Selflessness In Frankenstein Essay

True selflessness of character is something very infrequently possessed by people. It is a survival instinct and a part of human nature to make decisions that fit one's individual needs, rather than those of another. That being said, through the development of cultured and civilized society, it has become an assumption that with moving away from living in the wild, people will develop an altruistic sense of others' needs. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein showed himself many times not only to be incapable of forward thinking, but also to not possess this ideal of responsibility to help others through his lack of guidance for his creation. The doctor could have helped his creature to acclimate to society by nurturing and teaching him at the time of his birth, publishing and spreading word of his findings, and escorting the monster around with him. Despite however hideous the monster was, it was Victor's duty to take responsibility for his creation, and doing so would have changed the outcome of the story drastically more in Victor's favor than anyone.

Through years of figuring out and getting used to, people accept the world they live in as the norm. This acceptance, though, is pushed and aided by tips and encouragement from parents or guiding figures. To wake up in a world and immediately be abandoned would be the pinnacle of confusion. Over anything, people crave human attention and company, simply because there are lessons to be learned from others. To be deserted from birth would not only weigh emotionally on someone, but also leave him or her to navigate and discover what is in actuality a strange and unruly world. In this way, Dr. Frankenstein's immediate desertion of his creation is the gravest ...

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...wisted the knife deeper into the monster's emotional wound, and drove him to commit the horrors he eventually did.

Finally, the doctor incited his own downfall by not assuming any sort of custody over his monster. Through this, he would have been able to escort the creature and alert people not to be aroused. Again, this would have nurtured not only a sense of belonging in the monster's mind, but also allow him to be taught of the world and its workings. Instead, the monster questions his existence, and asks, "Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish he spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?" (Pg. 110) By escorting his creation places, Frankenstein would have assumed full responsibility over the monster, and created the closest possible thing to a real family dynamic that has been proven to allow people to properly mature.