Responsibility In Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein

As scientists pursue the progress of science, it would be good if they could do so to benefit the human race. However, if scientific discoveries are motivated by selfish ambition, and scientists do not take responsibility for them if fail, their creations might become threats to humans. As the novel Frankenstein, written by the English author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, tells the story of a young scientist Victor Frankenstein who unintentionally creates a grotesque creature in a scientific experiment, and this causes the tragedy for the rest of his life, and the death of many innocent people. When people read this book, many of them might see the creature as a monster because the term “monster” basically refers to an imaginary creature that

Frankenstein. Indeed, the creature is guilty of taking the lives of innocent people, however, if Dr. Frankenstein had taken any responsibility for it, and if humans had treated the creature nicely instead of being violent, it might not have turned out to be a killer. Therefore, even though the creature in Frankenstein seems to be the monster, since it has a horrific appearance, and eventually kills people, it is actually a victim; Dr. Frankenstein is the actual monster because he is the person who created the creature for his own gain, but did not take responsibility for it, and ultimately caused the deaths of other people. Dr. Frankenstein’s obsession with validating his superior intelligence leads him to violate the law of nature, and create the creature. When Dr. Frankenstein discovers the secret of life, he is so delight because he thinks he becomes “greater than his nature will allow.” (43) He is enjoyable having the ability as “god” does (42). At first, he hesitates a little bit, but he cannot compress his thirst for success so he

The When the creature was brought to life, it was like an infant: it only had basic sensations, it remarked, “I felt light, hunger, and thirst, and darkness” (74). The creature was not “born” evil. It was called a monster simply because it had an awful appearance. Although the creature is a monster outside, it has a benevolent heart inside. As Yuval Livnat explains in the article “On The Nature of Benevolence”, “A benevolent person certainly does not turn a blind eye to misfortunes of others and to the possibility of helping them” (304). The creature collects wood for the cottagers to reduce their hardship secretly (79). It is willing to help the cottagers since it knows they are having a hard life. Therefore, the creature actually has humanity at the beginning. Also, the creature comments, “I admired virtue and good feelings and loved the gentle manners and amiable quantities of my cottagers” (84). It is obvious that the books, and kind cottagers shaped the creature into a civilized and humanized being. As another example, the act of saving a girl from a precipitous river indicates that the creature is actually a good being. Unfortunately, however, people never try to look beyond its ugly appearance. The man who was playing with the drowning girl shot the creature when it approached them even though it saved the girl. Furthermore,