Frankenstein

Frankenstein tries to act like God and that leads to disastrous consequences. For example, he says, “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world” (52). Thus, Frankenstein is trying to break the boundaries of life and death. While life could be represented by the “torrent of life” while death could be represented by the “dark world,” the outcome of Frankenstein’s creation is ironic. Instead of producing a torrent of light and life, the monster brings even more misery into Frankenstein’s life. When Frankenstein takes tries to take on the godlike role, nothing good comes out of it. Thus, Shelley could be criticizing man’s attempt to live beyond the limits. In her criticism, technology is very much connected to crossing the preset boundaries. Frankenstein’s creation represents a new type of technology that does more harm than good. Such technology is found everywhere in the modern world. Television and video games often produce more harm than good.

As Frankenstein tries to act like God, he sins more and more. One of his worst sins is indirectly killing William and Justine. By creating a monster and then taking no responsibility for it, Frankenstein is very naïve. He simply lets the monster go into the wild with little concern for its safety or the safety of others. Thus, Frankenstein is very selfish. Because of Frankenstein’s unconcern, William dies. Furthermore, when Justine is murdered because the town thinks that she is the murder, Frankenstein does little to stop it. Once again, he has trouble accepting responsibility for his actions. Because of his naiveté and negligence, two murders occur. In fact, Frankenstein is more responsible for the murders than the monster is. It is thus hard to discern whether Frankenstein is a good or evil character.