Frankenstein - Week 3

[Deborah, Moderator]

As a courtesy to other members who may not have read ahead, please be sensitive regarding spoilers. If you use a spoiler in your post, please utilize the spoiler function.

The monster continues his story. We find that he can appreciate nature and beauty. He seems to feel things keenly, he requests a companion be created. And Frankenstein reluctantly agrees. Frankenstein heads to England for research.

What is a monster?

How did loneliness affect the monster? Lack of acceptance? Lack of love?

What is Shelley saying about the human condition?

[Lori, Moderator]

Yes, I think "What is a monster" is the central question of this book.

"The monster" was not a monster when he was created. He inclined toward goodness. But he became a monster later. How much of that was due to how he was treated and how much was due to his own choices?

Here in the US, this conversation often comes up after school shootings. The shooter is almost always a kid who was not accepted. And then people start encouraging kids to befriend "outcasts" so they don't become dangerous.

And then others respond that a lot of kids are bullied, and most of them don't go on to shoot up a school or be violent at all. The kids who go on to become shooters are often already outcasts for good reason: they were not nice people to begin with, and kids shouldn't be expected to befriend kids who are not nice in order to prevent them from becoming worse.

Which side is right? (Leaving out the gun issue since it's not related to the story.) In my opinion, both are to some degree. You should not bully others. Kids should be taught to not judge people on their looks. Kids should be taught to befriend friendless kids IF they are nice. Kids should not be made to play with other kids who are mean to them. They should not be "guilted" for not having befriended a kid who turns out to be violent. People who go on to commit acts of violence have brains like anyone else and are responsible for their own choices.

How "human" was "the monster"? The way he was treated played some part in turning him bad. But he also made his own choices. He chose to kill William and let Justine die for the crime. It can be argued that since he was created full-sized and not raised by parents in a community, he did not learn morals and cannot be held responsible in the same way a normal person would be for his actions. He is technically only a few years old.

Can the villagers be blamed for their reactions? What could we realistically expect of them? To them, he probably looks like a demon. Can we really expect them to give him a chance? Ideally they would, but probably not in the real world.

Is Frankenstein a monster? He created "the monster" and didn't take responsibility for him. "The monster" would not have become a monster if Frankenstein had not run away after creating him.

Some casual racism in this section.

[Rafael]

I agree. There's a lot of racism and culture bias.

I don't know if at that time, or any time, harens were a common thing and even if they were is not like all the women would be put there. It make the Turks be like they do treat women worse than the europeans did.