Frankenstein: The Search For Identity
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, is a pioneering science fiction work about the story of a young scientist VictorFrankenstein who created life out of dead matter. On the surface, Frankenstein seemed to be only a horror story about unorthodox scientific experiments and grotesque monsters. But by diving deeper into the novel, Shelley also addressed larger philosophical ideas. Throughout the story, Victor Frankenstein and his monster have both parallel and contrasting elements, and their search for identity is one of the most important ones. Identity is defined a “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual”(Merriam-Webster). Family roles, social status, physical appearance, and personality are some of the major characteristics that define each individual’s identity.
In Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, she used the two characters, Victor and his creation, to explore the search for identity through family and social relationships and its devastating effects after failing to do so. Obtaining an identity is a long process. An individual is given an identity at birth, then his identity is sculpted through life experiences and social interactions. Victor Frankenstein’s monster, however, did not have such luxuries. As a creature with no ancestral heritage, he does not have a familial identity. He is no one's son, daughter, brother, sister, or cousin. Every individual is created by pre-existing people and will always be characterized as their creator's child, so they can have an identity based on the relationship to their creator. In the case of Frankenstein’s monster, he has no biological parents, his only creator abandoned him and did not wish to have any relationship with him. After Victor’srejection, he ran away and tried to form social relations with people in a small village. Unfortunately, the creature’s attempt to be part of the De Lacy family’s social circle failed. During his conversation with his creator in the ice cave, he exclaimed that “no father watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses”, “I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone… (Shelley,pg.87)” No matter how hard he tried, the creature couldn’t obtain familial and social connections from others and even do not have a name, thus he couldn’t obtain a sense of identity. This lack of identity resulted in his downfall and transformation into a malicious character.
Victor’s case is a bit different from his creation’s case. His emotional traumas since youth contributed to his unstable identity and influenced his actions in the future, which in turn influenced the life of his creation. His mother's death created a “void that presents itself to the soul, and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance (Shelley, pg. 29)”, making his familial identity damaged and incomplete. In order to bring back the comforting feeling of family and the identity of a family member, Victor put forth all his intelligence towards bringing the dead matter back to life. While immersed in his passion for science and creation of life, he shunned all responsibilities associated with his remaining family, friends, and loved ones, causing his loss of familial and social identity. He “knew well therefore what would be [his] father’s feelings, but [he] could not tear[his] thoughts from [his] employment (Shelley, pg.41)” and did not return home nor send back family letters for years. Just like his monster’s lonely condition, Victor also falls into a state of isolation, only caring about scientific advancements and losing his social and familial identities. Victor tried to find a new identity in his creation, however, unfortunately, he was disgusted by his creation and hated it right after it was brought to life, as shown by his description of the creature as “a mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch (Shelley, pg. 44).” By losing his identity formed by familial and social relations, Victor’s downfall results from his monster's actions of revenge.
In the novel Frankenstein, the monster created by Victor Frankenstein is not identified by most of the qualities of identity because he does not have them in his life; while Victor himself lost his identity and sense of self-worth during childhood traumas. Being deprived of identity, both Victor and his creation are lost and struggled for their whole life to obtain it, which ultimately leads them to their tragic end.
Works Cited
- “Identity.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/identity. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Bantam Books, 1981.
