Frankenstein Response Paper

Frankenstein Response Paper Identity and humanity are two major themes that have been explored by Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, owing to the fact that the monster that is created by the scientist has an incomplete humanity, while at the same time also having an incomplete identity. The monster is referred in different names throughout the novel, such as ‘creature’, ‘demon’, ‘it’ and ‘monster’, among many other names that have been applied to try and give the creature that was scientifically created its identity (Shelley, 72). In this respect, the novel brings into the forefront the fact that an identity is constructed around a name, and without a name, then, the identity is lost. The concept of identity in the novel is build more on what the item is called rather than on the actions of the item, and when that name is missing, then, there arises an identity crisis that characterizes the monster throughout the novel. Nevertheless, attitude is yet another major aspect that has been brought out in this novel, as being related to the concept of identity. The characters in the novel had the attitude that the scientific creation was a monster, and thus they treated it as such. The consequence was that the attitude in turn caused stunted growth in the scientific creation due to despair, lack of psychological support and normal human interactions, eventually developing and perfecting the art of monstrous behaviors (Bloom, 44). Thus, attitude is also a fundamental concept in generating the true identity of humans; since it is the attitude with which fellow humans treat individuals that eventually shape their identity according to how the society perceives them.

Humanity on the other hand is a complex concept as developed in the book, since the theme of humanity has been developed to show that no matter how sophisticated a scientific or artificial creation might be, it can never match the real natural creation (Bloom, 36). The monster in the novel Frankenstein was created through the reorganization of human body organs, to come up with a creature that would resemble humans (Shelley, 12). Thus, from the onset, the monster is the byproduct of incomplete humanity and as a result develops to be some creation that resembles humanity, yet cannot perform the core functions of humanity, especially as related to the mind and brain function. The encounter between Victor and the monster at Mont Blanc serves to show that humanity cannot be exchanged for mere artificial creation, regardless of how close the creation might be. The monster tries to persuade and plead with victor to accept it as a fellow human, but the disturbed victor wishes that the monster could die, so that he could get a chance to try and restore the lives of the humans that the monster had killed (Bloom, 51). In Victor’s mind, regardless of whether the monster was created out of human remains and organs, it is still not worthy of life compared to the humans that the monster has killed. Despite the fact that the creature had demonstrated a high level of civility that is too much for anything but humans, it could not still qualify for what real humanity is. Thus, humanity as a concept that is not interchangeable for anything is the theme that the novel Frankenstein seeks to advance.

Works Cited
Bloom, Harold. Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. New York: Chelsea, 2013. Print.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt Ltd., 2007. Print.