The Price of Abandonment in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

"And I alone of all mankind
Were left in loneliness behind." -- William Barnes

Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein reveals many transgressions but the principal sin is one of abandonment. Young Victor Frankenstein applies himself to learning scientific principles in order to create a new species - a prototype for human immortality. He attempts and is successful at creating a man built from various human parts. Although Victor's sense of ego and search for power is a large theme of the novel, "on another level it is the exploration of creation itself, both physical birth and the creative act, posing fascinating questions of consequence and responsibility" (Burt). Faced with the horror of his creation, Victor's prideful nature causes him to abandon his "child," leaving him to fend for himself; as a result of this abandonment, Frankenstein and society ultimately pay a very high price.

His cautionary tale is one Victor shares with the Captain of the vessel that rescues him as he gives chase to his errant creature. When Captain Walton tells him that "one man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race" (Frankenstein 29), he feels he must share his own experiences. Victor tells Walton: "You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification for your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been" (31). Although it was too late for Victor to benefit from the lessons of his own life experience, he wished to pass on his learning to Captain Walton: unable to be a good example, he must confer a warning.

Victor would have done well to model his "parental" duties on his own parents' devotion to his siblings and him. Victor was proud that his father had fulfilled his career in the public sector with "honor and reputation" (Frankenstein 33). He treated his wife well "(striving) to shelter her, as a fair exotic is sheltered by the gardener, from every rougher wind..." (35). Victor told Captain Walton that "...every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control, I was so guided by a silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me" (35). "No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself" (39). Unfortunately, Victor --probably from the horror of seeing his creation-failed to realize his obligation toward him as well as the responsibility to protect society from him. This error on his part set in motion a series of catastrophic events.

Sadly, Victor had lost sight of the nurturing his parents bestowed upon him. His was a blissful childhood, yet he reveals to Captain Walton that "my temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature they were turned not towards childish pursuits but to an eager desire to learn, and not to learn all things indiscriminately. "...It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things, or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my enquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world" (Frankenstein 39). Victor found a way to utilize his idiosyncrasies for the pursuit of something greater than himself; however, when push came to shove, his true nature bubbled to the surface.

Walton, perhaps in his quest for a friend, perceives Victor as a good man: "...he will be like a celestial spirit, that has a halo around him..." (Frankenstein 30); and ironically: "...what quality (is it) which he possesses, that elevates him so immeasurably above any other person I ever knew. I believe it to be an intuitive discernment; a quick but never-failing power of judgment..." (30). Conversely, the creature interprets Victor's character through his role as unloving creator and abandoner. In comparing Victor and himself to God and Adam, the creature says "Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition" (132).
Victor had abandoned his creation - when he saw the living breathing entity come to life he was shocked-"...the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart" (Frankenstein 59) His fear causes him to flee, abandoning the daemon at its genesis.

Later the creature defines his own perspective as he recalls his "birth" and his flight from Victor's apartment. In his initial travels we learn that the creature was "confused: "I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and darkness; innumerable sounds rang in my ears, and on all sides various scents saluted me..." (106). Through the creature's narration, Shelley crystallizes a connection with the reader and her invention, allowing empathy for his perspective as he concurs with his maker's original assessment, "...but how was I terrified, when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification" (116). Further, others are terrified by his appearance - their reaction causing him to sink further into despondency.

The alienation and abandonment the creature faces translates to human experience. Children who grow up under these circumstances - whether abandonment or abuse by their parents or outcast by their peers, often grow up to be dysfunctional adults. "Early childhood experiences of isolation, cruelty, violence, and abuse can lead to severe emotional disabilities in later life. They strongly shape a person's view of the world as meaningful or meaningless, benevolent or uncaring, controllable or uncontrollable, and of the person as worthy or unworthy of love and esteem" (Kabat-Zinn 225) Victor's creature, alienated from society, grappled with these dichotomies all alone. Kabat-Zinn also states that these persons are not able to connect with others. The messages society teach these children that the "they (are) bad or stupid or ugly or unworthy or selfish" become(s) internalized and affect(s) their view of themselves and others - these messages carried into adulthood, becoming a part of their mindset. (Kabat-Zinn 225)

These thoughts and behaviors are typically learned. "The monster was not 'born' hating others; his hate was taught him by people who refused to see beyond his external appearance to the brilliant warm nature existing just below its surface" (Brackett). The creature wanted to be loved and also to love, an emotion he learned from watching the interplay between the cottagers. Yet the heartbreaking truth is that the creature is ostracized from society: "Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend" (Frankenstein 103). Still, his "cottage family" was the strongest influence upon him - they became the family he so desired.

The creature learns not only about love, but he learns language and abstract thought by watching his "family." Further, after reading several books detailing human nature, this intelligent creature wonders "was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent yet so vicious and base?" (Frankenstein 122). The intersection of love and realization of the weakness of human beings takes place when he meets the inhabitants who spurned him (137). "For the first time the feelings of revenge and hatred filled my bosom, and I did not strive to control them; but allowing myself to be borne away by the stream, I bent my mind towards injury and death" (140) Still, later when the creature sees a young girl flailing in the water, his benevolent nature surfaces and he saves her life; then he is shot by the girl's father who wrongly believes he is harming her (143).

Later, the creature attempts to kidnap William in order to bridge the void and alienation between himself and man; his anger and hurt as the child calls him a monster; and the denouement of these emotions as he discovers William is a Frankenstein -- finally culminating in his murderous rage. (Frankenstein 144). The locus of the murder is both a place for the creature's epiphany, one in which his future is decidedly bent on revenge; and the sorrowful reflecting by Victor of his past. As he makes the pilgrimage home, the discovery of his hideous creation near the scene of the crime, causes Victor flashbacks as he "revolved in my mind the events which I had until now sought to forget: the whole train of my progress towards the creation..." (78) Victor spends the rest of the evening, "cold and wet, in the open air." (78). On the other hand, the creature's realization of his murderous act was a "heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph..." (144).

The horrors of Frankenstein and his creature remind us that life is precious and that our responsibility cannot be negated lightly. By what authority is one stage of life more important than another? According to some, a child's rights and a parent's responsibilities begin even before birth; discussing embryonic research, Hans Tiefel, professor of religious studies says: "The fate of the creature created by Frankenstein is the fate of the earliest human lives who now become research material: They are on their own; they find no friends; no refuge in human company; no hope for a human counterpart. These creatures, too, remain outcasts. They are pursued with great skill, and an untimely death will be their fate. But they are unlikely to pursue us and take their revenge. While they have as much potential as we could ask of early human lives, they have no power, no strength. If there is any comeuppance for us who create, abandon, and use and kill them, it will not come from them" (Teifel) The comparison of these unborn lives to Frankenstein's creation -- although not shared by all --is a very provocative one, because it, at the very least, should convince us to take a comprehensive and long range look at human beings and suffering.

The abandonment of children like the abandonment of Frankenstein's "son" can result in devastating consequences. A study was done by Professor Widom comparing abused and neglected children with a group of children who had not suffered abuse or abandonment. The findings showed that abuse as a child was an indicator of criminal and violent behavior - "... childhood victimization increases the likelihood of delinquency, adult criminality and violent criminal behavior. Childhood abuse (physical and sexual) and neglect significantly increases a person's risk as a juvenile by 59 percent, as an adult by 27 percent and for a violent crime by 29 percent" (qtd in Johnson).

Specific examples of abuse leading to criminal behavior include the case of Charles Manson whose cult followers murdered several people in the late 1960's under his orders. Manson grew up without a father and his mother disappeared for long periods of time, expecting his aunt or grandmother to take her place as mother(Bardsley). Again, this abandonment by his parents more than likely contributed to his criminal behavior. In another case, Roger Reece Kibbe's mother made him feel unloved as a child, beating him often and he was teased about his stutter by classmates (Ramsland); his experience of alienation was something akin to the creature's experience. Kibbe grew up to be known as "the I-5 strangler."

Seldom mentioned, yet central to a discussion of family values and the role of mother, is the lack of a female parent for Frankenstein's "son"? "At his creation, a perversion of human birth that negates women and normal childbirth, the monster opens a yellow eye, gasps, and convulses with a full-body muscular spasm." (Encyclopedia) T. Berry Brazelton discussed the importance of the bonding between mother and child - to not treat "the neonate as if he had 'sprung full-blown from the head of Zeus,'" because by doing so we are ignoring some important history, a history shared with his biological mother" (Verrier).

Of course, the creature was not a neonate spending 40 weeks in his mother's womb, but one may wonder how this lack contributed to his behavior. In fact, he not only did not have a birth mother, he also had no maternal influence - no adoptive mother. His role models in the cottage did not include a mother and Victor's own mother died before the creature came to be. Verrier points out that one who is adopted (who acts) out destructively, does so to in order to bring attention to his hurt. "He feels chaotic inside, so he causes chaos outside." He will attempt to reject before he is rejected. The creature had been abandoned and then rejected time after time - it is no wonder he "acted out" against society.

From a 19th century gothic novel, more truth than fiction can be found. Frankenstein naïvely believed that "A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me" (Frankenstein 55). Yet this was never to be. His abhorrence of the creature at its awakening was unforgivable; his failure to recognize and nurture his creation, and his sending it out into the world to take care of himself, to bear the brunt of society's view of him, was the cause of his own misfortune - the loss of his family. Victor's original view that "No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs (a new species)" (55) could not be further from reality. The creature accused Frankenstein of being an "unfeeling, heartless creator." "You had endowed me with perceptions and passions and then cast me abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind" (141) Failure to act responsibly toward the birth of any creation can lead to disastrous results.

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