reflection.
“Monster”
Probably the most direct, obvious, and potentially cliché song reflection of this scene is this song:
Monster by Imagine Dragons. If one pays close attention to the lyrics and places the monster in the
singer’s shoes, the lyrics perfectly represent the monster’s developing sentiments. He states that when
he “became convinced that [he] was in reality the monster… [he] became filled with the bitterest
feelings of despondence and mortification” (pg. 97). This is a conscious and deliberate thought forged by
the many interactions the monster has already encountered with human beings that have rejected him.
The song lyrics perfectly embody this, telling the deep desires of simply belonging. In the first verse, the
singer states: “Ever since I could remember, everything inside of me just wanted to fit in” and “If I told
you what I was, would you turn your back on me?” One can picture this as the monster speaking to
humans, both to Frankenstein – his creator – and the specially here, the cottage dwellers. The singer
finally projects in the chorus “a monster, a monster, I’ve turned into a monster,” which perfectly aligns
with the recent realization of Frankenstein’s monster. Of all the songs, this one embodies the specific
moment – the crux – of the monster’s realization that although he admires their grace and beauty and
intricacies and language and plights, he will never dwell among them because physically looks different.
Works Cited
Echosmith. “Cool Kids.” Warner Records Inc., 2014 Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/gb/album/cool-kids-single/944743929
Imagine Dragons. “Monster.” KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records, 2015. Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/us/album/smoke-mirrors-deluxe/1440831203
Jodi Benson. "Part of Your World." Walt Disney Records, 2006. Apple
Music, https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-little-mermaid-an-original-waltdisney/1440661291
Keven Williams. “Losing Hope.” Keven Williams, 2021 Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/au/album/losing-hope-single/1585760506
Roger Bart. “Go the Distance.” Walt Disney Records, 1997. Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/us/album/hercules-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1412858854
Shelley, Mary W. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus Colburn and Bentley, 1831. us.archive.org
https://ia903405.us.archive.org/9/items/ghostseer01schiuoft/ghostseer01schiuoft.pdf