Victor's Responsibility In Frankenstein

While Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein revolves around the quest for revealing new forms of knowledge and discovering innovative technology, another significant part of the book is the character's journey in trying to fulfill their innate desire for companionship. The novel features a crazed scientist named Victor Frankenstein who creates a living being from various dead human corpses in an attempt to become a god-like figure. Frankenstein’s creation presented a moral commitment of responsibility that a creator has over its creation. Frankenstein’s ignorance towards his responsibility as a creator left the disfigured creature alone to be ravaged by the evilness of humanity. The life of suffering that the creature faced due to his lack of emotional

fulfillment spawned the monster’s wish for Victor to create a second creation for him. By looking at the power dynamic expressed through the use of language between Frankenstein and the monster, in his desperate plea for help, we can see the different advantages a creator has over its creation which is important because it demonstrates the constantly shifting role of power in a dynamic.
Victor Frankenstein’s creation uses lots of submissive language in order to establish the dominance Frankenstein has over him.

The monster acknowledges the power Victor has over him and the responsibility he has failed to tend to in the line: “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drives from joy for no misdeed.” (Shelley, 103). In this line, we see the responsibility Victor has failed to establish between him and his creature; instead displaying fear and disgust. This line is a reference to Paradise Lost by John Milton, a book about Adam and Eve and how they came to be created along with how they came to lose their place in the Garden of Eden, also called Paradise. When Frankenstein’s creature says “I ought to be thy Adam” he is referring to Victor as his God, and to himself as a ‘would-be Adam’ who ought to be cared for as God cared for Adam. However, being a disfigured creature, composed of human corpses bonded with life, almost satanic, he is more similar to the “ the fallen angel”. This reference to Paradise Lost shows the creature’s attempt to make Victor have empathy for his miserable state by distinguishing the sense of power Victor has over him as his creator. Although the monster acknowledges his inferiority to Victor he also displays the power he obtains as a living being and

creation.
This shift in power dynamic is evident in the creature’s use of proper old English and his reference to his physical superiority over Victor Frankenstein. The creature presents the physical dominance and power he has over Victor in the line: “Remember, thou hast made me more powerful than thyself;” (Shelley, 103). In this line, the creature demonstrates the power Victor has unknowingly given him through his physical appearance and anatomy. This is important because it shows that Victor Frankenstein's need for power caused his ignorance towards the influence his creature would obtain as a living being. Along with Victor’s ignorance, the creature displays his superiority through his use of language. His repetitions of the word “thee” and “thy” show the different style of speaking he has versus Victor. His use of proper Old English creates a sense of superiority over Victor. The shift in the dynamic between Victor and his creature displays the power that a creation has over its creator exhibiting the imbalance of power in a dynamic.
The power dynamic between Victor and the monster switches throughout the book and throughout this passage we see the unevenness of their dynamic. The power and responsibility Victor has over his creature is matched with his ignorance of it along with the psychical and speaking superiority the creature obtains. In this creature’s desperate plea for help, we can see the different advantages a creator has over its creation. This dynamic is seen throughout the book and displays how the dynamic between a creator and it’s creation is constantly shifting without a permanent role of power.