The Role Of Mary Shelley's Mistake In Frankenstein

People are quick to claim responsibility for a creation or idea that prospers, but not so much when it comes to one that did not do so well, or gain as much positive recognition. It's in our nature to try to deny or avoid our mistakes so that we do not get blamed and punished for them. In the father-son like relationship between Victor Frankenstein and the monster that he created in Mary Shelly's, Frankenstein, it’s made clear that Victor unsuccessfully tried to avoid his mistake. The monster mistakenly became Victor's worst nightmare because he turned against his creator and several others. Although it was the monster who committed such heinous acts, one cannot put blame on the creature because it was Victor who created the monster. Evaluating

Certain creations have been thought of, but never attempted out of fear of something going wrong. The idea of creating life is forbidden knowledge because it is not possible to know if that life will be good or evil. Creating human life is a divine power that Frankenstein had great interest in. “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn,” (Shelley 46). Frankenstein wanted more than to be educated, he wanted to create. This desire was the start of Frankenstein's mistake (the monster). There is a reason some things are left unknown and unspoken about; they're either dangerous or too sensitive to speak about. Frankenstein crossed all of these boundaries, as if trying to become some divine power himself. There are reasons, such as a dreadful monster being created, that a divine power stays a divine power, and humans do not interfere. In Joanna Kempner’s article “Forbidden Knowledge: Public Controversy and the Production of Nonknowledge” she discusses some repercussions that go along with craving to know the unknown. “This knowledge is considered dangerous because it fails to keep separate the spheres of the sacred and the profane,” (Kempner 478). There needs to be a discernible line between what a human can create and what a higher power can create, for the simple reason that humans are not advanced enough. Humans do not possess enough knowledge to know how that artificially created life will turn out. Having crossed these boundaries, Frankenstein was left in a dangerous situation with the quickly turned evil life he had created. Had Frankenstein not had an interest in possessing the power of creating life, the monster would have never been created or murdered several people. Having manipulated human life without possessing enough knowledge, Victor Frankenstein is the obvious blame for