Life from Death

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

Prior to reading Frankenstein, I had always thought that the character of Frankenstein was in reference to the monster. However, as I have read Shelley's words, I have come to realize that Frankenstein is in reference to the man who created the monster: Victor Frankenstein. Victor simply wanted to attempt to create life from the bones of the deceased. Little did Victor know that his creation would be so unbearable for not only himself to handle, but his creation would also be too much for society to handle. After Victor had created his monster, he had to run out of his apartment because he could not stand to be around such a horrific creation. "Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep"(Shelley, 35). This shows that even though this creation was something of Victor's making, he could not stand to be around his own creation. This creation frightened him and he wished that he would never have created it. Victor knew that he had the knowledge necessary to create such a monster; however, he still wanted to create this being. Perhaps in today's society, people find themselves with the knowledge needed to create certain things, but the real question is whether or not we should actually create these things. Sometimes knowledge can be a harmful thing to attain. Often times too much knowledge can come back to hurt people in ways in which they did not think were possible. Victor Frankenstein did not expect his creation to hurt anyone; however, this does not mean that his creation will not end up doing so.