Frankenstein Essay, Research Paper

Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in a time of wonder. A main wonder was whether you could put life back into the dead. Close to the topic of bringing life back into the dead was whether you could create your own being, like selective breeding but a bit more powerful.

Close to where Mary lived there was a man named Vultair was experimenting putting electricity through Frogs to see if they could come back to life. With that going on close to her as well as the fear of a revolution and the pressure on her to think of a ghost story it is not surprising she thought of a horror story that would still be popular in the 21st Century.

Now I have explained where the story came from and why it is as it is I will explain the social responsibility it brings up and how it is still important today. Looking after something you create is one point it brings up. Frankenstein created his creature so he should have looked after it but instead just because he didn t like the way it looked he ran away. He never taught his creature anything so, for all the creature knew, it could have been okay to kill people. That relates to today as some children who were not taught right from wrong by their parents watch films like Scream and I know what you did last summer where murdering seems cool as it involves Jennifer Love Hewit, Sarah Michelle Geller and Neve Cambell getting killed. The children watch these and think I want to be like that scary guy with the mask and they go and try to kill someone. If they do they get charged for the offence but many people think that the children s parents should be blamed as they never taught the child right from wrong and they didn t stop the child (sometimes as young as eight or nine) from watching the video which is rated eighteen or fifteen. When the filmmakers hear about how their film was responsible for a death they never (except for once) take the film away from the public and what they usually do is make a less violent sequel, which isn t really helping anyone and less violence still is some violence.

Teaching a child right from wrong is another point it brings up but I feel I have covered this point in the section above.

Responsibility towards family is another point Frankenstein brings up. This point can be taken in two ways that Frankenstein was irresponsible to his creature or that the creature was irresponsible to Frankenstein. Frankenstein was irresponsible to his creature by running away and to his creature Frankenstein was his family and Frankenstein was responsible for teaching him right from wrong, how to ride a bike etc. Instead he ran away. The creature was irresponsible to Frankenstein as when Frankenstein left he should have done his best to fend for himself as a lot of animals do, they just lay their eggs and go away and when they hatch it is their responsibility to find food and shelter. The Creature should not of killed William and so caused the death of Justine. Also Frankenstein was not responsible to his real family, as when William was murdered he should have said something rather than letting the family maid be killed for his murder. This relates to today as when family members run away i.e. divorced parents and the father runs away, they still have a responsibility to visit regularly (every week) and send lots of money so the mother can feed and cloth her children. Many people don t visit regularly and they don t send money but instead stay away and pretend they never had any children. Some people trying to raise them selves on the social ladder but being kept back because they have common parents dump their parents and when asked say that their parents are dead or are rich and live in Madagascar. That is not being responsible as their parents would feel bad and also they might need their money.

An individual s responsibility for their deeds to society is another point made. Frankenstein knows it was his creature that killed William and he didn t say anything, which led to the death of Justine who was accused of the murder. If Frankenstein had said it was not Justine who killed William but it was a creature I made which I don t know where it is there would have been a big operation to find Frankenstein s creature, which would stop the creature from killing anybody and Justine would have been saved. That links to today, if somebody made a child break into a house and the child was caught by the police, the child would be arrested and everyone would think that they were bad. But, if the person who had asked the child to break into the house came along then the child would not get in any trouble. It is the same kind of thing for people who create a diversion while somebody else breaks into a house.

Responsibility for other lower beings is one of the final points made in Frankenstein. You can argue about whether Frankenstein or his creature is the lower being as Frankenstein is cleverer but the creature is bigger and stronger. So, I think that the creature is the lower being. Frankenstein sees his creature as a big ugly lower being and you have to be responsible for lower beings. Instead, Frankenstein runs away and leaves his creature with no knowledge and no skills. This links to today as many people leave their pets (lower beings) in boxes in the street or in alleyways. Whereas, they should keep them at home and feed them, wash them, walk them, and take care of them. But, they don t.

The Final point Frankenstein brings up is that you have to look after your child or creature however it may look. Frankenstein just runs away from his creature because it is big and ugly (he designed it!). He should have stayed with it and taught it things, but he didn t. That links to today as some parents, throw their children away just because they are ugly. That is cruel to the child, it shouldn t matter what someone looks like and how they smell but, whether they are healthy and how their personality and attitude is.