SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN AS A FATHER FIGURE
             In the world we live in, it is nothing new to hear of young men fathering children and then disappearing, leaving the child to be raised without a father. A term for these filial flunkies has even become a part of our vernacular; the "deadbeat dad." Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a novel concerning the creation of life by a man, and his refusal to take responsibility for the life he has created. Victor Frankenstein, in his abandonment of his own creation at its "birth" and in his rejection of that creation when it seeks him out, is that parent who is not there for his child. Shelley's Frankenstein, in those passages of the creation of the monster and the monster's confrontation of Frankenstein, contain ample proof that Victor Frankenstein was indeed a "deadbeat dad." Shelley shows that Frankenstein rejects his creation, is disgusted by it and doesn't offer the parental guidance, love and compassion the creature so badly needs. Frankenstein's abandonment of a being of his own creation directly leads to his personal downfall.
             When the reader reaches the creation of the monster in the novel, it is known that Frankenstein has not previously fathered a child. Frankenstein is actively engaged in this task of creating a living being out of inanimate flesh, he wants to bring life forth, it doesn't happen as an accidental occurrence. This is important to note in that Shelley sets up Frankenstein as one who willingly brings life into the world. Chapter Five begins with Frankenstein's account of the night he created the monster, or as he says: " It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils" (p.42). Right off, Shelley gives us two ideas about Frankenstein as a father figure. First of all, we know that Frankenstein looks back on that night he brought life into the world, and h...