How does Frankenstein's retrospective narrative of chapters 1-5 attempt to situate blame for his actions elsewhere, and how far are we convinced by his "excuses"?(Frankenstein, Mary Shelley)

<Tab/>Shelley chose to allow Frankenstein to narrate his own tale for several reasons. For example, a direct effect of this first person narrative is that it lets the reader into the inner thoughts of the main protagonist. This allows us to pass judgement on the choices he makes, the explanations he gives for them and the general way in which he considers his actions and comes to justify them. However, …

…and Frankenstein's narrative should make him more capable of expressing his side of the story and gaining our compassion. However, his frankness and ignorance of our moral opinion and judgement (possibly due to his prolonged isolation) subtly reveals aspects of his character that Mary Shelley cleverly incorporates into his speech that we dislike. The two forces of Frankenstein's narrative and Shelley's telling clues of his character intertwining together make it all the more difficult to