Frankenstein

In Frankenstein, there are characters who have questionable morality. The morality of a character becomes apparent by the circumstances they are given and the actions they take. Frankenstein was misunderstood as a child; this does give him some sympathy. However, his display of immorality creates the blood of various characters in the novel and gave no sympathy to his creation. This makes his moral state clear: a true monster. While it is clear Frankenstein has no morality, it is actually the monster in this novel whose morality is ambiguous. The monster’s noble actions and search for understanding are clouded by the derailments that occur by misunderstanding and isolation.

From the second the monster is born, he is abandoned, lonely, judged, and misunderstood. “His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped, and rushed down stairs” (Shelley 61). This line foreshadows the misunderstanding and loneliness that is to come. The first action by the monster is a smile, which is a sign of friendliness. However, the monster is even given the chance to be heard. Otherwise, his intentions might not seem so evil to everyone; instead, the monster is already judged by his appearance solely. Victor does not own up the responsibility of watching his creation and abandons it. Interestingly, the monster’s appearance is the design of Victor; he already knew how the monster was to look. Thus, the monster is isolated from human contact because his design is not of a normal human. Without a human to speak for this monster’s generosity, he is solely seen as a demon. This type of treatment will eventual...

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...fore, ironically, the monster proved to be more human than anyone else in the novel. It seemed that he had an innate sense to care: he saved the girl from drowning. The monster also had the ability to forgive; the monster would leave Victor if given a companion. The monster had a creator like humans are said to have, and the revenge that the monster took are also actions humans would take. After All, the monster killing William and having Justine wrongfully executed is just as wrong as Victor not speaking up for Justine. If Victor is considered human, the separation between the monster being human is miniscule. All that made the monster different than someone who would said to be human is the appearance of the monster. It is possible that science was moving too quickly and caused the onset of the destruction in the novel. As far as the monster, he truly was good.