Frankenstein

8 Pages 2120 Words

A novel can be judged in many ways for many things. One of these things is the relevance of its theme, not only to the time period of the book, but to the author’s time period and the time period of the reader as well. For a book to have a lasting effect on society throughout the years, the reader of all time periods must be able to relate to that theme. Frankenstein is a novel that has fit itself to this mold very well. The theme of a creator’s responsibility for his or her creation and the dangers of science are a common theme throughout Frankenstein. The discussion of these topics has been prevalent in every society since the novel’s creation, from the science and technology of Mary Shelly’s society, to our science and technology today.
From the very start of the novel, Victor Frankenstein shows great interest in the sciences. After his childhood, he pursued a university education, where he studied the natural sciences. It wasn’t long before Frankenstein realized he carried an interest for the mysteries of life. This interest sparked Victor into attempting to discover a way to create a living being. After years of studying, he finally discovers a way to complete this dangerous task. Victor then works for months and succeeds in giving the breath of life into a hideous creature (Magill 1267). He realizes very quickly that he took it upon himself to try and go above God’s power, and leaves the creature to try and survive on its own. The creature goes through a series of rejections by mankind, first starting with a group of cottagers, then with Victor’s brother. His meeting with Victor’s brother ended up in a massacre, as he killed William with his bare hands. This was the first form of revenge on his creator. Victor finally meets with the creature, only to find that his worst nightmare has come true (Moss 117-118). He has become disgusted with Victor, and with society, because they have rejected him so forcefully. Beca...