Frankenstein in Context

Jordan Anderson

Laura Cline

English 102

15 October, 2011

Frankenstein was a good novel. It surprised me because I kind of thought it was going to be a boring old novel and I didn’t know what to expect. I like how everything seemed to relate to each other. It was interesting. I thought it was full of emotion. I thought it was thought provoking in the sense that I had to stop reading a few times to think about something from the book and how an idea relates to my life. Numerous themes stuck out in the telling of the story. They were the creation of life, the danger of having ambition, loneness, duty, family, guilt, justice, and perspective, purpose of life, sacrifice, revenge, and appearance. I think shelly wanted us to be happy with what we are that we should not strive for ambition but be happy with our relationships with our family and friends because they are what matter most.

We must strive for tranquility. Earlier in the novel Frankenstein it reads, “A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his transquillity” (Shelley 33). Even Frankenstein believes this and that many problems in the world wouldn’t have occurred if this was true. His understanding was in retrospect though as a result of telling his story to Walton. Frankenstein understands where his attention should be focused but it’s too late. Mary Poovey writes, “But ironically, the very gesture that disciplines his desire has already destroyed the possibility of reestablishing relationships with his loved ones” (Poovey 255).

Frankenstein sacrifices himself for humanity. He recognizes that he would be selfish if he didn’t. In the novel Frankenstein says, “I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had hesitated to buy its own peace at the price perhaps of the existence of the whole human race” (Shelley 114).  He wouldn’t want to create a female for that if they reproduce they could create a race of hateful monsters. The result could destroy humanity with Frankenstein to blame. He couldn’t live with that.

Frankenstein is devoid of life because all his closest friends and family were dead. Because of this he had no other reason to live. His purpose is to track down and kill his creation. Only then can he die. In the novel he says, “I must pursue and destroy the being to whom I gave existence; then my lot on earth will be fulfilled, and I may die” (Shelley 148). 

Frankenstein becomes a monster just like his creation by the end. I am supported here by Levine when he writes, “As they pursue their separate lives, they increasingly resemble and depend upon each other so that by the end Frankenstein pursues his own monster” (Levine 209). This is all true with all the characters. All the major and minor characters are echoes of each other.  Both Frankenstein and Walton resemble each other. Both are explorers trying to gain knowledge and both have ambition. Walton puts his desires first at the expense of his sister and admits his adventure might end badly. Walton writes in a letter to his sister, “You will not hear of my destruction, and you will anxiously await my return. Years will pass, and you will have visiting of despair, and yet be tortured by hope” (Shelley 148). Frankenstein spent a great amount of his time working on creating life at the expense of his family. His family was worrying from Frankenstein ignoring their letters. This is because Frankenstein placed them second to his interests and desires. Frankenstein advises Walton to learn from him. Walton does learn from Victor, The author writes that because Walton rejects Victor’s wish for vengeance and ends his arctic exploration, “He is finally freed into a better (and perhaps a lesser) life” (Levine 210).

Throughout the whole book we went from this good fortune guy who had a great life but by the end we are at this desolate lifeless arctic environment. “It is the story of two antithetical modes of parenting that give rise to two increasingly parallel lives- the life of Victor Frankenstein, who is the beloved child of two doting parents, and the life of the monster he single-handedly creates, who is immediately spurned and abandoned by his creator” ( Johnson 242). Because Frankenstein’s monster was created and not born he was never a belonging or brought up in a family. From the death of his family Frankenstein becomes like his creation. Levine writes, “What Frankenstein’s ambition costs him is the family connection which makes life humanly possible” (Levine 213). In the desolate artic Frankenstein dies with his thirst for revenge unsatisfied.  He gives advice for Walton, the arctic explorer.

I thought the novel did a good job of putting the emotions of the characters out there. Sure most of these emotions were depressing. I knew at some point that the monster would kill the rest of his family but I was just waiting for him to act. He could strike at any moment and Frankenstein didn’t have much protection or much of anything he could do about it. Frankenstein lives in fear and so carried weapons but it didn’t do him any good, “I carried pistols and a dagger constantly about me, and was ever on the watch to prevent artifice; and by these means gained a greater degree of tranquility” (Shelley 133).

Frankenstein’s monster just wanted a connection with another being but that connection would never occur for various reasons. One reason was that he was eight feet tall and hideous looking. His appearance is the reason for being treated as an outcast. He looks the part so he became the part; He becomes the monster everyone thinks he is. Was this his destiny? He put all this work into understanding language and he became part of the family for the time. With the monster wanting connection, he later asks his creator to create another female monster he could share with and he would be happy and live in exile. This is all he needs but he is denied this. Victor Frankenstein does not want to create another monster.

Everyone strives for connection. The monster’s sole wish is to have a companion. After the speaking his story of how he came to be, the monster explains to Frankenstein, “You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being” (Shelley 98). While Frankenstein had these connections growing up, he didn’t realize this was all he needed.  He wanted more when he had all he needed and after the fact that he created the monster he realizes this.

Frankenstein hid the secret for creating life because some things are meant to be unknown because they can cause a lot of problems. After Walton asks how exactly the creature was made Frankenstein responds with, “Or to what do your questions tend? Peace, peace! Learn my miseries, and do not seek to increase your own” (Shelley 146).  This relates to the time period though and historical and author background. Science of the time wasn’t too advanced. Scientists thought that to create life, “A mysterious superadded force was needed, some subtile, mobile, invisible substance, analogous on the one hand to soul and on the other to electricity” (Butler 304).

The monster just wanted what Frankenstein had all along. If his demands weren’t met then he would make Frankenstein suffer, “I will revenge my injuries: if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear; and chiefly towards you my arch-enemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred” (Shelley 98). Frankenstein refuses his demands. As a result the monster takes away all those he loved. With all his family members dead, Victor has no reason to live. Shelley wanted to show how ambition can lead to neglecting the meaningful relationships.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. Print.

Levine, George. "Frankenstein and the Tradition of Realism." Frankenstein.  Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. 208-214. Print.

Johnson, Barbara. “My Monster/My Self.” Frankenstein.  Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. 241-251. Print.

Poovey, Mary. “My Hideous Progeny: The Lady and the Monster.” Frankenstein.   Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. 251-261. Print.

Butler, Marilyn. “Frankenstein and Radical Science.” Frankenstein.  Ed. J. P. Hunter. New York: Norton & Company, 1996. 302-313. Print.