In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the monster is the creation of Victor Frankenstein that was assembled from old body parts and unknown chemicals that come together and make a live creature from a spark. Looking quite menacing and dangerous, the monster enters life as a blank slate, with a newborn mind, confused, and in attempts to embed himself into society only to be excluded by everyone. Despite his kind and gentle nature, Frankenstein realizes that it is his looks of his that scare others, preventing him from connecting with people. One cannot help but empathize with the monster because he has no control over the way he looks (Webster, 2011). He saves a drowning girl and helps a group of peasants, but his good intentions are not rewarded; instead, he is only met with disgust and beating.
Victor is fully justified to believe that the monster was responsible for the murder of his brother because there is a connection between the creator and its creation. As soon as the scientist realizes that the monster is guilty, he cannot reveal how the crime occurred because he risks outsiders inquiring about the nature of the creation. This leads Victor to a moral dilemma, leaving the decision to the criminal justice system. From the Frankenstein family’s perspective, Justine plays the role of a martyr, almost a Biblical one, willing to pay for the crime that she did not commit. Her fate is a commentary on how flawed the criminal justice system of England was at that time, and the rights that people enjoy today, free of religious influences, are not the same as in the late eighteenth century.
Reference
Webster, N. (2011). Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The creature’s attempt at humanization. Web.