Frankenstein and his monster

(The story of Frankenstein.)

The Relationship Between Frankenstein and His "Monster" in Mary Shelley's Novel, is the story of a man and his scientific inventions and discoveries.

Mary Shelley wrote this novel when she was just 19 years old. She, her husband, and her friend spent evenings telling each other weird stories. Victor Frankenstein was born out of these evenings. Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley (second wife of the poet) in 1818. The story was controversial as it touched on many fragile subjects, such as human anatomy and the development of science. It also brings up the theme of human relationships and their importance in people's lives, as well as the role religion plays in this novel, where Victor Frankenstein, the creator, becomes Satan-like in the mirror of his creation.

Shelley's mother died when she was just a few days old. Her father was emotionally detached from her, leaving her at her own devices and paying her little attention. She could write about these human insecurities because she experienced them first-hand as a baby and as a young child herself.

Shelley uses dreams to great effect in this novel. The fears and anxieties Frankenstein is experiencing are worked out in his dreams. He dreams of meeting Elizabeth and having kissed her. He notices her lips are the “hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms”. Frankenstein is giving us a glimpse into the future.

Mary Shelley’s book controversy

This science-fiction novel is the idea of who the “bad” person is in the storyline. The story shows the horrors of man, not beast. The monster did not choose to be created, he did not choose to look the way that he did, he did not choose to be rejected by everyone around him. As he tells Frankenstein when he approaches him in the Alps, “I am malicious, evil because I am miserable.”

It is a weird tale of a medical student, who fashions an image in human form out of materials collected from graveyards and dissecting rooms. The dreadful creature, a parody of a man, comes to life; and Frankenstein, its creator, flies from it in horror. The monster escapes, spreading terror everywhere, and commits many atrocious murders. Frankenstein chases the monster to capture or kill it; but it turns on him, its creator, and tears him to pieces.

This gruesome tale may be taken as a tale. Frankenstein is man, with his scientific discoveries and inventions. In his search for knowledge and power over nature, he may be releasing forces that will get beyond his control and eventually destroy him.

Many themes are explored, such as nurture versus nature, calm versus turbulence, and love versus hate. These themes are used to explore and develop the complex relationship between Frankenstein and his monster.

Love Versus Hatred: Shelley's Profound Theme

Frankenstein agreed to create a fellow creature for the monster because he felt that justice was due both to him and his fellow creature. Here, Shelley's theme of love versus hatred becomes evident. The cry from the monster's heart is very moving as he begs Frankenstein to create for him someone to love.

Both Frankenstein and his creation are worthy of readers’ sympathy and contempt.

Frankenstein deserves ridicule for assembling a living being that he instantly neglects for the simple fact that it looks ugly. His neglect causes Frankenstein to roam Europe in search of guidance and friendship, neither of which he ever receives. Nevertheless, it is difficult not to feel sorry for Frankenstein when all his loved ones die at the hands of his creature. His reason for not creating another monster is valid: he does not want to risk the two creatures mating and creating a race of beasts to terrorize the world forever. He does not want to be responsible for the death of humanity, so his refusal to create a female monster makes sense.

Frankenstein’s creature also deserves ridicule. His response to receiving mistreatment is to murder innocent people, and this is also unacceptable. If everyone in the world who was ever mistreated and misunderstood went on killing sprees, Homo sapiens would cease to exist. And yet, much his like creator, it is hard not to have sympathy for the poor creature, who has no friend in the world and never will. Like anyone else, the Frankenstein monster craves companionship from another, if not from his creator, then from another being created with the same proportions. Victor’s refusal, although logical, is saddening.

Both Frankenstein and his monster have performed many evils against each other. They both have suffered so much that readers cannot help but offer their sympathies to both. The real enemy, as Victor Frankenstein declares at the end, is ambition: “Seek happiness in tranquillity and avoid ambition, even if it be only the innocent, one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries”.

Ambition drives Frankenstein to create the monster in the first place, and without it, the tragic ending of the story could have been avoided completely. Had he contented himself with ordinary scientific activities like the rest of his colleagues, none of his family would have been murdered. As Frankenstein has learned by the time he lies on his deathbed, even a purely innocent intention can blossom into a full-blown disaster.

In Mary Shelley’s Romanticism-era novel Frankenstein, the title character, and the monster he creates are linked in a complex, multidimensional relationship. On one hand, the Frankenstein monster is subservient to his creator, who is the only man with enough knowledge to create another of his kind. On the other hand, however, Frankenstein is subservient to his creation, because it is physically stronger than him and able to murder his whole circle of family and friends without putting forth much effort.

Frankenstein Mirrored in His Creation

In the novel, there are many parallels between Frankenstein and his creation (monster). Both seem to have a tremendous hatred for one another. Frankenstein seems to deny the monster what he has denied himself: a family life and a wife. This is almost what Frankenstein denied himself as his relationship can be seen as incestuous. His relationship with Elizabeth is that of sister and brother, the two having been brought up together. As he never experienced courtship, his anger towards the monster is anger vented toward himself, as he has never experienced love and is almost seen to be scared and never probes around the subject. He only experiences lust for Elizabeth and his work, and both break down due to the lack of love (which is a stronger bond than lust).

Significance of the Weather in Frankenstein

In Frankenstein, Shelley, the author, has on numerous occasions begun each scene by talking about the weather. She is setting the tone for the rest of the scene and is foreshadowing the events to come. The weather is used to dramatize the theme of calm versus turbulence, as good weather reflects calm spirits and turbulent weather reflects madness. The warm weather seems to lift the characters' spirits, while the cold, ravaging wind, such as when Victor is in the Arctic, conjures up feelings of depression.

Frankenstein's Ego and Dream Realities

Frankenstein's ego seems to command him, but his dreams rip him into reality. Frankenstein's anger towards the monster seems to be a vent of his anger towards himself as he realizes the time he has wasted, the relationships he has missed out on and his family's tragedies. He blames the creature (monster) for his passion for success.

Frankenstein is a story of a "monster" who is forcefully separated from his creator because his physical failures make him a disgrace. The "thing" was created in a state of anxiety, panic, and passion. Victor Frankenstein took great care to assemble all the body parts, and he only chose the most beautiful. He worked almost like a poet and dreamt of creating a thing of real beauty.

However, when he assembled the creature, his emotions were that of horror and disgust. The creature only wants to be loved, and it has child-like characteristics when he is first created. However, Frankenstein does not see this, and his judgment is clouded by the appearance of his creation.

Throughout the book, all the creature wants is love. This longing to be first accepted by Victor, and then the longing for a fellow creature (a lover) created especially for him, leads the monster to acts of murder and destruction. His longing for love is so great he will destroy Frankenstein if this goes unheeded.

The theme of nature versus nurture is explored here. The one who was nurtured, the man who grew up in a loving family, Frankenstein, could not return love to the creature he gave birth to. The “monster”, who received hatred from the first moment he opened his eyes, wanted love and companionship.

The Frankenstein creature gestures to his creator to have mercy on him and to do him a favour: “He continued, ‘You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This you alone can do’”. In this instance, Frankenstein’s creature is putting himself in a submissive position. By saying “This you alone can do,” the creature is admitting Frankenstein’s singular intelligence and ability. Frankenstein is the only man who can create a female companion, which he believes is necessary to his being, and so the monster must assume a role of submission and reliance upon Frankenstein’s kindness.

Yet, at the same time the Frankenstein creature is submissive to his creator, the creator’s fate is in the hands of his creature. Thus, the creature forewarns him moments later about what could happen if Frankenstein does not comply with his demands: “Have a care; I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart so that you shall curse the hour of your birth”. The creature knows that he is in a powerful position as the stronger of the two, and can threaten Victor Frankenstein because of it, so much so that Frankenstein will wish he had never been born.

The creature’s method of destroying Frankenstein’s heart is not to kill him directly, but to kill those Frankenstein loves. The monster’s “domination-via-threats” approach is highlighted later in the novel when Frankenstein decides not to create another monster. The monster confronts him, saying “Remember, I shall be with you on your wedding night”. This means that on Frankenstein’s first night of being married to his adopted sister, the creature plans to be there to kill her. The monster also repeats his dominance over Frankenstein in this scene: “You are my creator, but I am your master; obey!”. Here the Frankenstein monster reasserts this belief that, although Frankenstein created him, he is under no obligation to obey him. He believes that his physical skill makes him Frankenstein’s master, although no matter who he kills to hurt his creator, he can never be happy, for he will never find companionship.

Frankenstein, a doctor, is the man who created and abandoned a creature, a monster that was capable of destruction. Shelley did not give the dreadful creature a name, perhaps for a reason. To not name something degrades it and makes that thing an It – a lack of identity due to no name and fear of the unknown. Yet she gives it such human characteristics by allowing the beast to talk, read, learn another language, and even have the capabilities of emotions.

When the beast was created, he was brought to the world and left to interact with only himself. He discusses with Frankenstein how hard it was for him to even walk around because people would scream in fear at his appearance; Even his creator left him.

From the beginning, we read of Frankenstein's hatred and his rapid physical decline reflecting the feeling he has for his creation. He loses his appetite, he is weak, his “heart palpitated in the sickness of fear” and his friend Clerval finds him bordering on madness.

Frankenstein recalls the night he created 'the monster', and he describes it as "It was a dreary night." The endless wanderings of his disturbed mind reflect the guilt and horror he feels for the creature he has created. He is in decline while his monster is becoming more eloquent and expressive. The more he is disturbed by the monster, the more humanlike emotions the monster exhibits.

However, Frankenstein has no sympathy for him as he becomes more and more disturbed by the daemon he sees before him. The more the monster wants to be accepted, needing his desires fulfilled, the more Frankenstein alienates himself from his own family and friends.

In Frankenstein, Shelley draws a portrait of a man crazy by the need to create. He became God-like, but his creation was Satan-like. Here lies the conflict in the novel. The themes of love versus hatred are explored in detail. As a mere man, Frankenstein cannot create a human being; only God can do so; therefore, the creation had to be ugly, a horror. This dislike could not be loved because it was man-made.

Nature's Beauty Versus Monstrous Reality

The "brute" he has created is not necessary. Indeed, it needs to be destroyed immediately. However, he finds his soul being lifted as he admires the beautiful, majestic views once he arrives at the top. The beauty of nature versus what he is next about to see. The monster suddenly appears on the horizon, and as Victor follows the monster to the hut, the weather changes, and the lightness which Victor felt before vaporized with the rain and cold.

The Monster

The monster is Victor Frankenstein’s creation, assembled from old body parts and strange chemicals, animated by a mysterious spark. He (the monster) enters life eight feet tall and enormously strong but with the mind of a newborn. Abandoned by his creator and confused, he tries to participate himself in society, only to be ignored universally. Looking in the mirror, he realizes his physical grotesqueness, an aspect of his persona that blinds society to his initially gentle, kind nature. Seeking revenge on his creator, he kills Victor’s younger brother. After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster’s solitude, the monster murders Victor’s best friend and then his new wife.

While Victor feels complete hatred for his creation, the monster shows that he is not a purely evil being. The monster’s eloquent narration of events (as provided by Victor) reveals his remarkable sensitivity and benevolence. He assists a group of poor peasants and saves a girl from drowning, but because of his outward appearance, he is rewarded only with beatings and disgust. Torn between vengefulness and compassion, the monster ends up lonely and tormented by remorse. Even the death of his creator-turned-would-be-destroyer offers only bittersweet relief: joy because Victor has caused him so much suffering, sadness because Victor is the only person with whom he has had any sort of relationship.

The Role of Science in "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

When the monster approaches Victor in the mountains to ask for a female companion Victor allows himself to feel for a short time a little compassion for the lonely life the monster lives. "I compassioned him, and sometimes felt a wish to console him," Victor said, but these sentiments were immediately replaced with the old feelings of revulsion and hate.

Science has made tremendous strides since Mrs. Shelley wrote her tale. Many of its discoveries and inventions are no less beneficent than wonderful; but not all. In the invention, for instance, of the high-explosive bomb, the bombing aero plane and poison gas, man has released destructive forces that threaten to get out of his control. Such diabolical weapons will turn the next world war (which is constantly threatening the world), into a mass massacre of civilians", and the destruction of modern civilization. The Monster man has created is almost out of his control and may at any moment turn on its creator and overwhelm him. "Man has become a giant; he can smite with lengthened arm a distant, hidden foe: He strides the earth with seven-leagued boots, and lo! On eagle wings, he now has taken to flight. His eye can weigh, and measure spheres of light Sunk in the deep of space; and can bear Far voices from the other hemisphere: shortened by his might.

The idea of Frankenstein creating a killing machine although fictional, makes one ponder the thought of our capabilities as man. Professor Fleming said in class “Why is nuclear power frightening? Because it’s a new way to die.” We have always known how destructive man can be, the fact that we have enough nuclear bombs to destroy Earth more than once is horrifying. We create these objects to perform tasks that we think will better our lives and protect us, yet they are the ones that end up terminating us. How long will the world go until we end up having stories like Frankenstein come true?

To conclude I may write that the monster was rejected for love by everyone around him, even the person who gave life to him. He did not get to experience the true meaning of kindness and a relationship. All Frankenstein ever showed to the monster was coldness and resentment, even though it was completely Frankenstein’s fault for everything that had happened. Yes, the beast killed everyone Frankenstein loved, but he gave Frankenstein an ultimatum, he gave him a chance to fix things. Frankenstein was the true beast, he was as my father, a luminary stated, “science’s dreadful genius,” the man behind the blood. He was to society what the monster was to him; creating a killing machine that didn’t stop until it killed him too.