Neglect In Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is a revolutionary text, often considered the first of its genre, that confronts many abstract concepts, such as responsibility as it relates to relationships and the nourishment of others. Its protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, is a man of science who, after spending time studying at the University of Ingolstadt, becomes infatuated with the idea of creating life. He views himself as a powerful, God-like individual, believing that he’s the only person who can complete the task he’s devoted himself to. After he succeeds in animating a life more powerful than any human, Frankenstein’s true character emerges and he neglects the creature’s humanity and needs. This is only a sample of what the creature experiences

Frankenstein’s creature, as previously mentioned, was internally a child at the beginning of the book. While he was in this malleable state, he was repeatedly abandoned, most notably by his creator, Frankenstein. Frankenstein owed him attention and care. He is quoted in the beginning of the novel saying, “No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve their’s” (Shelley 37). He compared himself to a father figure, implying that he deserves both admiration from his “child” and owes them nurturement. Then, only a few pages later, he gazed upon his completed life’s work and immediately fled, never to comfort or welcome him into the world. (Shelley 42). It’s this initial desertion that leaves the creature confused and sets the mood for the rest of the

He also suffered from violence at the hands of numerous strangers and the Delaceys. There were two separate incidents in the text in which strangers harmed the creature, entirely unprovoked. Chronologically, these events are separated by the creature’s stay with the Delaceys. The first of the two occurrences happens when he first sets off to find people, hoping they’d help and sympathize with him. Instead, the author writes, “...but I had hardly placed my foot within the door, before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted. The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons...” (Shelley 86). Returning to the subject of the Delaceys, after the creature came face to face with the family, the oldest of the siblings, Felix, attacked him and drove him away (Shelley 113). These were people that the creature put on a pedestal. He admired them and sought to improve himself so that he could live up to their standards. This proved an impossible task, however. They didn’t even attempt to look past his appearance, and instead plagued him with