are you French
In ordinary circumstances this would not seem so absurd a question. The
fact that the Creature lacks a national identity, however, throws into
relief how deeply embedded are national prejudices even among the
enlightened. We have already witnessed in the French reaction to Safie's
father (2.6.1) and in his abuse of
Felix's kindness (2.6.4) how
mean-spiritedness is served by national identity. Part of Volney's aim in Les Ruines is to eradicate such
defining ideological concepts. That the Creature is thus born without
them indicates his superiority and, ironically, is a further example of
how he does not fit into normative human society.
