Dr. Frankenstein Treated Frankenstein as a Science Project

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‘Responsible creativity’ is a term, which entails that the creator is responsible for its creation. The parent of a child has an obligation to be the voice of reason and guidance. Pity can be felt by understand that it is your fault that something terrible has happened to someone else. (Hustis 845) Victor refuses to feel even that, Victor transfers his responsibilities of the monster and the disasters it caused to the “Angel of Destruction”. Parental guidance is something that cannot be replaced or found elsewhere. Which is something Victor even admits to, “The innocent and helpless creature.. direct to happiness or misery.. towards me.” (Shelly, 12) It is also foreshadowing of Victors blame deflecting, he is talking about it is the creators fault how its creations turn out, either to “happiness or misery”, but then blames the “Angel of Destructions”. It is shocking, and ironic that Victor, who expressed such importance of the value of parental guidance, is unaware of how he neglected the monster and felt no sympathy towards him, all this lead to the monster feeling nothing eternally and hating mankind. The monster shows no remorse at all after killing an innocent child, even clapping his hands afterwards. True benevolence pity is something that the monster never felt, the monster had hoped to receive it from its creator who himself was too disgusted by its creation to feel such emotions. Had the monster had this last hope of pity, the monster would have been keener of mankind.

It is clear that in Frankenstein, that the monster has no parental guidance to show it that mankind is not all bad. Hatred and agony is all that is ever shown to it and it is all that it ever showed. Parents have a responsibility to give a child a nurturing upbringing; the obligation increases if the child has special needs. It is clear that Victor, the creator of the monster is in a case of ‘unwanted pregnancy’, this is where he resents his creation and neglects it, which causes the child/creation to feel loneliness, and hatred towards the parent/creator. The hatred towards Victor is far exceeded because of the De Lacy family who showed the monster what a creator is suppose to do for its child. Victor had a chance to show the monster that mankind is good, that Victor is good, and that the monster itself can be good. Victor could have shown the monster compassion and helped the monster see that mankind is good by making the monster a companion, but one knee-jerk reaction after seeing the monsters face made Victor change his mind. Which lead to the monster losing faith in mankind and boiling its hatred toward Victor. Victor showed no remorse towards the monster, no responsibility and no benevolent pity. Which in return is what the monster showed the world. Victor had many chances to mold the monster into a benevolent being, but refused to do so by not showing any guidance, support, or pity. Victor’s negligence lead to the monsters hatred towards mankind.

Work Cited

Hustis, Harriet. “Responsible Creativity and the "modernity" of Mary Shelley's Prometheus”. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 43.4 (2003): 845–858. Web...