| Frankenstein: The Creator’s Faults In The Creation Essay, Research Paper
Frankenstein: The Creator’s Faults in the Creation
Often the actions of children are reflective of the attitudes of those who
raised them. In the novel Frankenstein : Or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelly,
Dr. Victor Frankenstein is the sole being that can take responsibility for the
creature that he has created, as he is the only one that had any part in
bringing it into being. While the actions of the creation are the ones that are
the illegal and deadly their roots are traced back to the flaws of Frankenstein
as a creator.
Many of Frankenstein’s faults are evident in the appearance of his creation. It
is described as having yellow skin, dark black hair, eyes sunk into their
sockets, and black lips (Shelly 56). Frankenstein, having chosen the parts for
his creature, is the only one possible to blame for its appearance. Martin Tropp
states that the monster is “designed to be beautiful and loving, it is loathsome
and unloved” (64). Clearly it is Frankenstein’s lack of foresight in the
creation process to allow for a creature that Frankenstein “had selected his
features as beautiful,” (56) to become something which the very sight of causes
its creator to say “breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”(56). He
overlooks the seemingly obvious fact that ugliness is the natural result when
something is made from parts of different corpses and put together. Were he
thinking more clearly he would have noticed monster’s hideousness.
Another physical aspect of the monster which shows a fault in Frankenstein is
its immense size. The reason that Frankenstein gives for creating so large a
creature is his own haste. He states that ,”As the minuteness of the parts
formed a great hinderance to my speed, I resolved, contrary to my first
intention, to make a being gigantic in stature …” (52). Had Frankenstein not
had been so rushed to complete his project he would not have had to deal with
such a physically intimidating creature. Tropp however states that ambition may
have had a role in the size of the creation. He says that the creation is “born
of Frankenstein’s megalomania” (81). This may indeed be true as the inventor
states “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and
excellent natures would owe their being to me” (52). Frankenstein seems obsessed
with being the father of this new race, so he makes the creature large in order
to assure its dominance.
The more important defect within Frankenstein is not so much shown in the
appearance that he gave his creation, but the manner in which he responds to it.
The first thing that Frankenstein notices upon the activation of his creation is
one of being appalled (56). Frankenstein sees the creature’s physical appearance
only, taking no time to attempt to acknowledge its mental nature. He cannot
accept it simply because it looks too far removed from his view of beautiful
(Oates 77). Because of this he drives the creature away, abandoning it. The
creature is “in one sense an infant-a comically monstrous eight foot baby- whose
progenitor rejects him immediately after creating him…” (Oates 70). It is due
to this abandonment that the monster develops the murderous tendencies displayed
later in the novel. Even when the creature is shown to be naturally good, its
physical form never allows it acceptance. Whenever the creation attempts to be
rational with Frankenstein it is rejected, with in almost all cases Frankenstein
sighting its appearance as one of the reasons. “Frankenstein’s response to the
`thing’ he has created is solely in aesthetic terms…” (Oates 75).
Throughout the novel Frankenstein continually insists that “The tortures of Hell
are too mild a vengeance for all [the creature's] crimes” (95). Frankenstein is
incorrect, however in assuming that the creature is inherently evil. Mary Lowe-
Evans states that ,”Nothing in Frankenstein is more unexpected than the
Creature’s sensitivity” (52). His benevolent nature described in his story is
meant to show that he is not the beast that Frankenstein has made him out to be
(Lowe-Evans 52). The creature is intrigued by the lives of the people that he
finds living in a small cabin, the De Laceys. The creature loves everything
about these people and attempts to aid them by gathering for them much needed
firewood. This action is described by Tropp as, “a last attempt to enter its
[Paradise's} gates" (75). He also sympathizes with the plights of other
unfortunate people that he hears of such as the Native Americans (Lowe-Evans 53).
It is only upon being again rejected because of his appearance that the creature
becomes the monster that Frankenstein sees him as.
Just as the creature’s love of the De Laceys show that he is not an evil being
and that Frankenstein has caused him to become this way, so does the creature’s
constant longing for companionship. The creature says in regard to originally
capturing Frankenstein’s brother William, “If I could, therefore seize him … I
should not be so desolate in this peopled earth.” (136). He only murders him
upon realizing that he is a relative of Frankenstein. The creature’s ultimate
plea for companionship comes when he requests that Frankenstein creates another
monster to be his mate, and that the two monsters would live in isolation. Tropp
acknowledges that this is truly meant to do no harm to the race of man, and
simply to comfort the creature. He also states, however, that it is in the
creation’s nature to look for acceptance by humans, and will if given the chance,
return to human civilization (78).
The most major crime committed by the creature in the eyes of Frankenstein is
the murder of his wife Elizabeth. The roots of the killing can be traced back
not only to the malice displayed by the creature toward Frankenstein, but also
to Frankenstein’s own self-centered attitude. The creature pronounces his threat
on Elizabeth’s life, after Frankenstein has done what Oates calls “The cruelest
act of all” (78), destroying the partially finished monster that was to be the
mate of his first creation. She also states that Frankenstein, “in `mangling’
the flesh of his demon’s bride, he is murdering the pious and rather too perfect
Elizabeth…” (78). Frankenstein wishes for his own happiness through
companionship in marriage, but denies the same right to his creation.
Frankenstein can also be viewed as being responsible for the death of Elizabeth
by assuming that when the creature states “I shall be with you on your wedding
night” (161) he is going to be killed rather than Elizabeth, even when all of
the creature’s prior killings point to the fact that he would attempt to make
Frankenstein’s life miserable rather than actually kill him (Lowe-Evans 61). In
fact if the creature actually wanted Frankenstein to die, it had the perfect
opportunity to kill him the second Frankenstein destroyed his would be wife.
Lowe-Evans points out that this can be attributed to Frankenstein’s own selfish
attitude. She says he “might feel that even the attention implied in the
Creature’s warning rightfully belongs to him” (62). This fits the spoiled
childhood life of Frankenstein, detailed in the works early chapters (Lowe-Evans
62).
It is stated by Oates that ,”The monsters that we create … `are’ ourselves as
we cannot hope to see ourselves…” (75). This statement is perfectly applicable
to Frankenstein. The qualities that he would most like to deny are shown through
the results that they have had on the being which he has brought into existence.
The results of his flaws take on a physical aspect, destroying those around him,
until he finally dies seeking revenge on something that he himself has brought
about.
Works Cited
Lowe-Evans, Mary. Frankenstein: Mary Shelly’s Wedding Guest. New York: Twayne
Publishers, 1993.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Frankenstein: Creation as Catastrophe.”
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers,
1987.
Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus. New York: Penguin Books,
1978.
Tropp, Martin. Mary Shelly’s Monster. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976.
|