Mary Shelly's Frankenstein - A Victim of Society

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein - A Victim of Society

The creature Victor Frankenstein describes in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is far from a villain, at least in the traditional sense. This creature is a victim of circumstance, scarred by society, and scorned by its own creator. Contrary to the Christian belief in original sin, I sympathize with the monster's view on life when he states: "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend" (Shelly 78). I disagree with the idea that all men are born sinners, I feel that all men are born pure and clean. It is only their future actions that make them imperfect.

A true relationship between the monster and Victor never existed. Victor is similar to a man who fathers a child only for the pleasure of "doing it," ignoring the circumstances it may bring. Victor was so thrilled to see the components of his creation coming together - indeed it was truly a thing of beauty to him. But like the biological father, he is only excited over the thrill of "doing it." After the sensation and pleasure of creation ends responsibility begins and Victor, like our modern day deadbeat dads, refuses to face the consequences of his actions. Any relationship that existed between these two was simply that of usury - except the currency was not gold or silver, but fame and pride. Victor hoped to use his creation in a selfish manner, only to gain recognition for himself.

So what did the creature gain from all of this? He certainly was not the recipient of any pleasure. And as far as exploitation, he never had a chance to exploit his creator, his creator only exploited and abandoned him. The monster is not merely a madman murdering random individuals; he is a creation of war, fightin...

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...reature for his wrongs.

Frankenstein should teach us an important lesson about our own society. We have to be careful not to assume everyone has had the same opportunity as the next man, or to assume a person is nothing more than a misfit because he stumbled into some trouble. When the creature mourns over Victor's dead body, we see he is human like anyone else. He cries, he apologizes, and he breaks down. Like going to jail . . . where a person is broke down and circumstance prompts them to ponder the situation they have fallen into. Most so-called criminals in America are not evil; they are victims of a society, situation, or lack of knowledge that has put them in that position - just like the monster.

Work Cited

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. Edited with an Introduction and notes by Maurice Hindle. Penguin books, 1992