The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel, quite bare, and making a wretched appearance after the palaces I had beheld in the village.
Chapter 11 · The Creature
Context
After entering a village and being attacked by terrified villagers, the Creature flees and hides in a hovel attached to a cottage.
Analysis
The Creature ironically calls the village cottages 'palaces,' a hyperbole that highlights the vast gap between his miserable conditions and even the simplest human dwelling. This exaggeration also positions him as radically excluded from human society—what others take for granted as basic shelter feels impossibly grand to him, underscoring his outsider status in a way that invites the reader's pity.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Shelley uses the Creature's perspective to defamiliarize ordinary human life, making readers see how completely he is shut out from even the most basic forms of social belonging.