Frankenstein Case
Essay by Maxi • May 15, 2011 • Book/Movie Report • 1,067 Words (5 Pages) • 1,904 Views
Your unwanted child can lead you straight to your deathbed. This situation occurs quite
frequently in the world and it also occurs during the novel Frankenstein. In the story
Frankenstein we see this situation occur to the protagonist Victor Frankenstein; this situation
shows the theme of parenthood for the story. We see Victor's parenting skills, or in this case the
lack of these skills. Ignoring the monster was unintentionally Victor's way of teaching the
monster. By doing this the monster was a complete disaster. The process of parenting includes
situations of his responsibilities, how he feels about the so-called child, and the process of
somehow eliminating the child.
Mary Shelley's life was very important in the creation of Frankenstein. Mary was in love
with Percy Bysshe Shelley and they would soon conceive a child together. While pregnant,
Shelley was challenged to write a ghost story; the story would soon become the novel
Frankenstein. Shelley was excited at the thought of becoming a mother. She had the child two
months early, and unfortunately this would soon become an issue because the baby would die.
Shelley, at this point, would sink into a very dark state of depression; in some ways the death of
the child was good for creating a dark atmosphere in the Frankenstein.
In the beginning of the novel Victor is in love with his creation. He is very excited
about it, wanting to love it and cherish it forever. This feeling towards the monster is short
lived when the monster rose from his slumber and Victor rejects his creation immediately. Victor
isn't hesitant at all, rejecting the monster after realizing how hideous the monster is. This is a
move many people today would have done. We see the time and love he gives to the monster.
This love is exactly the same as the love a mother gives to her unborn child. A mother hopes for
the best for her child when it comes to their appearance, athletic ability, an intelligence.
Human nature shows everybody cannot be considered "normal". But from what I see, if a child
does not live up to expectations, then parents of today, and of the past, in many ways reject the
child or simply give up on them. So clearly the monster did not live up to Victor's expectations.
Victor simply gives up like many of the present day parents would have.
We know that Victor simply did not like the monster, but there a lot of mixed
emotions that are involved. For example, when the monster awakens, he feels scared for his life
and Victor runs away in fear and later feels ashamed of what he has done creating such a beast.
This action makes the monster angry to the point where he has started murdering innocent
people. The monster's emotion is very similar to today's rebellious child, like having a family
that rejects him giving him an excuse to do bad things. The monster compares to many 21st
century children by the isolation they feel. In Chapter 15 the monster meets a blind man and
says, "I am an unfortunate and deserted creature,
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