Untitled Essay, Research Paper

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.