Title: The Comfort of Walls
Author: Barbara Paul
Date of First Publication: 1993
Place of Publication: Frankenstein, The Monster Wakes!
Type: Short Story
Characters: The Creature
Themes: SYMPATHETIC MONSTER; RACE/POLITICS
Critical Summary: Barbara Paul’s short story follows the Creature sometime after he kills William Frankenstein. The Creature takes refuge from a storm inside a cave. When a cloaked traveler stumbles in, the two begin a long conversation. The traveler laments that he is the ugliest man in town and will never marry despite his lavish home. They bet each other that they are uglier; they strike a wager and will settle the argument the next evening at the traveler’s house. However, upon seeing the Creature in full light, he refuses to uphold his end of the bargain. The Creature kills him and lives in his home until he depletes the food stores. He scavenges for food in the nearby town and witnesses a wedding. Intrigued he follows it to the church and watches the wedding from a window. Looking at the happy couple, he comes to the understand that he can never obtain this kind of life. In a rage he crashes the wedding, killing a couple in attendance and ultimately tearing down the church itself. Amidst the rubble he reasons that only one as monstrous as he would ever marry him and the only man capable of creating such a creature is Victor Frankenstein.
The Creature is outsized and rejected even by the ugly traveler, a man already rejected from society. Yet the traveler can collect the simplest of benefits from society such as buying food from town, building a home nearby, and even marrying should anyone want to. The Creature cannot even show his face in town without being attacked. The Creature does not act out of forethought of malice throughout the story; instead, he instinctively acts out of pain. He can think, feel, and dream and all he wants to be accepted and loved.
Administrative Notes: Brian Guthrie, CSUF; Yesenia Rodriguez (editing)