Frankenstein is a science-fiction novel written by Mary Shelley and published in 1818. Initially, it was composed as a short story when Lord Byron, a poet, recommended that each member of a friend's group script an ethereal fable to keep themselves amused. Mary’s tale was the undisputed winner. It narrates the account of a gifted and ambitious scientist Victor Frankenstein who can give life to a being of his creation simply known as the monster. The creature turns out to be different from Victor’s imagination; it was not the perfect specimen; instead, it becomes a hideous creature that is rejected by humankind and abandoned by Victor. The creature was capable of destruction. However, the monster revenged through terror and murder. In this light, this paper will examine who or what is responsible for the monster's heinous actions.
The monster's disdainful actions are attributed to both his creator and the creation. Frankenstein created sentient life, while the creation killed several people (Hetherington, 4). The monster's actions can be excused since he learned everything from his creator. When Frankenstein gave the creature life, he exclaims that “I beheld the wretch-the miserable creature whom I have created” scornfully referring to the monster (Shelley, 59). In fact, he runs out of the room in a frantic effort to escape from the monster, when he stretched out his hand to the doctor yearning for love, recognition, and contact (Shelley, 59). People are sensual and emotional beings; in the story, the beast is human in every way. As such, the beast's first emotions he encounters are disgust and hatred, which definitively made him act in such a vile way since the feeling of hatred and disgust are all the creature knew. Also, Frankenstein is never at ease because he is aware of the constant heinous presence stalking him, indicating he is conscious of his actions.
The monster is also partly to blame for his actions. He bears responsibility in the murder of William, Henry, and Elizabeth, along with the eventual deaths of Frankenstein, his father, and Justine (Mayer, 36). When he approached Frankenstein in the Alps, the beast informs him that he is malicious because he is miserable (Shelley, 174). Despite his looks and the rejection he encountered, the monster has no moral reason for his killing spree. As a matter of fact, his actions were very extreme. Most people can relate with acting on a person’s emotions, while it is not necessarily excusable. However, Shelley has deeper reasoning to have the monster express his feelings to Frankenstein. When the monster was created, he was brought to the world and left to interact with no one else. He was forced to wander the world alone from the very beginning of his life. He was despised by other people he met. He opens up to Frankenstein about how challenging it was to even walk around the world freely since, at his appearance, people would scream in fear (Shelley, 170). As such, the monster is a monster because of the doctor. Indeed, in Shelley's narrative, there are two monsters: the creator and the monster itself.
As such, the monster acted the way he did since he was rejected by all people around him, even the person who created him. He never experienced the true meaning of a relationship and kindness. Therefore, the monster was not able to show kindness and love since he does not know their meaning. All Frankenstein showed him was resentment and coldness, although he was at fault for everything that occurred. He was the creator and should shoulder the burden of his creation (Sherwin, 891). The monster murdered all people Frankenstein love. However, he gave the doctor an ultimatum and a chance to change things. In fact, the doctor is a real monster. To the society, he was what the monster was to him since he developed a killing machine that did not stop killing, not until it kills him too.
While the creature’s actions were extreme, it is not ascertainable whether if Frankenstein had stayed and cared for him, showing emotions of compassion and love instead of disgust and hate; he would have been completely fulfilled and harmless. Nevertheless, through Shelley’s story, they claim that most of the monsters' despicable crimes would not have happened holds. The monster throughout has been looking for acceptance by people, which is demonstrated by his lone request when he encounters the doctor for the first time “you must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being”(Shelley, 174). Thus, Frankenstein demonstrating these emotions of compassion and love towards the beast would have been the start of preventing the creature’s sense of hopelessness (Shelley, 114). Essentially, this is why Frankenstein is at fault irrespective of whether an individual believes in the morality of creating sentient life.
Frankenstein did not give a human name to the creature he created and gave life. He simply referred to the creature as a miserable monster (Shelley, 59). As such, Shelley did not give a name to the hideous monster due to the fear of the unknown. Lack of a name dehumanized it and made the beast to be hideous. On the contrary, the author gave it human traits by permitting the hideous creature to read, learn another language, talk, and even exhibit emotions (Hetherington, 24). As such, Shelley associates Frankenstein's creation as a product of a lack of responsibility and neglect by the creator. The heinous actions of the monster are a result of the horror of man, not the beast. It was not the monster's choice to be created, nor did he choose to be viewed the way they did. Ideally, the creator made these choices for him, and the outcome made people around the monster, including Frankenstein himself, reject him, which contributed to his misery and heinous actions.
Moreover, the creation start of life is comparable to a new-born child. The responsibility of ensuring a healthy upbringing lies with the parents, and no one would blame the child when everything they learn has been viewed with discrimination and prejudice. The creature begs his creator to turn a favorable eye upon him and pleads the goodness and compassion (Shelley, 114). Furthermore, society is partly to blame. Despite Frankenstein being responsible for bringing the creature to life, there were many other people along the way who could have shown compassion and love to the monster, preventing him from the miserable wreck that he turns out to be at the end of the book. If someone in the society had been kind to the monster, the heinous actions he committed would not have happened. Had the society accepted the creation, he would not have experienced misery. He would not have any reason for revenge, which is indicated by the monster's desire for a companion who is just like him and understands him. Therefore, Shelley utilizing society as an antagonistic character is a part of her wish for a more equal and accommodating society.
Frankenstein's advice, which reflects Shelley’s is that wisdom should not temper our excuses; a person should always preserve a peaceful and calm mind and never permit transitory desire or passion for disturbing their tranquillity (Shelley, 56). One aspect of the doctor's failed trial is his lack of moderation; he is self-absorbed and has excessive ardor. He confesses that he knows and understands his father’s feelings but cannot separate himself from his job, which has held his imagination (Shelley, 56). The creation swallowed up every habit of the doctor’s nature both before and after creation. To begin with, the doctor is to blame for his incapability to mitigate his obsession and passion. In fact, in his attempts to create a being, he had become highly nervous and neglected his family and time. He becomes oblivious to how grossly he was engrossed in his occupation (Shelley, 57). He even ruminates that obsessive, intense, and unbalanced spirit may drive humankind forward headlong into danger. Thus, the doctor is to blame since all the problems that occurred as a result of his deeds. He worked with the passion that superseded the moderation. Moreover, in the aftermath of Justine's murder, the doctor agonizingly claims that the tortures of the accused did not equal his exposing the creator's extent of self-pity and painful self-conscious emphasizing the horror of his actions.
The notion of Frankenstein creating a death machine reflects the human ability to create evil (Sherwin, 1981). As such, the monster created by the doctor was frightening and a new way to die. Hence, the doctor pursued more irresponsible and uncommitted inventions. Shelley sheds light on enormous effect engineers and scientists can have in the world if they pursue inventions without being responsible. As such, Frankenstein not being careful in experiment lead the monster to turn into a killing machine. It highlights the desire by Frankenstein to demonstrate that after death there is nothing and ends up creating a fatal creature, an 8 foot tall hideously ugly creation (Sherwin, 1981). As such, Frankenstein is to blame for the monster's actions due to his lack of caution. Ideally, if Frankenstein were more careful and responsible, all those people he loved would have still been alive.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the doctor, the society, and the monster are responsible for the heinous creature's actions. However, the doctor should bear the blame for all the killings since he is the one who created the creature. He shows disgust and dislikes to the creature from the very beginning of his life. He was made to wander the world alone. As such, the creature did not learn to be kind, to love, or show compassion, which contributed to how he turned out. Moreover, regardless of the doctor's failed experiment, the society also did not show the monster the love and compassion he deserved as its member to ensure he is not miserable. People would scream out of fear upon their encounter with the monster. They showed him coldness and resentment, which partly contributed to his heinous actions. Lastly, despite how miserable he was, the monster himself did not have the moral authority to kill. His actions were extreme. However, Frankenstein and the society's coldness and resentment toward him led him to feel miserable and prompted him to seek revenge.
