Theme Of Parenthood In Frankenstein

Conflict Between a Parental Figure and Their Creation Parents are someone that something else develops out of. By utilizing this loose definition of parenthood, Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, explores conflict between a parent and a son or daughter in an unconventional way. Victor, in essence an absentee parent, created his monster but then left it to it’s own devices, allowing it to be tortured by society; this development is the main theme in the story itself. First ,Victor Frankenstein spent two years doing the tedium that would get him to his main goal, animating the dead, an effort brought about by the loss of his own mother. This time spent on the monster’s creation was almost a pregnancy in terms, time spent creating …show more content…
In this short period of time Victor took on the responsibilities of a parental figure, by trying to fulfill his monster’s wishes, even if coerced to do so. In his brief acceptance of responsibility, there seems to be, from the reader 's perspective, a glimmer of hope for the relationship between the creator and creation. This hope makes one believe that after Victor created a companion for his beast he would forever be free from the perils of the relationship, and maybe the two could work together to repair the relationship between them, if possible.
The conflict intensified as the project to reanimate the dead again for his friendly fiend, is impromptly ended as Victor had a swift change of heart and saw to it that his female version was destroyed, as he decided that he would not be responsible for releasing a scourge on the entirety of humanity. He relinquished his own relative protection in that moment, and almost instantaneously the monster appeared threatening to be with Victor on his wedding night, and taking the life of Victor’s closest friend to strengthen his own method of revenge and show Victor that he was serious in his course of …show more content…
In the case of Victor and his monster it is demonstrated that a parental figure and the attention that they owe their offspring shape their development. Had Victor accepted his monster in the first place instead of denying him the love that all people need to grow, it is impossible to say that a different outcome is impossible. Had the monster been shown kindness, or had been given someone to raise it with affection and respect, instead of subjecting him to the harsh, and often times impossible, standards that society holds about one’s physicality, it is possible that we would have met a different character; one not addressed as a monster or a fiend, but one thought of as a marvel of science or one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the