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Introduction
Most students are familiar with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Many English and Literature classes include the reading and review of her book in their syllabuses.
One of the main topics of discussion after reading this book would be identifying who the true monster is. The author of this sample essay believes that Victor is the real monster in the book and not the thing he created.
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Uncovering the True Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
In reading the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, it is almost too easy to refer to the monster as the one that Dr. Victor Frankenstein created. After all, it fits all the characteristics of what we perceive as monstrous. Its physical appearance was horrific-looking. His yellow skin scarcely covered the mashup of flesh underneath. It had straight black lips, watery eyes, and so many bodily imperfections made of dead body parts. It eventually went on a mad killing spree. One would not be surprised that disgust filled everyone who had a chance to encounter it.
However, in this essay, I want to invite you to rethink your perspective. I believe that Victor’s creation was not the actual monster in this story; that it was, in fact, his creator who is the true villain. I will be sharing some of my reflections from this profound book.
How Mary Shelley Challenged Our Perception of Evil
I think that Mary Shelley is a brilliant author. At the outset, Frankenstein seems like a straightforward enough story about the creation of a monster that was set loose on unsuspecting people. If we do not catch ourselves, it is easy to box the thing Victor created into the label of “monster.” After all, it fit the physical description and external behavior of the villains we often see in popular horror movies.
However, going deeper into the story, Shelley makes us think harder about how we truly understand evil. Is evil only about the act of doing wrong itself? Or is it important to look at the context of the deed? Applying it to Frankenstein’s creation: did it really do everything because it wanted to harm people and be “bad“? Or was there a deeper wound or trauma behind its actions?
Evil is so much more than what the hands commit. It starts in the mind and heart and works its way outward into action. The miserable monster that we think is the villain of the story was simply responding to the way it had been treated, and out of wounds that were created by the one who made him.
Meet the True Villain, Victor Frankenstein
I am convinced that the true monster of this story is not the creature, but the creator. Victor Frankenstein carelessly fashioned a creature out of an evil desire to be God-like. He was said to have paranoid schizophrenia and longed to have a creature that would worship and adore him.
A truly sad moment is when Victor abandons his creation after giving it life, leaving it to its devices. This was the origin of its abandonment wound, and it goes on in the book to say that a big reason why it evolved in a monstrous manner is Victor abandoning it. Victor’s hostility towards the creature also did not help.
A very selfish person, Victor did not understand and accept the implications of creating life. He did not take ownership of his actions and did not have any accountability at all. He simply indulged his desire to be worshiped and adored and let human beings respond the way they wanted to when they encountered the beast.
The story also portrayed how human nature is naturally afraid of the unknown. Because they were not familiar with the creature and didn’t understand it, they turned against it. This was a big reason why the creature’s actions turned monstrous. It was rejected and humiliated in every way, and it was reacting from a place of hurt and confusion.
Conclusion
It is so important for us to understand the different characters of a story and really dig beneath the obvious layers of their personality. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein gave us the opportunity to reframe our thinking and explore a deeper understanding of a familiar concept. We were forced to also look inward and reflect if there is a sense of true monstrosity within ourselves.
More than a horror story, Frankenstein is a parable about society’s evils and man’s core fears, and how these elements interact on a regular basis. It is a lesson on identifying true evil beyond the behavior and responding in a way that addresses it.
FAQs
Contrary to popular belief, Frankenstein’s monster is not the creature, but the creator himself. Victor Frankenstein displayed and exemplified the real traits of a monstrous and evil villain. He had a God complex, a desire to be worshiped, and an obsession with creating life. He channeled these desires in a selfish way by abandoning the creature he made and leaving it to innocently deal with the equally-naive reactions of other human beings.
He did not teach it how to navigate its way around society; in fact, he was hostile to it from the moment he gave it life. He set his creation up to fail from the very beginning. He had no regard and felt no remorse for his actions and their consequences. His very selfishness led to his own demise.
How Are Frankenstein And The Monster Different?
Perhaps what is most ironic in reading the story Frankenstein is that the perceived monster actually possessed more “human” qualities than Victor Frankenstein. It felt all sorts of human emotions such as hurt, betrayal, disappointment, and fear. He had a longing to be loved and accepted, yet experienced rejection and abandonment. Much like humans, he acted out of a response to his unresolved wounds. His creator, on the other hand, wanted to be just like God, and so acted in that manner. We know that God and humans are on opposite ends of the spectrum on basis of perfection, as humans are flawed in every way.