Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein follows one man's dangerous obsession with reviving the dead. In his efforts to create a living human, Doctor Victor Frankenstein ironically loses his humanity. He becomes obsessed, cruel, and treats his own creation with contempt and hatred. Doctor Frankenstein never gives his creature a name or provides any kind of nutritional care to what is, essentially, a newborn baby. In his efforts to control and ultimately kill his monster, Frankenstein proves to be equally monstrous. The creature in the novel Frankenstein is never taught how to be human. It receives few acts of true kindness from anyone, and from its first day of life the creature is hunted, hated, and rejected. This was a key theme for Mary Shelley. He wanted to explore how society creates monsters by rejecting and defaming them. The novel shows how cruel and judgmental people can be, often based only on superficial appearances or their own innate fears and prejudices. Dr. Frankenstein's monster represents entire groups of people who are hated and feared through no fault of their own, such as refugees, the homeless, and the poor. Just like Dr. Frankenstein, society first creates these people and then denies their humanity, casting them out as "monsters" worthy of fear, hatred, and contempt. The simple solution would be to treat everyone with kindness and humanity, regardless of their appearance or circumstances. However, the novel shows that superficial appearance has a powerful influence on people, and that humans are eager to dehumanize those they perceive as "different" or "inferior." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The novel Frankenstein is concerned with how people should treat each other and the consequences that arise from unfair or unjust treatment. The theme of justice recurs often in the novel, starting with the idea that Doctor Frankenstein is, essentially, creating another human being. However, instead of showing compassion and care for his creation, treating her as a parent should, Doctor Frankenstein is horrified and chases her away. Doctor Frankenstein is fully aware of the duties of a parent. His own parents were loving and loving and catered to young Victor's every need. “My mother's tender caresses and my father's smile of benevolent pleasure as he looked at me are my first memories. I was their toy, their idol, and something better: their child, the innocent and defenseless creature given to them by heaven, whom they raised for good and whose future destiny it was in their hands to direct towards happiness or unhappiness, depending. while fulfilling their duties towards me. So, Victor, has a sense of the responsibility that parents assume towards their children. However, he completely abdicates that responsibility when he creates his monster. Not only does he flee from the monster out of revulsion, but he ignores the monster's attempt to reach out and speak to his "parent". He runs away from home and hides in the courtyard and abandons his monster immediately after giving it life. One of the cruelest things a parent can do is abandon their child without first ensuring they will be taken care of, and Dr. Frankenstein runs away without a second thought. The monster is understandably angry and confused by this reaction. When reunited with his creator, the monster says: “Yet you, my creator, detest and despise me, your creature, to whom you are bound by bonds dissoluble only by the annihilation of one of us. Your aim is to kill me. How dare you have such fun with life? His recrimination: How dare you do thatsport with life? makes it clear that both Shelley and the monster believe that the creators owe a debt to their creations. Shelley severely criticizes Frankenstein for "playing God" and for subverting the natural order of life. Consider the monster's words to Victor Frankenstein when the Doctor threatens to fight him and end his life. “I am your creature, and I will even be meek and docile towards my natural lord and king if you also want to carry out your part, the one you owe me. "(114). The Creature sees itself in relation to Adam, with Victor Frankenstein as God, the "natural lord and king." By referring to itself as Adam, the creature makes it clear that it is, like Adam, God's creation. And the monster scolds Doctor Frankenstein, saying that if he would only do his part as Creator, the monster would adapt and behave appropriately since Doctor Frankenstein has failed in his duty, the monster lashes out violently and kills people dearest to him. Shelley's criticism of Victor Frankenstein is also a rebuke to those who reject people who are, for various reasons, vulnerable and dependent. After all, Victor Frankenstein knows exactly how important it is to grow up feeling loved and cared for. It is shown that his parents care very deeply for the poor, as Victor's mother herself was a poor child who was saved from poverty. And so it is clear that Victor has a conscience and understanding of what a child might need to have any chance of happiness. Yet when Dr. Frankenstein deliberately creates life, he rejects it with his next breath. This causes the monster unbearable suffering. He is abandoned and left alone in the world to fend for himself, which would be a cruel fate for any child. This criticism is applied not only to the parents (literal and figurative) in the novel but to the larger society. The monster is associated with refugees, the poor, the disabled, and anyone who has ever been separated from their relatives and displaced. His loneliness is the loneliness experienced by all marginalized people. The monster is, in many ways, the ultimate outcast, created and then rejected by his creator. He is then forced to relive the pain of that rejection over and over again, in every interaction he has with the outside world. When the monster and Doctor Frankenstein finally reunite in the mountains, Doctor Frankenstein reacts violently and threatens to kill. the monster. The monster says that he “expected this welcome” because “All men hate the wretched; how therefore should I be hated, who am more miserable than any living being! (113). People have obviously reacted to the monster with hatred and disgust many times, to the point that the monster expects no other reaction. While Dr. Frankenstein has reason to hate the monster at this point (for killing his younger brother), no one else would have reason to immediately hate the monster, other than for his appearance. The fact that the monster expects to be hated at first sight is a sad commentary on the superficiality of human beings. Everyone screams and runs away from him, except M. De Lacey, who is blind and perceives the monster only as a gentle, articulate being. This indicates an underlying problem with the appearances in the novel. The monster is described as hideous, of course, much bigger and stronger than a normal person, and made of stitched together parts of dead humans and even animals. Dr. Frankenstein describes him: “His yellow skin barely covered the workings of the muscles and arteries beneath; her hair was shiny black and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrible contrast with his watery eyes, which seemed almost of the same color.