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Frankenstein Monster: Good or Evil
The story of Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein has been around for almost two centuries now, and currently being retold in numerous versions. The monster in the novel as created by Frankenstein displays wickedness, aggressiveness, and violence against humans. Despite these actions, however, it is still debatable whether the monster was good or evil. A close character analysis of the monster reveals that it was both good and evil.
A classic say goes like “knowledge is to know that Frankenstein created the monster, but wisdom is the understanding that Frankenstein was the monster.” This say holds some truth because if something is designed for destruction, then its imminent abilities will include destruction. Therefore, the monster was good but designed for evil. Evidently, after creating the monster, Frankenstein describes it as having “a horrid contrast” (Shelley 9). Consequently, the monster was terrifying to humans who responded to it with violence. For example, Felix in the novel beat the monster with a stick (Shelley 15). Even so, the monster does not strike back when hit by Felix and this reveals that it was not evil. Also, when the monster wakes up for the first time, it smiles at Frankenstein. Such moves by the monster are the reason that Shelley and other scholars conclude that it had a heart of gold (Aguirre 3). Moreover, it could think, reason, feel, suffer and desire In this case, it is logical to conclude that Frankenstein was the evil one for creating such a monster and releasing it to a cruel society.

The monster was only responding to the surroundings, and this makes Frankenstein responsible for the things the creature does in the novel.
However, there are some instances where the monster unleashes its hatred and vengeance against humans because victor abandoned (Shelley 5). Particularly when the monster is accused of murdering the girl, it becomes vengeful. In chapter sixteen, it says that “this was the reward of my benevolence . . . I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all humanity” (Shelley 16). Here, it is evident that the society made the society become evil, a point that Shelly seems to reveal that societies make the evil monster by mistreating others.
In brief, the Frankenstein’s monster was both good and evil. At one time, we find it innocent and trying to have a friendship with the humans. However, its efforts are thwarted by human’s wickedness and mistreatments. Consequently, the monster turns out evil and destructive to humans. This explains that people usually get the monster they deserve through their actions.
Works Cited
Aguirre, Manuel. “Gothic Fiction and Folk-Narrative Structure: The Case of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” Gothic Studies, vol. 15, no. 2, Nov. 2013, pp. 1-18. EBSCOhost, doi:10.7227/GS.15.2.1.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Oxford: Oxford Univ, 2008. Print. Retrieved from http://www.classicalcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Frankenstein_OriginalText