A character named Robert Walton starts the narrative through letters about his life. Then, when he indicates that he saved a man named Victor Frankenstein, the narrative switches to the first person told by Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s dark story describes the creature he developed in a laboratory. Although he created the “monster” by infusing life into an inanimate object, all eyes are on Frankenstein since he never nurtured his creation.
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would since it examines many age-old philosophical, psychological, and biological themes. One of the major themes is the nature vs. nurture debate, but there is so much more than that, including the danger of misapplied knowledge and skill. Frankenstein’s hubris led him to believe he was more powerful than nature. The author forced us to consider the essence of humanity and realize that humans are more than their appearance; there is some invisible essence. Additionally, some of the darkest human emotions became part of the ingenious author’s story: prejudice, hatred, and revenge. Some negativity stemmed from poverty, hunger, and basic unmet human needs. Still, others were due to injustice, the dubious development of language, and the improprieties of the human creator of a monster. As the story progressed, Shelley used the cast of characters and literary symbolism to dive deeply into the array of human emotions and forced the reader to decide who the monster was: the invented creature or Frankenstein himself.
