Frankenstein: Like Father Like Son

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In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” Dr. Victor Frankenstein has a fascination with life and death, particularly life, and through his scientific studies he decides to attempt to build a body and restore the lifeless body to animation. He succeeds in this, but once he restores the body to animation he looks in the eyes of his creation and immediately deems the creature a monster. He even, after only a few moments of animation, calls the creature a wretch. He then runs away, and when he returns his creation is nowhere to be found. Many other events occur where the creature comes in contact with humans and they deem him a monster as well. One even goes so far as shooting the creature after the creature has just saved the life of this man’s child. Even though everyone deems the creature to be a monster we find through close examination that, “like father like son,” this monster is no more a monster than the one who creates him.

When we compare the two we find that they are more alike than they realize. For example, we see that they are similar in the sense that they both start out with good intentions. Stephen Jay Gould states “He is born capable of goodness, even with an inclination toward kindness, should circumstances of his upbringing call forth this inclination.” (Gould 4) The “monster” only wants to be loved by humans and live among them without fear of persecution. As George V. Griffith states it, the Monster, is “Childlike in his innocence, the monster wants only to be loved, but he gets love from neither his ‘father’ nor from any other in the human community.” (Griffith 1). He loves humans and wants to show his love and compassion for them in hopes that they will accept him. He first shows his love to a family that lives in a ...

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...hed that the monster’s malice is due to others mistreating him, so Victor’s argument seems merely an excuse to abandon his work.” (Thripp)

From this source we see that this was indeed victor’s turning point to complete malice toward the monster.

After close examination of the book and through the help of fellow critics we come to the conclusion that “like father like son” Dr. Frankenstein is indeed just as much a monster as the monster he created.

Works Cited

Gould, Stephen Jay. "The monster's human nature." Natural History Magazine (1994): 6.

Griffith, George V. An overview of Frankenstein. Critical Essay. Detroit: Literature Resource Center, 2011.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Bantam, 1981.

Thripp, Richard. Victor Frankenstein: Trodden Hero or Veiled Villian? 20 Febuary 2008. 17 July 2011 .

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