Question About the Death of Humanity

After reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I find there are so many areas in which to delve so I’ve decided to touch on two that were striking to me.  The first of which is how one’s soul or even one’s heart can change.  We’ve all had occasions to change our minds about people.  One we thought was a friend surprised us, changed from someone we trusted, and became an enemy.  I am also intrigued with how the very nature of a person can sometimes change so drastically.  It reminds me of the questions I have regarding the Nazi soldiers in World War II.  These barbaric torturers were men that once led very normal lives.  They had wives, children, mothers and fathers and probably would never have even conceived of harming another person in the course of their day to day activities.  However, the war happened upon Europe and they were thrust into a situation that opened the door to their depravity.  They became blood-thirsty murders responsible for the deaths of millions of people for the crime of being Jewish.  When and how this switch occurs from regular human to murderous evil has always been a query of mine.

In reading Frankenstein, at the end of the story when the monster is standing over Victor’s dead body and speaking to Walton I was struck with this same question.  The monster stated he was created good and became the murderous monster he looked to be on the outside.  When he was created, he “felt the cheering warmth of summer, and heard the rustling of the leaves and the chirping of the birds” but because of the crimes he believed committed against him, he abandoned the beauty he perceived in the world and committed his existence to revenge, death and destruction.  I wonder if the same could be true of the Nazi’s or any other.  It made me think if perhaps Mary Shelley herself was commenting on how our own human nature can abandon us in the heat of rage and we forever leave behind the beautiful and surround ourselves with misery.

Another aspect of the story that I found interesting is that the creature, created by Victor, was a nameless demonic wretch throughout the novel.  The named character Victor was at the onset, a brilliant scientist, completely dedicated to creating the being and bringing life to dead tissue.  Surely his success would have resulted in recognition and ceaseless notoriety.  However, in the end, Victor dies alone and his brilliance dies along with him.  Ironic in that the nameless creature now lives on in the story as described by Walton to his sister who we can assume would have perpetuated the tale.  Even today, although it is only the media’s portrayal of the monster, when we think Frankenstein, we imagine the monster.  We imagine the creature even though the moniker Frankenstein belonged to Victor.  The monster who had no name, assumes the identity, and Victor disappears only to join the others who passed before him at the hand of his own creation.  Perhaps this could even be considered the creature’s final torment, essentially stealing both his life name and humanity.