As I finished the book, there were a million questions I wanted to know the answers to, and enough response material to fill several books, so I am going to focus on one thing that I cannot help but address.
The comparison between Frankenstein and God cannot be denied. Shelly was known to come from an atheistic background, and was likely an atheist herself. As such, upon concluding the story of Frankenstein, I couldn’t help but draw some conclusions about what she might have been saying about god and religion. Primarily that if god exists, he is not something to be praised for creating us, but rather a being to abhor due to his carelessness in creating creatures as destructive as us. “In a fit of madness I created a rational creature” (238) suggests that Frankenstein, like god, was in a state of mental instability when he created life with rational thought; how can you create a life in your own image, yet deny that life all of the perfections found in yourself? Furthermore, when Frankenstein requests Walton to continue his vengeful journey against the monster, I can see a parallel between it and the idea of humans leading holy wars against one another: instead of carrying it out himself, god (Frankenstein) charges mankind to do his dirty work in killing off the evils which he created. Finally, An atheist believes that god is an illusion created by human minds. On that note, if Frankenstein is to blame, and the only way in which the beast can move on with his life is to kill off his creator, I can see how one might interpret this as: in order to move on from our horrible past, fraught with religious intollerance, humans must “kill” god by eliminating the idea of a creator.
Also, I will make a quick note about the similarities between Frankenstein and the monster:
1) Frankenstein was willing to create life out of the dead, and the monster was willing to bring death to those who were alive.
2) Where as the monster moved from a mindset of peace and tranquility to revenge, so did Frankenstein move from a place of depression and utter shame to a place of vengeance.
The biggest curiosity I am left with is:
Who do you think is to blame: Frankenstein or the monster?
