Frankenstein, written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, is a book that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, who creates a living being using the pieces of corpses. The creature looks monstrous, but attempts to seek companionship, however, its appearance causes everyone to be afraid of him. The monster then seeks revenge on its creator due to loneliness and being miserable, and Victor ends up losing his life. Told with a series of letters that provide context, there are many aspects of this story that help reveal it as a classic piece of gothic literature. Victor has the responsibility to take care of the monster, being its creator, but does not take the responsibility and instead shies away from it like everyone else. The story begs the question, if people have the abilities and capabilities to be god, can they play the role of god? Victor has many similarities to Prometheus, the god of fire, as they had both brought life to creatures, since in Greek mythology Prometheus sculpted humans out of clay, and then brought them fire when they suffered. They have the capability to create life. But in order to play at god you must both have god’s virtues and also take care of failed creations. Frankenstein is a fantastic gothic story that captures every element of gothic literature.
Even if people have the powers of god and the capability to be god, they still cannot be god because of the consequences they face. Prometheus created humans in ancient Greek mythology, but he was punished severely after giving his creation fire, and was chained to a rock, almost doomed to an eternity of pain where an eagle ate his liver each day if it hadn’t been for Heracles. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein wanted to create life, and managed to do it but in the process made a monstrous looking creature. He would not take care of it and this ended up causing his own death because of his fear and inability to take care of the creature, angering it and causing it to attempt to seek revenge. His abilities were nearly godlike, as he could create life and humanoid creatures, but the negative result is to manipulate life and cause disasters and mistakes, with devastating consequences that could end up severely hurting people. In order to be god, you must both have the power and the strength to control your power, something that is quite difficult to do. The ability to be god and the capabilities required are many, but it is the ability to control it that is much more difficult.
Imperfections in creations are to be expected, but the reason that life should not be tampered with is that the mistakes and failures can be lethal and seek revenge. When someone attempts to create, a single mistake can ruin the integrity of the creation and end up creating a disaster that can be catastrophically bad. In Frankenstein, Victor’s creation was not even close to perfect, but if he had had several more chances, he may have created something amazing and beautiful, but the problem was that his mistake led to the tragic end of his life as he attempted to escape his vengeful creation. Life is something not to be tampered or trifled with, as a simple mistake while attempting to better and improve it can end it. Messing with and trying to change things the way Victor did would end with immense consequences, which can even include death. It’s important not to tamper and try to change things that are beyond our grasp, such as life and other important things, or else we must face the consequences. A single mistake can end up having a serious cost such as potential losses of loved ones and even losing your own life, the ultimate cost.
We must take responsibility for our mistakes in order to prevent catastrophic consequences that occur whenever we ignore others. Being responsible means that you are able to answer for your obligations and take care of your own problems. In Frankenstein, Victor’s creation was his responsibility, but rather than trying to help it, he simply looked at its monstrous appearance and became afraid, shying away from it and eventually even losing his life in his desperate dash away from the monster that was now seeking revenge. He gave the creature life, and in essence, he would be the monster’s father, however, he was afraid of it and ran away. Victor’s responsibility to his creature was unfulfilled, causing him to be afraid and eventually die of pneumonia on the cold ship he took to avoid his own creation. Taking responsibility and being responsible allows us to each have our own fair share of work, and we can manage easily, but when people shirk their duties, disaster strikes. We have to always try to take responsibility for our actions and help try to mitigate the impacts we can have by helping out.
Frankenstein is a fantastic gothic story that helps to teach us about our limitations and how even if we have the capability and power to be god, we still cannot, how the reason for this is mainly because of the immense failure an imperfection could become, and how important taking responsibility is in many cases. We can’t be god even if we have the power to because of how having the power to control the power is even more necessary than just the power, along with the virtues of god. An imperfection while playing at god could be disastrous, because it could create life that’s monstrous or vengeful. But the most important is to take responsibility for our mistakes and to try our best to either make amends or to fix your mistake, by trying many methods such as kindness or apologies. Frankenstein is an amazing and classic piece of gothic literature that uses an interesting plot line and riveting characters to help educate readers on important philosophical themes.
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