Comparing Frankenstein And The Creature By Mary Shelley

In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein and The Creature have a long and tragic history, as creator and creation. Similar to this relationship, is the relationship between God and the fallen angel Lucifer who attempted to claim Heaven’s throne. In comparing both Victor and The Creature on the outside, there is little doubt that Victor would be similar to God and The Creature to Lucifer because of their creator and creation relationship. However, a closer analysis would show a great irony with the common associations of Victor to God and The Creature to Lucifer, as the inner personalities of the two simply do not match the relationship that God and Lucifer have. Ironically, Victor, the creator, has more in common with Lucifer,

God’s creation, and the Creature, the creation, has more in common with God, the creator.
The Creature believes himself to have fallen to evil and to have become a malignant devil like Lucifer, but The Creature could not be more wrong.

The Creature’s situation is closer to that of God than of Lucifer; comparing himself to something so sinful exemplifies his regret for his actions, something Lucifer never did. The Creature’s thoughts on page 213, when he compares himself to Lucifer, demonstrates that although the Creature truly believes himself to be evil, he shows a regret that the fallen angel Lucifer never demonstrates. Despite being a creation, the Creature’s situation follows that of God’s own history. Similar to God, there is no equal for the Creature, no being to match him in any way “But… the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone” (pg 213). The Creature chooses to help the weaker and lesser beings around him, such as collecting firewood for DeLacey, Agatha, and Felix and helping the drowning girl, but each and every time the Creature provides aid, he is scorned, chased, and attacked due to his appearance, which is paralleled by how people believe God constantly helps humans but despite

his help he is still scorned by atheists, other religions, and even some Christians and Jews. The Creature recognizes his own evil due to the innocent deaths he has caused, but just as God smited those associated with Lucifer and how sin cannot exist without the devil, the Creature killed those related to Victor, for the dreadful circumstances about the Creature’s creation. Mary Shelley was raised in an atheistic house, and married an atheistic man, needless to say, atheism has had a profound impact in Mary Shelley’s life; upon first inspection her inclusion of God and his parallel to the Creature in her novel does not match her upbringing. However, by further analysis, the Creature’s actions demonstrate Mary Shelley’s atheistic upbringing clearly, as the Creature’s choice to murder William Frankenstein was a choice that was crafted from rage. Simply hearing that William was related to Frankenstein caused the Creature to abandon his objective of raising the boy to become his friend and switch to trying to kill the boy for having an association with Victor. The Creature’s choices reflects Mary Shelley’s opinions of God’s actions during the flood, as God flooded the world to clear away the traces of Lucifer in humans, abandoning all hope of redemption for humans and smiting them for associating with the enemy. Mary Shelley’s portrayal of the Creature’s tragic path is of the characteristic of divinity, not evil, but the atheistic influence of Mary Shelley drove the Creature’s divinity to evil. Mary Shelley’s logic follows that if God is real and His flood be true then he would be a greater demon that Lucifer, for smiting those that simply associate with the enemy. The Creature, although fitted to match Mary Shelley’s version of a wicked God, does not match the situation of the fallen angel Lucifer, despite the similarities of their births. While the Creature’s existence does not entirely match the history of God, he does follow Mary Shelley’s atheistic perspective of God; there is an undeniably connection between the Creature and God in Frankenstein. That connection builds understanding of Mary Shelley’s outlook on Christianity and God, but does not provide any evidence towards the correctness of the Creature’s comparison to Lucifer.
Similar to the Creature’s parallel, Victor does not perfectly parallel Lucifer.

However, through his disruption of natural laws and repeated acts of defiance against nature, an undeniably connection links Victor and Lucifer together. Lucifer’s tragic flaw, just like Victor, was hubris. Lucifer desired a greater and higher throne than even God as Lucifer said himself, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:12-14). However, Lucifer’s defiance ended in failure; Lucifer was banished from God’s garden for his sins and left to suffer. Victor’s experiment defied God’s natural laws, and he was punished accordingly by the very Creature Victor defied the natural laws to create. Victor dreamed of reaching power over nature that only God himself controls, and just “like the archangel [Lucifer] who aspired to omnipotence, [Victor became] chained in an eternal hell” (p. 203). Victor understands the sin he has committed and is permanently condemned for his sins, as quoted by he, "I did confess, but I confessed a lie. I confessed, that I might obtain absolution; but now that falsehood lies heavier at my heart than all my other sins. The God of heaven forgive me! Ever since I was condemned, my confessor has besieged me; he threatened and menaced, until I almost began to think that I was the monster

that he said I was” (pg 84). Victor begs for absolution of the sins he has committed, and just as the fallen angel’s request for forgiveness goes unheeded, Victor is denied redemption for his crimes against God; Victor’s despair and act of remorse very much mimics the actions taken by the fallen angel’s punishment in the book of enoch, as “[Lucifer] will have neither rest nor mercy, nor the granting of any petitions, because of the wrong which [he has] taught, and because of all the works of blasphemy and wrong and sin which [he has] shown to the sons of men” (Enoch 13.2). Victor’s plight against nature bears a grand resemblance to Lucifer’s fight against God, for even the messages found in the punishments of Victor and Lucifer hold the same contents: those against God shall be severely punished. Innumerous pieces of evidence can be found that relates Victor to Lucifer, and the Creature to God, and this evidence clarifies that Lucifer’s comparison to Victor has a connection of greater coherence, than to that of the Creature. Thus, despite the obvious difference of creator and creation, the connection between Victor and Lucifer can be supported with substantial evidence that the Creature’s parallel to Lucifer simply does not contain.
Victor Frankenstein paralleling the greatest creation, and the Creature paralleling the greatest creator, a greater example of irony would be difficult. Due to his appearance and acts of hatred against Victor, the Creature claims that he must surely resemble the fallen angel Lucifer, but the Creature’s actions against Victor held a greater correlation to God’s actions. In fact, Victor’s acts significantly resembles Lucifer’s actions, as his deeds against God’s natural realm were of the very same nature as the fallen angel himself. Thus, although the Creature’s malignity during his revenge against Victor do not match the conventional version of God that many people know Him by, Mary Shelley’s atheistic influence allows such a possible version of God to exist. In fact, one of Mary Shelley’s main messages in Frankenstein demonstrates displeasure with God’s harsh punishments for associating with the enemy, which is exemplified by the Creature’s murder of a sweet innocent child and a helpless sleeping woman. Mary Shelley portrays the Creature as someone who gives into their rage and hatred when something associates with Victor, which very much resembles an atheistic viewpoint of God and Lucifer. So by representing God as the Creature, Mary Shelley is able to drag down God’s divine aspect to show how his actions are influenced by human emotions through presenting him as a human-like being. Shelley’s parallel of Lucifer as Victor, and God as the Creature, demonstrates a unique, new perspective on the Christian God from the viewpoint of an atheist. The irony in analysis of parallels in Frankenstein is found in the fact that Victor, a great creator, parallels Lucifer, the greatest creation, while the Creature, a great creation, parallels God, the greatest creator.