Frankenstein Essay Examples

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein highlights the fact that the creator’s existence has a direct effect on the creature. Throughout the work the creature of Frankenstein when burdened with the knowledge of his creator cripples underneath it. He finds it difficult to put together his own level of self awareness with his exasperating longing to seek the approval as well as the acceptance of the divine. It is very difficult to differentiate the views of the author, a renowned atheist, from the views and narrations of the novel. Shelly makes constant comparisons of the development of humans with both the help and interruptions of religion and God and without any religious affiliations and just through secular as well as humanistic relationships. Consequently, what Shelly achieves with this piece of writing is the final conclusion that the development of one’s spirituality as well as morality is best acquired when one lets go of inflexible and rigid religious beliefs as a result of which the process of attaining self-actualization occurs without any affiliation with God.
The negative effect of the creator of the creature emanates from the fact that the creator is in a continuous struggle to be at peace with his creature. The creature struggles to have the approval of the creator through his actions. Additionally, the play highlights the human development in both the religious and humanistic relationships. In this regard, human development can easily be compared with other humanistic developments. The move results in the elimination of God from the plans of attaining self-actualization. The objectives of the people can be attained through the adoption of different dogmatic structures, which establish the course of the atheists. It is manifest in the celebration of Frankenstein for the demise of the creator. The death gave him the freedom from dependence on the creator in order for him to have freedom. There are many biblical references, which indicate that scriptures complement the secular aspect. The secular content of the text exposes the danger of the nature of knowledge.
The use of biblical symbolism indicates the relevance of the Bible in the play. The outcast and the story of the creation point of the creation of God. Human civilization usually gives way to spiritual enrichment. There is an allegory about the loss of Adam in the Garden of Eden. It clearly indicates that the play recognizes the importance of biblical reference. According to Shelley, Adam meets his fate after sinning against God. Victor is responsible for the creature’s hideous nature. Consequently, the creator is spurned (Cobley, Shalvey and Shelley). The rejection of the creature causes him to retaliate. The illustration of the creation is consistent throughout the play. The monster in the play manages to establish his code of behavior regardless of the fact that there are no cultivation and morality in the land. The code of conduct is based on the behaviors exhibited by other people. Additionally, the Frankenstein acquires a sense of instinct without the involvement of God. There is another biblical reference pertaining to the prodigal son. Frankenstein is compelled to eat with the pigs like the prodigal son. The monster does not harm the pigs for food; instead he values the company of the pigs. However, the prodigal son could not kill and eat the pigs because it was a taboo. In this regard, the monster avoided killing the pigs because of morality. The monster considers the eating of corns and berries better than the killing and eating of eh pigs. The creature says, “my food is not that of a man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berryafford me sufficient nourishment” (Shelley, 2012, p. 34) (M. W. Shelley). The excerpt shows the moral standard of the monster. The monster can discern what is wrong and right independent of God’s intervention. He isolated soul is akin to the lost prodigal son in the biblical scriptures. The creature also endeavors to establish the meaning of his existence. However, his mission is futile because there is no person who gives him a conclusive answer pertaining to his curiosity.
The creature is mesmerized by the beauty of nature, which creates much desire and anxiety. In this regard, the creature is inquisitive and hilarious. The creature asserts “ I admired virtue and good feelings and loved the gentle manners and amiable qualities of my cottagers” (Cobley, 2008, p. 47) (M. Shelley). The creature also alludes to the cottagers although he is never associated with them. However, the creature creatively uses the cottagers in order to find his place in society. In this regard, the creature develops a relationship, which traces the kinship of the cottagers. Although the cottagers are isolated, they are still under the guidance and protection of God. The creature has acquired the sense of morality just through observation of the cottagers’ way of life. There is a close correlation between the Cain and Abel story and the Frankenstein’s story. However, the story does not recognize God’s involvement in the well-being of the creatures. In this respect, the story does not match with the biblical story with certainty. The creature in the story glorifies the emotional reactions as a guide to his discernment of the environment around him.
As the creature wanders all over the world without the Creator’s guidance means that he is isolated from God’s cover like Cain. The fact that Cain was separated from God because of killing an innocent soul matches with the creature’s desolate life. The creature in the story has a desire to be incorporated with the other cottagers because of the life they lead (Gialanella). The cottages lead a better life than the monster. For this reason, the creature feels that it is better to join the way of life of the cottagers in order to have the benefits guaranteed to the cottagers. It is manifest when the creature remarks, “ The more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness ” (Hutchinson, 2010, p. 62) (M. W. Shelley). The cottagers were also kind, and the creature admired the love of the cottagers. In this regard, the creature considered the value of God the creator given that it is the creator who afforded the creatures the kindness and love.
The creature portrays simplicity and meekness in his bid to join the cottagers. The agitation and need to join the cottagers confirms that there is a close bond between the creatures and humanity. In this regard, he must depend on his creator because of his vulnerable state of humanity. The creature needed love and kindness just like his counterparts. The creature thought that he did not deserve the kindness and love, although he desperately needed the love and kindness of all humanity. However, the creature has a conviction that he can emotionally and psychologically reciprocate like the rest of the cottagers. Additionally, the creature did not believe that he could coexist with the rest of the cottagers. The creature manages to learn from his cottagers through the continuous interaction. The social interaction made the creature learn and understand his place in society (Koontz).
The interaction between the creatures with the cottagers enabled him to learn many moral values and vices. It is manifested when the creature remarks, “ I read of men concerned in public affairs, governing or massacring their species ” (Koontz, 2012, p. 67). The creature in the Frankenstein story develops the morality independent of religious influence. The creatures are characterized by reaction to pain and pleasure. The reaction to the two aspects is fundamental to his development in the human sphere. The reaction to pain and pleasure enable him to discern the wrong and evil in society ((Koontz 67). The discernment helps him to accept the reality of his humanity and the need to join the cottagers. He was impressed by the cottagers’ lives and the harmony and peace among them. The cottagers challenged the monster on the aspects of social life and the pursuance of virtues in life and deprecation of all vices. The cottagers served with the cream of society. The creature considered the cottagers as role models because of their good behavior and social interactions. Additionally, the cottagers provided the creature with moral values including love and kindness. The creature can learn and follow the virtuous behavior of the cottagers and any person of good virtues.
The monster does not require spiritual intervention for him to learn the good morals from eh cottagers. This situation is the reason for the absence of Bible related literature in his education. Despite the fact that the creature does not rely on God for inspiration, he is astute in learning morals. This creature’s ardor for virtue and abhorrence for vices is an important foundation for his intellectual development. The desire to the virtuous as the cottagers helps him to be making good human relations. In this regard, he achieves the objective of self-education. The affiliation of the cottagers to God is attributed to the civilization and societal values. The cottagers believe the existence of God, who is their protector and guider. For this reason, the belief in God among the cottagers is not based on the difference between the cottagers and the creature. In this regard, the monster is not evil but lacks civilization and exposure. The creature is created with the human nature. However, the creature needs good upbringing in order to have a better understanding of his existence.
The monster is an epitome of hope for all the atheists in the world. He learned the virtue of kindness and love through the emulation of the cottagers’ way of life. The creature is also an icon of post-enlightenment pessimism (Cobley, Shalvey and Shelley). However, his human nature is manifest in his rejection cruelty in response to rejection by his fellow human beings. Human interaction also makes the creature explore his potential and understand his limits. It is not evil, which drives him to find out his place in society. The enormity of God is awesome. The creature can understand the principle of God through the interaction with his fellow men that are conversant with God’s providence and mercy. The cottagers understand their place in society and know the contribution of God to their lives. Civilization helps in enlightening of the creature. The monster is enlightened by the discovery of the four circumstances of his existence on earth. The enlightenment is manifest when the creature says, “ everything is related in them which bears reference to my accursed origin; the whole detail of that series of disgusting circumstances, which produced it is set in view” (M. Shelley). The creature exhibits a digression in this section because he accepts to join the cottagers’ way of life after realizing his place in society.
The understanding of his natural circumstances enables him to be liberal in his approach to life. In addition, the self-isolation of the creature is counterproductive because he realizes that there is no value in isolation. He finds solace in continuous interaction with the cottagers. The self-actualization makes him appreciate the status of the cottagers and the existence of God. In fact, the creature disowns his values when he is introduced to the Oracle and doctrines of God. He considers his values obsolete and inconsequential and adopts the value system of the creator, Victor. Secularization played a crucial role in the enlightenment of the human beings. The freedom of choice also enhances the application of free will to an extent God and Satan were purportedly ignored. The monster, creature, is assumed to be a retribution of heaven because of the sin of playing with God, the creator. The creator is responsible for the demise of the people he adored, and his ego dominates his operations. The possession of knowledge is accompanied by responsibility. In this regard, the ignorance of the responsibility culminates in severe consequences (Koontz).
The creator, Victor, had power and authority and was responsible for the welfare of all his subjects. He failed to recognize his responsibility, hence some of his loved ones passed on. The monster finds a counselor in the person of Frankenstein. The creature makes a comparison of his beliefs with the beliefs of Frankenstein. The meditation of his contradictory beliefs subject to the creator’s oracles drives him to a state of self-loathing. The remorse overwhelms the monster who resolves to a revenge mission against the creator. The reaction is informed of the response of Frankenstein to the needs of the creature. However, the monster believes sin violence when he wants attention. The monster’s stress and fear drive him violent to scare away any threats. The emotional state makes him vulnerable; hence, he applies violence as a defense and a means of seeking attention from his creator. The death of Frankenstein is a relief for the creature. The monster’s happiness is express when he remarks, “ that is also my victim! After his murder my crimes are consummated; the miserable series of my being is wound to its close” (Gialanella) The battle was over for the monster because he had pursued Frankenstein all his life. The death of the creator marked a new dawn for the creature. The new dawn was characterized by the freedom of the creature to determine his destiny and fate. The creature could also afford to pursue his course instead of relying on the ideals of the creator. The monster does not need to struggle anymore to attain and achieve the standard values of the creator (Hutchinson 97). The creature can pursue any goal he desires, including death given the freedom in the absence of the creator.
The book talks about important characteristics of human interactions. It talks at length about the human tendency to enhance his/her capacity to interact with other people. Thus the creature in Frankenstein also tries to enhance its ability to converse with other people and thus help him establish his own standing in the human world by teaching himself values and morals. The creature read literature about people who were either governing large towns or were killing innocent people and the creature is noted to have said that he felt a passion for the goodness in people and abhorrence for the bad stuff. This book touches important aspects of society like the fact about religion. The creature is said to have taught himself his own moral system which was not influenced by either religion or maker of mythology, whether this is the correct way to discipline oneself or not is left to the interpretation of the writer. Another important aspect of human life talked about through this instance of the creature developing his own moral system is when it is stated that the reasons or the motivation behind attaching any goodness or bad reaction to anything would be solely through the sensation of either pleasure or pain felt after getting the knowledge of the event. This can be signified as an important aspect of the personal as well as emotional development of the creature. The creature is shown to be struggling to make his way into society and he tries to do so by trying to clarify his moral standing about what is right and what is wrong and what can be classified as plain evil. This helps him integrate into and earn the acceptance of the human society that he so desires. The people living in the cottages near him were his main source of information. He would read about their history and try to understand their sociology. The creature has been reported to say that the cottagers were such fascinating people (Hutchinson). They had such a deep and enriching history which greatly impacts the creature and when he views their sociology he adores their goodness while feeling extremely pained at their vices. This narration of the creature is possibly one of the very rare instances when the human society had any positive impact on the creature as opposed to having an opposite evil impact on him, as is normal throughout the book. The cottagers, unknowingly, became his moral compass. They taught him the differentiation between good and evil just by their regular human interactions.
Thus, to conclude it all, it is evident that the creature from Frankenstein had the ability to adopt moral as well as virtuous behavior even though he was not influenced by anything spiritual or divine, which makes his moral compass more unbiased. It signifies an important aspect of sociology that even though the scripture of the monster of Frankenstein is mostly devoid of any mentioning of the Bible or any other religious affiliation yet he did develop a sense of values, ethics in addition to morality. The creature self educated himself, with the end being his learning positive ways to interact with humans which he did learn by his like for virtue and abhorrence for evil. Hence, the creature of Frankenstein did develop a sense of right and wrong and that too without religion, so the moral of the book is simply that people, like Frankenstein’s monster, are born pure and it is through interactions (or lack thereof) with civilizations that they can structure a sense of morality and only after that can they develop any understanding of God.

Works Cited

Cobley, Jason, Declan Shalvey and Mary W. Shelley. Frankenstein: The graphic Novel: original text. Towcester, 2008.
Hutchinson, Gialanella. Frankenstein, a play in two acts. New York:N.Y: Dramatists Play Service, 2011.
Koontz, Dean R. Prodigal son. London: Harper, 2012.
Shelley, Mary. Classics Illustrated: Frankenstein & notes. New York: Acclaim Books. , 2012.
Shelley, Mary W. Frankenstein. . Irvine: Saddleback Educational Pub., 2010.