Frankenstein vol. 1

Mary Shelley's classic horror novel, Frankenstein, begins with Victor Frankenstein aboard Walton's ship, explaining the creature he references as a daemon. He begins the narration of his events by focusing on his childhood and growth to the point where he would be pushed into the natural philosophies by his father. His mother's death has a very grand impact on him and he references it again once the creature he creates is resurrected. It is shortly into his studies that he begins his alchemical work on the monster. Being sucked into such work, he condemns himself for the loss of relations he suffers in its making.

"If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind."

Consumed by the task of the creation of life, he is ecstatic when he finally has completed his project. But he describes vividly in his dream how he embraces his cousin Elizabeth, only to witness her form turn into that of the corpse of his own deceased mother. There seems to be a reflection in this of the loss of life and the desire to create new life after witnessing such death and decay. People, I have noticed, seem to always want to control the things they cannot control. They try to accumulate control over these things when they've seen the moments of their own weaknesses. Hence, the death of one's mother leads Victor to begin creating life.

But he begins to see how his resistance to affections has poisoned even his own creation. When he travels with his friend Clerval, he receives a notice from his father that his younger brother William has been murdered. How dreadful that such a young one has been murdered. In Shelley's nihilism, she views death is something that severs one from the eternal presence of their loved one. There is nothing after death, this life is all there is. Thus, Clerval reflects on the Stoic position but then promptly rejects it.

"His friends mourn and weep, but he is at rest: he does not now feel the murderer's grasp; a sod covers his gentle form, and he knows no pain. ... Those maxims of the Stoics, that death was no evil, and that the mind of man ought to be superior to despair on the eternal absence of a beloved object, ought not to be urged. Even Cato wept over the dead body of his brother."

The dead may be at rest, but they are eternally apart from us. This is the emptiness that the Stoic philosophy leads. There can never be an eternity so any death must naturally perpetuate an eternal absence from our loved ones, even if they may now be in a state where there is no pain. A contrast to this is seen in Justine's response to her own death.

Realizing that the murderer of his brother had been his own creation, Victor seeks out to defend as innocent the accused Justine. But it is to no avail. The jury has been rigged against her. She is to be sentenced to death for a murder she had not committed. She confesses to the crime knowing full-well she did not commit the crime. But there is circumstantial evidence and a confession nevertheless. This is all there is needed for the jury to irk themselves to ire over what has happened to William. They seek a scapegoat, and it is Justine who is penalized. Justine is to be put to death. Elizabeth cannot fathom how her dear friend could have betrayed her so much. It is the betrayal that hurts her more than the fact that her friend has been unjustly tried. But Justine embraces a different metaphysic of the other world. It is one that acknowledges that this unjust death she will suffer will be for her sanctification.

"Dear, sweet Elizabeth, do not weep. You ought to raise me with thoughts of a better life, and elevate me from the petty cares of this world of injustice and strife. Do not you, excellent friend, drive me to despair."

It is sharp contrast to the thoughts of Clerval which are more echoing of Shelley's than Justine's are. Justine welcomes the death for this unjust cause because she acknowledges that there is an eternity to fly to. But Clerval has no knowledge of that. He rejects it. This sharp contrast between nihilism and eternity shows how the characters and the storyline plays out in the acceptance of death both in our own world and in Frankenstein. We see this even today in our own world. There is a population of people that looks forward to eternity and has no fear of death. These people are currently feared by those who fear death. The people who fear death the most are the people who try to prolong life, even by trying to create life and perform experimentations to extend and prolong the natural span of life. But such experimentations lead to evil ends and are based on evil means.

Victor, upon seeing the condemned Justine, reflects upon his own guilt. He knows that he should have been condemned, not the innocent Justine. But he refused to stand up for her. The blood-guilt of two murder victims must then be on his head for he has allowed this to happen to Justine.

"Thus the poor sufferer tried to comfort others and herself. She indeed gained the resignation she desired. But I, the murderer, felt the never-dying worm alive in my bosom, which allowed of no hope or consolation."

But one wonders why he does not confess his guilt. He knows yet another innocent will die because of him. Yet he keeps silent. He fears his testimony will not be believed. But perhaps he also takes a nihilistic approach. For is death ends all things, then there can be no repentance. If all of this life is the material, repentance is futile. There can be no more hope for man than what he can make in this life. Thus, the Hell he feels is only temporary, though he knows he is responsible for the murder of two innocent victims.