Society has an obsession with physical beauty. We are bombarded with messages telling us to lose weight, get in shape and pamper ourselves with hundreds of products that will make us “look good”. And all this because we have convinced ourselves that “beautiful people” have all the advantages. This perception has become prevalent to the point that it affects how we react to each other. People react much more positively when dealing with an attractive person. Conversely, someone deemed physically unattractive is immediately judged to be less worthy. By examining the reactions of other characters to the physical characteristics of Frankenstein's creature and Gregor Samsa, we can argue that both Mary Shelley in Frankenstein and Franz Kafka in The Metamorphosis intend to demonstrate that society bases its perception of beings on their external appearance. to be considered a “monster” are quite broad, but are based entirely on the company's evaluation. Things perceived as monsters represent our fears and insecurities and are often judged as monsters based on these. The first criterion, however, is always our first impression of what something looks like. We jump to conclusions without evaluating the nature of the creature. The problems faced by both Gregor Samsa and Frankenstein's creature all stem from the way people react to their appearance. Despite their attempts to adapt to society, they could not overcome the prejudices they faced due to their outward appearance. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein centers on the consequences of a bizarre experiment by one Victor Frankenstein in which he attempts to impart animation to a lifeless corpse. . Unfortunately for him the experiment is a success, and he flees...... middle of paper......mation. The doctor had been working on this labor of love for years before, but had never seen it live before the experiment came to fruition. It is clear, however, that if the Samsas had not had that experience they would have abandoned their son as quickly as Dr. Frankenstein did. Both Dr. Frankenstein and the Samsas reacted unpleasantly to their children's forms only because society had taught them what the norm is. why a human being was and what they should be afraid of. If the stereotype hadn't existed, they would have continued to love their children unconditionally. But because society feels the need to judge things by their appearance, both of these nightmares have occurred. Both Shelly and Kafka show us perfect examples of this unfortunate state of affairs. Because of this, many “beautiful people” were forced to suffer at the hands of not-so-beautiful people.