Frankenstein A Hero Essay

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the main character, Victor Frankenstein, may not exactly qualify as a “hero,” but is still a fitting figure for a piece of literary advice. Thomas Foster advises to “never stand next to the hero,” well, in this case, the characters in Frankenstein should, “never stand next to the main character.” The characters in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein play a pivotal role in the life of Victor Frankenstein by shaping the person he is at a young age, giving him reasoning to be concerned with his actions, and by being the reasons he can personally grow and bring about change in himself.

It is notable in Frankenstein that the characters other than Frankenstein and his monster are not fully developed and elaborated on, this

makes them prime tools to help develop Frankenstein himself. Thomas Foster in How to Read Literature Like a Professor gives insight into the relationship between types of characters: “Round characters are what we would call three dimensional, full of traits and strengths and weaknesses and contradictions, capable of change and growth...flat characters not so much. They lack full development” (Foster 84). The main attributes to the development of Frankenstein’s adolescence, Elizabeth, Henry Clerval, and his mother, are prime examples of these flat characters. They are in the story primarily to shape Frankenstein and provide plot action when needed, plot action to be discussed later. Elizabeth is key to developing the nurturing and loving side of young Frankenstein; when his mother gives him “possession” of Elizabeth, he takes it quite literally and feels as if it is his duty to care for and protect her. Henry Clerval, the best friend, is used as any young friendship should be used, to develop the social skills necessary for human companionship, which Frankenstein is able to use later in life with his colleagues and professors. His mother, or more specifically her death, gives Frankenstein his fascination with life, which directly feeds into his fascination with creating life, his goal in developing the creature. Moreover, since these flat characters expired their use at an early part of the novel, they then became susceptible to being expired themselves, thus reinforcing the notion to never stand next to the hero.
Furthermore, because these characters do not have an elaborate backstory, and the audience is not emotionally attached to them and therefore to the book only through them, this makes them very easy to use as pawns for developing a plot.

Before the death of William, Frankenstein was very unconcerned with the actions of his creature. He feared him yes, but his days were not spent agonizing over the creature’s daily habits. Once he realizes, however that the creature he has put life into has taken the life of another, a life he loved so dearly, it spurs him into action. A death needed to occur for Frankenstein to care, and the death of innocent William was simple for Shelley to enact. Her audience was not emotionally devoted to the child, but the relationship between that child and Frankenstein was shown just enough for the audience to feel for Frankenstein and understand why he reacted the way he did. Additionally to using the deaths of characters to make Frankenstein invested, certain actions have to happen to get the story to the point Shelley wants it. Without the death of William, and Justine, Frankenstein never would have been desperate enough to agree to making a companion for the monster; “His power and threats were not omitted in my calculations...I should comply with his request” (Shelley 113). After realizing the capacity for misery this creature could create, Frankenstein is determined to do anything to stop him. Foster’s advice again shows because if William and Justine had never been acquainted with Frankenstein, had never stood next to the hero, their deaths would not have been significant to his story development and would have been

spared.
Thomas Foster also points out that “the most important thing that characters can do is change grow, develop, learn, mature,” and throughout the novel, Frankenstein most certainly does change (Foster 77). He quickly learns the fault in his thinking that he has the right to toy with life when the most prominent people in his life are being killed off one by one. After the death of Henry he exclaims “Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life? Two I have already destroyed; other victims await their destiny,” thus realizing he is the true reason his friends are dead. (Shelley 135). He further changes, or more specifically matures, by the fact that he has gained a sense of responsibility. Once his father dies and he is left with no one else to care for he makes it his life's mission to track down the creature. After failing to muster the resources of the magistrate, he explains to him, “ My rage in unspeakable when I reflect that the murderer, whom I have turned loose upon society, still exists. You refuse my just demand: I have but one resource; and I devote myself, either in my life or death, to his destruction” (Shelley 153). He knows that he has made a life altering mistake when he created this monster, and that it is now his duty to make sure he no longer has the capability to endanger anyone else. The people who stood next to Frankenstein were valuable in bringing about a change in him for the better, but at a heavy price to themselves.
Whether or not Frankenstein is classified as a hero in his story, the characters usage and situations surrounding him still fit the bill of Foster’s “Never Stand Next to the Hero.” They are used to shape him at a young age, give him reasoning to be concerned with his actions, and make him accountable for his actions while personally growing and changing, but it cost them their lives.