Ashton Post #3

"Are humans inherently good or inherently evil?"

It's hard to say exactly what Mary Shelley's answer to this question is because in her novel she portrays both the inherently good and evil in the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his creation. Victor Frankenstein is inherently good because no matter what, he adheres to his creature and dotes on him consistently even though he has to pretty much sacrifice his own identity to do so. This, in turn, makes the character of Frankenstein's monster inherently evil. "You who call Frankenstein your friend, seem to have a knowledge of my crimes and his misfortunes. But in detail which he gave you of them, he could not sum up the hours and months of misery which I endured, wasting in impotent passions. For while I destroyed his hopes, I did not satisfy my own desires. They were for ever ardent and craving; still I desired love fellowship, and I was still spurned" (165). Although maybe "evil" is a little extreme, the monster sucks the life and identity out of his creator, creating an unbreakable dependence. Mary Shelley aims to showcase the broken yet indefinite relationship between them. 

I don't believe that human beings are all good or all evil. In the words of Sirius Black, (Yes, from Harry Potter!) "We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." Victor Frankenstein chose to act selfishly by creating the monster, and therefore it came back to haunt him. He didn't mean to create an attachment that was so strong, but that's what ended up happening and when his monster suffers and dies, Frankenstein feels like a part of him is gone. "But even so; the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even the enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone" (165). The inherently evil nature of his creation has left Dr. Frankenstein feeling helpless and melancholy. This attachment is incredibly unhealthy that it leads to Frankenstein's deep depression. Even though the monster may not have been necessarily "evil", it absolutely wreaked havoc on Dr. Frankenstein.