The True Nature Of Humanity In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Like in life, many times a novel raises a question but does not necessarily have an answer to a certain extent. Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, is a novel that questions the true nature of humanity. We see this play out through the novel when the creature interacts with humans for the first time, and when the creature saves the girl, or even when Victor first sees the creature come to life. In Frankenstein, the benevolence of humanity and the amount of kindness shown to the creature, is poignantly questioned.

One significant moment that shows the evil in humanity and how it effects the creature is when the creature rescues a human and then gets wounded for it. This raises the question of, if humanity is really pure and good or evil. "This was then the reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, as a recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone". Another significant moment is when the monster sees the good in humanity. He sees the good of the peasants and …show more content…
Society is prominent throughout the novel and lies not only with the creature but with Victor as well. We see this conflict in Victor towards the beginning of the novel when the theories Frankenstein has spent years studying are thought of as out of date in his society at the University of Ingolstadt. He solves the conflict by delving into the study of more modern sciences which fuel is obsessive ideas of creating life. The creature is presented with this conflict by the fact that he is completely rejected by society. The creature spends time learning how to adjust to this new world, learning our language, and even performing anonymous acts of kindness but because of his hideous appearance he is seen as an outcast and is rejected by society. Shelley most likely used this conflict throughout the novel because she was once seen as an outcast by society and used the novel to express her feelings of
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