Victor Frankenstein As A Child In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates an intelligent monster with no name. The creature is thrust into the world to fend for itself when Victor leaves it alone in his lab. The creature has childlike tendencies because he has recently been “born”. If the creature is viewed as a child, then Victor is essentially his father. There are many times in the book where the author elluded to Victor and the creature being like father and son. When the creature first awakens, he is welcomed by strange sensations and emotions he doesn’t understand. He states that it took “‘a long time before [he] learned to distinguish between the operations of [his] various senses (Shelley, 90).’” The creature relates to a child there because

Victor is almost finished with the companion and as he looks at it he states he begins “trembling with passion” and “tore to pieces the thing on which [he] was engaged (Shelley, 154).” The creature then seeks out Victor and says, “‘I have endured incalculable fatigue, and cold, and hunger; do you dare destroy my hopes? (Shelley, 155)’” Victor and the creature resemble a parent taking away an item that makes the child happy. The child (creature) then asks the parent (Victor) why the parent doesn’t wish their child to be happy because said item is the only thing that bring joy to the child. By Victor taking away what the creature saw at his only chance at happiness, the creature becomes furious and kills Elizabeth, Victor’s wife.
By viewing the creature as a child, the opinions based on his image and actions are altered because a child is always considered innocent. The creature had the ignorance of a child when he first woke up. His actions and image then can be blamed on Victor for not teaching the creature like a guardian would teach a child. The creature then receives pity from the readers because he had an innocence that was corrupted by the choices made by Victor, his