Personal Blame

Whenever something goes wrong there is a reason for it. More often than not this comes around to the fault of a human being, and in cases where it can be hard to determine that culprit usually did the action unintentionally. Just because that person did not purposefully commit a discretion does not mean that it was not their fault. Somewhere along the road before deciding on the wrong choice the culprit could have looked over something or made a smaller wrong decision which over time escalated into a major problem. Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, reveals how everyone must take full liability for their actions, even if the results of those actions were indirect or unintentional; without this responsibility, side effects of actions would cause widespread harm.

Despite the rash actions that Victor takes, he ultimately does assume complete responsibility for the creature that he brought into being. After the monster murders William, Justine is then tried for the murder. Victor accepts that it was his fault even though he was not the one that actually murdered him: "But I, the true murderer, felt the never-dying worm alive in my bosom, which allowed of no hope or consolation" (74). Victor felt as if he had actually murdered both children because he had created the murderer. Even though in the end Justine took the official blame, Victor seized the responsibility so he took steps towards catching the monster and stopping him from killing anyone else. If he was not concerned with it being his fault one way or another he would not have continued to try to put the monster to rest. Later on, while Victor is creating a companion for the monster, he realizes the implications of a second creation: "Had I right, for my own benefit, t...

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...lieves that he should die. This greatly benefits society because the monster very well could have an urge to kill again for whatever reason. By answering to his evil he can prevent himself from causing any more in the future.

People (or monsters) feel the need to be responsible for various reasons such as guilt or justice. No matter the source of it responsibility always will act as a correcting force for all of the negative impacts of actions that happen in our society. It allows consequences to be adjusted to acceptable levels and can sometimes even make the situation better than it started because of people feeling more responsible than they actually are. Without this irrational feeling that causes people to look out for others in place of themselves our society could not function as highly as it does now and social interaction would cease to work in a fair way.