by The book Frankenstein has many messages and warnings weaved through it. One of the messages that was strong and reoccuring was the idea of abandonment and the price that needs to be paid for that action. This also is very similar to taking responsibility for your actions or creations. I believe that one of the reasons this message is so important in the book is because of what was happening in Mary Shelley’s life when she was writing the book. Shelley was 19 years old and having an affair with one of her fathers friends. She ended up getting pregnant and the man left his wife for her. The man’s wife committed suicide because of this. I believe that Shelley was trying to work out how to get through this idea that inorder for her not to be abandoned someone else was, resulting in a suicide.
Frankenstein abandons the creature over and over again in this book and does not take responsibility for his actions. Frankenstein created the creature and then fled, afraid of his creation. I understand why he kept his work a secret so someone else didn’t steal his idea, however I think his downfall was abandoning his creation. Science is about innovation and going into spaces that were previously unknown, but doing this can have consequences and if that does occur, the scientist needs to be present to help fix the problem. Frankenstein abandons the creature and decides to go back home to Geneva when he receives a letter from his father with the news that his younger brother has been murdered. Frankenstein is convinced that the creature did it. This is Frankenstein’s first punishment for abandoning the creature, but it doesn’t stop there. A young girl is accused of the murder of Frankenstein’s brother and is found guilty and killed. There are now two deaths on Frankenstein’s conscience. Victor then goes to the mountains where the monster finds him and admits to the murder of his brother and asks Frankenstein to create him a companion. Frankenstein does not agree at first but eventually does and sets off to create a companion for the creature. Frankenstein creates a companion but then realizes that there are consequences to his work and destroys his new creation, dumping the body in the river. The creature vows to be with Victor on his wedding night. The creature then kills Frankenstein’s friend Henry and Frankenstein returns home. Now because of Frankenstein’s creation three people have perished. Frankenstein then marries a woman and on their wedding night the creature comes and kills her like the creature vowed when Frankenstein destroyed the creature’s companion. Frankenstein eventually dies and the creature knows this and says that now that his creator is dead he can now die and be put out of his misery. The creature wanders into the northern wilderness to die. In the end the creator killed four people in Frankenstein’s life. This all possibly could have been avoided if Frankenstein took care of the thing that he brought into this world through science.