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Parenthood In Frankenstein

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Good parents are often caring, compassionate, and good role models for their children, which usually means they prioritize their children, even themselves. On the other hand, bad parents are either neglectful or abusive, often putting themselves and their wishes before their children. In Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein; the ‘parent’ aspires and successfully builds a creature; the ‘child’; who he then abandons. The central themes of Frankenstein, the immorality of unnatural creation and the importance of responsibility and accountability, are represented through the repercussions of Frankenstein’s neglect of his creature. When Frankenstein created his creature, he was mesmerized by his passion and goal of the resurrection, …show more content…

Frankenstein and his creature’s parent-child dynamic is evident as the monster refers to Frankenstein as his creator, asking him to destroy him if he desired to: “‘Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom you art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life?’” (68). Frankenstein’s creature questions Victor’s motives in creating him since it is inconsistent with his goal of destroying him. Their dynamic is symbolic of a neglectful parent-child relationship because Frankenstein’s inconsiderate treatment of his ‘child’ demonstrates him as an absent and abusive ‘parent.’ The creature’s belief in Victor’s abandonment and lack of guidance causes his deplorable behavior and actions cause Victor to feel more accountable: “But as I proceeded, I weighed the various arguments that he had used, and determined at least to listen to his tale…For the first time, also, I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were” (70). Frankenstein’s guilt toward his creature illustrates their parent-child relationship because of the parallel between Frankenstein hearing out the creature and a parent listening to their child. In other words, Frankenstein and his creature’s dynamic is similar to a parent-child relationship because of the nurturing role victor was supposed to fill but did

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