Human Being In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

A Being or Not a Being

In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessive with his scientific research and decides to put thirty-plus corpses together and bring that “thing” alive. Being Frankenstein fails to satisfy the scientific and legal requisites of human person hood because it acts like an animal more than a human, no record of Being’s existence in any court of law, and namelessness of Being. Although Being does show exemplify emotion and understanding of human nature, it cannot scientifically or lawfully be considered a Human Being. When Victor talks to Being he usually refers to it as: “fiend," “demon," “witch," “thing," and “ogre”; all of which aren't human. Although Frankenstein talks about Being with

What did he there? Could he be (I shuddered at the conception) the murderer of my brother?” (Shelley 163). All of the people who see Being, scream and run like mad men because of its atrocious physical appearance.The monster names itself Being because it is only half human and because of the fact that its “father” constantly berates it with words like “Demon” and “Ogre”. “When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?” (Shelley 280). Being maintains the record of being one of a kind and it has no one else like it on the face of the planet. Even William Frankenstein, Victor’s five year old brother insults Being, resulting in his own death. "Let me go," he cried; "monster! Ugly wretch! You wish to eat me and tear me to pieces. You are an ogre. Let me go, or I will tell my papa” (Shelley 289). Being Frankenstein fails to satisfy the scientific and legal requisites of human person hood because it acts like an animal more than a human, no record of Being’s existence in