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They live in a world where everything is black and white and they live in a society of “sameness” where there is no pain and conflict. Everyone’s fate is already decided and nobody is different except for Jonas. He is training to become the giver and this comes along with knowing what it's like to live in a world with color and pain. When he begins sharing this knowledge with his friends, those in power try to get rid of him because they are threatened by him and the power he will have. He is seen as an outcast and a threat because he is different.

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In our collaborative project we discuss the relation between war and monsters. This connects to the argument that humans and their actions have a major impact on how the creatures act.

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In both Frankenstein and The Fifth Child there is the consistent theme of judging someone on their appearance. Both Ben and the creature are not born as monsters, however we see that others exclude them from society and force them to become the monsters that everyone sees them as. Proving to us that the real monsters are humans and their judgmental societies.

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The novels Frankenstein and Baghdad and Beloved are two very complex novels that are both overdetermined, in the fact that there are many factors that contribute to why the "monsters" act the way that they do. While Beloved and the Whatsitsname are seen as monsters because of their actions, they are ultimately the outcome of other people's doing. If Hadi had never put together the war victims bodies and Sethe had never murdered her baby the two "monsters" may not have even existed.

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Sloth is an important character in the movie the Goonies that has a disfigured appearance due to an accident. He is found by the boys and joins them on their journey throughout the movie. However, once they are all home Sloth is arrested because the police see him as a monster once he shows off how strong and destructive he can be. However, Chunk and the other boys know that there is more to him besides his strange appearance and help him out of jail. This relates to the novel Frankenstein where humans automatically assume the creature is trying to harm them just based off of the way he looks.

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Shaun Murphy is an autistic surgeon that gets a job in a new hospital. However, because he is different from everyone else he has a hard time being accepted by his co-workers. This is an example of humans denying acceptance to those who do not fit societal norms. Although Shaun is extremely smart people still alienate him because he is not like them. This relates to Ben in the Fifth Child where he is different from his classmates and family members so he is forced to act out and find people to hangout with.

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In this classic movie, Edward Scissorhands is created by a scientist that dies halfway through his creation. This leaves Edward with a strange appearance and long scissor blades that he has for hands. Although Edward is very kind he is seen as a monster for something that he cannot control. For example, when he is carving an ice sculpture he accidentally cuts Kim's hand. This makes Jim angry and gives him even more of a reason to believe that Edward is a monster. This relates to Frankenstein in Baghdad where the Whatsitsname does not intend to kill the three beggars but they continue to egg him on because of his appearance.

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I wanted to look beyond the stereotypical description of a monster and focus on why these creatures act the way they do and how humans actions affect them. Who is really responsible for the monster's victims?

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Beloved is a very complex novel that involves a baby haunting her family after being murdered by her own mother. The baby is often seen as a monster that haunts Sethe, Paul D, and Denver and continues to terrify them. However, when looking deeper into this novel's significance we see that Beloved helps each character understand themselves better and come to terms with the past that haunts them. When you think of a ghost you automatically think of something evil that wants to harm others. However, I do not see Beloved as a monster, but someone who is helping her loved ones move forward in living a better life. The real monsters of this book is the society that excludes black people and forces them into slavery. Without this issue of discrimination Sethe would not have felt obligated to murder Beloved as a baby so that she would not grow up into slavery. The word "monster" is more than just someone or something's appearance.

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The novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelly we see things from an outsider perspective and the creature's perspective. It is easy to sympathize with the creature since he does not have intentions to cause humans any harm at first. There are multiple occasions where the creature is fascinated by humans and wants to befriend them but they ultimately turn him away because of his appearance. This makes it apparent the humans and society are the real "monsters" of this novel. They are rejecting the creature simply because he does not fit in with societal norms and is different from everyone else. The creature turns against his creator Victor Frankenstein towards the end of the novel and kills innocent people. However, if Victor and other humans had never rejected him and given him the love that he desired, he would have never wanted revenge.

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In Dorris Lessing's "The Fifth Child" the Lovatt family portray themselves as a perfect family for others to admire. However, when Harriet becomes pregnant with her fifth child, Ben, we can see that this is not the case. Although pregnancy difficulties such as kicking and pain are quite normal, Harriet and her husband David immediately have a dislike for Ben when he starts causing trouble. When Ben is born, this hatred continues and at point David even sends him off to his death. While Ben is a major troublemaker and problem child, the entire Lovatt family do not do anything to help Ben get better. Instead, they isolate him and see him as a "monster". Ben does have some questionable actions throughout the novel. However, as the reader I wonder if he was given the extra love and care that he needed from his parents and family, would he still be as monstrous? The other characters in this novel can also be considered monstrous since they do not show any love towards their child or relative and instead treat him like an outsider.

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"He's not human, is he?... No. Well, you saw him, didn't you? How do we know what kinds of people--races, I mean--creatures different from us have lived on this planet? In the past, you know? We don't really know, do we?... I want it said. I want it recognised. I just can't stand it never being said." (Lessing, 105)

Harriet is questioning whether her own child is even human or not simply because he looks and acts different from other children his age. Instead of giving him the extra love and support he needs, she isolates him even further and is a major reason why he starts to act out by joining a gang and doing bad things.

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“Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?” (Shelley 84)

This allows the reader to really think about how complex humans are. In this novel it is shown that humans can be loving and kind and then quickly change to cold-hearted people when it comes to dealing with others that are different. Social Norms force people to believe that anyone who is different must have something wrong with them or be harmful.

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“He was not a pretty baby. He did not look like a baby at all… He opened his eyes and looked straight up into his mother’s face. They were focused greeny-yellow eyes, like lumps of soapstone. She had been waiting to exchange look with the creature…”(Lessing 49)

Instead of having normal maternal instincts, we are shown that Ben is excluded from his family from the start. This has a major influence on why Ben starts acting out. The actions and rejection of his peers forces Ben to turn into the monster that everyone sees him as.

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“She moved closer with a footfall he didn’t hear and he didn’t hear the whisper that the flakes of rust made either as they fell away from the seams of his tobacco tin. So when the lid gave he didn’t know it” (Morrison 144)

Beloved breaks the misconception that she is a monster by forcing Paul D to come to term with his past. She is helping her loved ones move forward to a happier life.

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'"I stopped him," she said, staring at the place where the fence used to be. "I took and put my babies where they'd be safe."' (Morrison, 193)

The monstrous acts of the schoolteacher forcing people into slavery left Sethe with no other option but to kill her baby. Although Beloved is portrayed as a monster, the humans unwelcoming society is more monstrous than any creature.

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“This then was my reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, and as a recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone. The feelings of kindness and gentleness, which I had entertained but a few moments before, gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth. Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind. But the agony of my wound overcame me; my pulses paused, and I fainted” (Shelley 101).

Even after the creature goes out of his way to save the young girl, her father is still unwilling to show respect to the creature. Instead he threatens him because he believes that he is a monster based off of his appearance.

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"With the help of God and of heaven, I will take revenge on all the criminals. I will finally bring about justice on earth, and there will no longer be a need to wait in agony for justice to come, in heaven or after death." (Saadawi, 143)

This passage is an example of the Whatsitsname justifying his actions. Although we not believe that this is a good enough reason to kill people, it shows that this creature does not have monstrous traits and believes he is doing what is right.

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"He said he tried to avoid them but they were aggressive and charged toward him to kill him. His horrible face was an incentive for them to attack him. They didn't know anything about him, but they were driven by that latent hatred that can suddenly come to the surface when people meet someone who doesn't fit in." (Saadawi, 130)

This supports the idea that people are quick to judge based on appearance. The beggars attacked the Whatsitsname because they did not like the way he liked even though he had no intention to harm them.

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In Ahmed Saadawi's "Frankenstein in Baghdad" the reader is given the human's points of view and the creature's p.o.v. This allows us to make our own interpretation and opinions on who the real "monster" is in this novel. While the Whatsitsname murders many people, he aways seems to justify why he killed them. We know that murder is not ok. However, if the humans had not started a war, the Whatsitsname ultimately would not have a reason to seek vengeance on all the people that have done something wrong. Another fact to consider is that Hadi is the person who created the monster and let him into the world. Although he did not have ill intentions, his rash decisions led to the murdering of many people. While Whatsitsname is still considered a monster, this shows that humans are not completely innocent either and are just as monstrous as other creatures.

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A monster is defined as an imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening, that deviates from "normal" or acceptable behavior or character. However, in literary texts such as Frankenstein in Baghdad, Beloved, Frankenstein, and The Fifth Child prove that the monster is not always the individual that not fit in with the society. Instead we are shown that the "normal" people in a society can also be monstrous.