Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly, is a gothic fiction novel written in the nineteenth century. It dives deep into the dangers of science and the indifference and prejudice of mankind. The story starts in the form of letters written by the adventure-eager Captain Walton to his sister, Margret Saville. After four letters, the Captain rescues a man named Victor Frankenstein, and after some persuasion agrees to tell him his story. We learn that Victor came from a wealthy Genevan family, with two good parents and many siblings, both biological and adopted. He leaves his family to attend university, and starts creating a mysterious creature, a fatal mistake as it turned out very ugly and drew disdain from him and the rest of mankind. The creature becomes vengeful, and causes the deaths of many innocent lives from his family, and as it escaped to the North Pole, a widowed and orphaned Victor chased behind him. That was how he ended up as his sled had slipped through ice. He goes on to die soon afterwards. The book holds themes such as the nature of us humans which makes us hate ugly things, the abandonment of one’s responsibility, and also the dangers of scientific explorations.
Human nature can be cruel, and we can see it in multiple characters throughout the story. Every little action of ours has the ability to hurt someone, and to change them for the worse. For example, the monster was not born evil. He wanted to be integrated into society and to interact with people. But his experience with the DeLaceys made him spite human beings, as once they saw of his appearance, they shunned and attacked him. And they even resorted to moving out; they were so terrified of him. This is what rendered him evil, as his despair and loneliness turned him into a despicable being. It is probable that if anyone had made an effort to overlook his bad looks and treat him with respect, he wouldn’t have turned into a murderer. However, this still does not excuse his behavior of killing others out of anger. He took the lives of a young child and made someone else suffer the consequences. It is undeniable that he is cruel, but we must remember that behind all that cruelty and murderous behavior, there was a reason.
It is not uncommon for parents to abandon their children, and we can see evidence of that in the story. It is cruel behavior, because it is essentially depriving a child from a parent’s love and concern. Even though Victor was not the monster’s father, he was its creator. In a sense, he has some kind of responsibility, similar to a parent. A parent is not supposed to abandon their children, and is supposed to make sure they grow up in a healthy environment. However, Victor abandoned him because he was too ugly and failed to show any responsibility for his foolish deeds. The monster’s existence is entirely due to Victor’s curiosity and ambition to succeed in the sciences, and for that he still did not attempt to fix his mistake. Instead, he left it on its own and only realized his blunder when his brother and adopted sister died as a result. Also, it causes a long term consequence of people close to him dying, and in no way did the abandonment of the monster benefit him. If only he had taken up responsibility for the monster instead of leaving it to survive on its own, maybe he wouldn’t have so many close relatives die as a result to his lack of sense of management.
The morality and necessity of certain scientific experiments is also indirectly questioned in the story. Victor did not make the monster as an attempt to hurt anyone: it was a result of his ambition and his interest. It is safe to say that he never knew that such an experiment would end so badly. However, the experiment was not moral or beneficial for society, it was only conducted to satisfy himself. First of all, Victor was trying to act as a God, by creating living beings. There is a reason that regular human beings do not create other creatures, and he defied that with his ability. However, being able to do something does not mean that you should actually do it. Also, it wasn’t like the experiment was physically necessary, such as discovering a vaccine for a deadly sickness. We can also see that people like Captain Walton think the way. As an attempt to satisfy himself he goes to the North Pole, not caring about the safety of his crew. We see a similarity between the mindset of an explorer and a scientist, they are both ambitious and vying for answers, not really minding others’ opinions.
In conclusion, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is a chilling yet telling story about the dangers of science and the reality of human nature. It shows us that we are programmed to hate ugly things, and that may prove to be fatal as it fires up hate and contempt for each other. This gothic novel is a classic by a famous author, and a worth to read as it helps us understand more about humans in general. Maybe after reading this story, we may learn to stop judging others by their looks, as we know it may end terribly. This is valid in real life too. People who are ostracized are prone to commit violent crimes later, if things do not change and they do not garner enough support. Not everyone can take the emotional toll of being shunned, and people usually become depressed and driven to a bad mental state if they are in the same situation. Everything we do, say, and act out has the potential to affect someone, positively and negatively.
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