Social Responsibility In Frankenstein

Some people believe they can choose their family, but these people would be wrong. A family is given to a person without much warning and each person must cope with their own. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a novel focused on Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who aims to create life, but does not foresee the consequences. He neglects his creation as well as his family in the process, which leads to several heartbreaking deaths, and leaves him with too many regrets. Shelley makes the argument through Victor’s story to say how important it is, however difficult, to take responsibility of a person’s actions in all aspects of the world including scientific responsibility, social responsibility, and parental responsibility. A parent not only has

to care for their child, but for their family as well because it is not something to forget, but to treasure, to care for, and to be fully responsible for at all times of a person’s life; family is forever.
As Victor becomes intrigued with the creation of life in his own home, he finds himself also “doomed by slavery to toil in the mines” (41). He is “deeply... engrossed in [his] occupation,” but continues using his anxiety as well as the scientific success possible as motivation (40). Although he prospers in his endeavors, he abandons his work as a failure because of its appearance. Victor does not understand at this time what responsibility he has for what he has given to the world and to the “lifeless thing that lay at his feet” (43). Instead, he runs, in hopes the problem might disappear into his past and be forgotten. The world he lives in is not yet ready for such a being, and rejects it like a bad organ. The monster attempts to interact with the people surrounding him, but when he is first “perceived” by an old man, the man “shriek[s] loudly” and runs in fear of the unknown and the mysteries of the creature (87). Victor’s invention is an attempt to seek knowledge and give some to the world, but is instead a corruption and misuse of science. To give life to a person is not meant to be done in a lab, but a natural event, only to occur in nature where its true potential can be nurtured and brought out in the most beautiful forms possible. Instead, Victor tampers with the natural order of life and creates a “wretch” from a “demonical corpse” (43). As a scientist, he should protect the information he gathers from himself by sharing his findings with his professors and fellow classmates instead of working in isolation where he becomes consumed. He misuses the power he obtains and does not realize the responsibility accompanied by it.
At first thought, Victor begins his journey of creating the monster with the thought of bettering society as a whole.

This is a good and true intention to begin with, but soon becomes “a serpent to sting” him in ways he could never foresee (14). After the monster murders Victor’s younger brother William, Justine is thought to have been the culprit. Instead of admitting the truth, he refuses to take responsibility and allows her to be executed. At this point, the bettering of society is obviously far from his thoughts. The morally correct action to take in this situation would be to tell Geneva, his home town, of his mistakes and take full responsibility for his actions, which would, in turn, grant Justine her life. This choice would also protect Geneva from the unknown of the monster, which costs others their lives. Later in the novel, Victor is also tempted to create a second female monster as a companion after his first creation threatens his life, and is eventually aware of the catastrophe it could become. If the monsters were to reproduce, or even on their own, they could do much more damage than has already resulted in the creation being alive so far. Victor does “right in refusing” the creature a mate for the reason of protecting the people in the society around him (220). He ponders the dangers of allowing the monsters loose in the world, and recognizes the problems it would cause. This demonstrates the responsibilities to protect humanity as a whole, and not only think about a person’s own needs, which is what Shelley illustrates to the reader through Victor’s

choices.
Victor also has many responsibilities as a parent of his creation. It is generally accepted for a parent to have the responsibility to provide for and teach their children; Victor, however, does not accept these aspects of parenthood, and, in fact, rejects his role of a parent entirely. The monster is abandoned the first night after the creation of his life. He is left alone to discover simple aspects, such as the moon and fire, as well as more complicated lessons, such as how there can be evil in even the best things. He learns this lesson by finding fire to be warm and welcoming, but hot and hurtful at the same time after he tries to “thrust [his] hand into the live embers” in joy, but recoils in pain (85). After being rejected by society for over two years, the monster becomes evil in his misery. Victor learns of the monster’s sufferings and is left feeling remorse and guilt. He agrees to create a companion to give his monster “a portion of happiness” as it is his responsibility and in his “power to bestow” (148). As a parent, it was his responsibility to have taken care of his creature enough to keep the situation from getting this far, but the creature takes it upon himself to help his creator to this realization because even parents make mistakes.
Mary Shelley tells of the importance of responsibility through Victor and the consequences he faces throughout the novel for his actions of neglecting that responsibility. This is relevant in all meanings of the word, not only in her novel, but also in life as people make choices every day, which affect others daily through science, humanity, and their family. Responsibility should not be taken lightly, but contemplated in every action, and upheld in every choice made by every person.