In the classic novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, the story’s protagonist, creates a monster, from various body parts. After bringing the creature to life, Victor is horrified at what he has done, and abandons the newly created monstrosity in fear. The creature is left to fend for itself, confused and alone. Eventually, it learns to survive, even learning to speak as it observes a family of villagers. It learns of love and compassion, and also learns of the emptiness in its heart. After a failed attempt at befriending the people it loved, the creature swears vengeance on its creator who abandoned it. At first glance, it may be obvious who the true monster is in this story. But digging deeper, you realize that the true monster is the creator of the fiend, Frankenstein.
Let’s start with the obvious- the monster. In the story, the monster is shown of being capable of murder. He directly kills William, Victor’s younger brother, Henry Clerval, Victor’s close friend, and Elizabeth, Victor’s wife. The creature is also capable of plotting schemes- after killing Henry, he frames the family’s servant, Justine, for the murder. This results in Justine’s execution. To top it off, Victor’s father dies from grief. All of this stress and worry causes Victor to become fervently ill not once, but a total of three times*. Victor also becomes paranoid and constantly nervous, to the detriment of his relationships and health. So, after all of this, the creature is definitely the true monster, correct? Wrong! The monster is not at fault here. All of this was caused by Victor himself.
Victor is a brilliant, curious man, whose insatiable thirst for knowledge leads him to create his monster. When the monster gasps its first breaths, Frankenstein realizes what he has done. Horrified, he runs away from his creation, which stumbles away into the night. Afterwards, Frankenstein falls ill and refuses to speak to anyone about the monstrosity he created. This is understandable, but what he does next- or, doesn’t do- proves how bad he is: he ignores the monster. Yes, he doesn’t know where the monster is, but he decides to pack up all his instruments and tools, store it away, and doesn’t even search for his creation. Instead, he returns home and tries to forget that it ever happened. The monster is left to fend for itself. It longs for comfort, friendship, and love. Does Victor even try to look or help? No. He couldn’t care less. When Justine is on trial for the murder of William, does Victor, the true murderer, step in and save her? No, he leaves her to hang. When he does meet the monster again and hear its story, he agrees to grant the creature’s only wish- love. And then he destroys it, out of fear, right in front of the creature’s eyes.
Frankenstein is the true monster of this story. If he had even thought to consider what he was about to bring upon himself, he may have avoided this. Instead, his lust for knowledge, cowardice and selfishness, causes undue grief, bloodshed, and in the end, his undoing.
*Note: Not counting the illness Victor fell into after the creation of the monster.