The Creature In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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The creature, despite being made to be human and in the shape of a human, cannot truly be human. To identify whether or not the creature is human, one must first decide what defines a human.  If one wants to take the strictly scientific approach, a human is a member of the genus Homo, specifically the species Homo sapiens.  However, in this instance, that definition will not help us; we do not specifically know the species of Frankenstein’s creature or if he is of any known species at all.  Another approach one can take is through a philosophical point of view, which defines man as an animal with the ability to reason and act rationally.  This supports the case for the creature’s humanity because we see him reason multiple times throughout the novel: whether that be when he learns to …show more content…

Man has an eternal spirit that leads him to seek a relationship with God.  This is where we begin to see differences between a human and the creature.  While man is created by God, he is an imperfect reflection of God’s true nature and likeness.  Along the same lines, because the creature is created by man in the image of a man, “I should attempt the creation of a being like myself” (32), he is an imperfect reflection of man’s true nature and likeness.  The creature also was not created for God, but for man as a symbol of man’s scientific advancements, almost making him a twisted idol to societal progress.  Throughout the entirety of the novel, the creature shows no yearning for God, no inkling of his existence or desire to find something beyond himself.  This points to the creature’s lack of an eternal spirit, the true hallmark of humanity.  Because of all this, despite the fact that the creature feels emotions, is rational and uses reason, and is literally made of human parts and has human blood running through his veins, the creature is not and cannot be

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