Frankenstein

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Frankenstein: The True Monster
Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein is a classic horror novel that has raised a lot of discussion about who the true monster is in the novel. While many believe that the creature created by the scientist is the true monster, there is enough reason to argue that the real monster was Frankenstein, the scientist who created the creature. The podcast touches on some issues that prove Victor Frankenstein was the real monster not only because he neglected his ethical obligations but based on other factors that will be deliberated as well.
The first thing that makes Victor a monster is that he neglects his ethics as a scientist which is against scientists carrying out experiments in isolation. The podcast explains that scientists have a social and moral obligation not to conduct experiments in isolation. Victor’s experiment went against this ethics because not only did it lack oversight, the experiment also put the society in danger and this was monstrous for a scientist. Another reason that makes Victor Frankenstein the monster in the novel is the nature of his experiment. It involves parts of dead human corpses, and only a monster is capable of such a heinous act. He takes body parts from different body corpses available to create his masterpiece and only carries this experiment in isolation despite dissection of human corpses which require a public audience.
Time and again Frankenstein abandoned his creation when they failed to turn out as he had hoped.

He, therefore, abandons the creature the moment he sets his eyes on it with no regards to the consequences that may follow. In the book, we learn that “[the Creature] held up the curtain of the bed…one hand was stretched out,” Victor runs away in terror (Shelley 43). Due to this rejection, the creature feels alone and scared, and as a result, it starts to kill. Victor’s rejection of his creation is what begins the journey of many killings perpetrated by the creature and in the end the death of Victor’s wife and brother. The act of Victor rejecting the creature is similar to that of parents rejecting their children, and this is what makes him monster-like.
Another thing that makes Victor a monster is his lack of sociability. As described, a monster cares about no one and is cut off from the world. As discussed in the podcast and as seen in the book, Victor lacks sociability, and this is what ultimately leads to his downfall. His isolation leads to his creation which becomes horrifying and leads to the death of many people. Hence his rejection of any form of relationship with the outside world is what creates evil. Victor, in this case, is the monster since he creates evil as a result of his character of being antisocial.
The podcast seems to be criticizing Victor Frankenstein and bringing out the main reasons that argue that Frankenstein is indeed the monster in Shelley’s novel. In this aspect, I agree with the podcast that Victor was indeed the monster as opposed to the creature. However, I disagree with the statement that society is what made Victor evil because of rejecting him. Victor Frankenstein is an adult and hence has free will to choose between what is ethical and what is not as well as what is right and what is wrong.
Works Cited
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Annotated For Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds, MIT Press, 2017.