Back when I read Merry Shelly’s 1818 Novel Frankenstein, I remember stumbling upon the main idea of the novel when Victor Frankenstein, secluding himself in a valley due to his overwhelming guilt, exclaims “Alas! Why does man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only renders them more necessary beings. If our impulses were confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly free; but now we are moved by every wind that blows and a chance word or scene that that word may convey to us.” Reading this, I pinpointed the thematic meaning of the novel—the significance of human sensibilities.
This is a literary apostrophe that is ironic in the overall context of the book. Frankenstein’s “monster” or creation (we’ll call him Frankenstein) is often one who is seen as inhuman due to his appearance but often shows the most humanity. This idea is exemplified when he saves a little girl from drowning only to be shot by her guardian, mistakenly assumed to be preying on the girl. This contrasts Victor’s entropic humanity as he continuously abandons his creation due to his personal disgust. Ultimately, these ideas function to evince the central theme of the story which is focused on human sensibility. Human sensibility is comprised of the emotions, sentiments, and consciousness that make humans principally different from base animals, or at least that is what Victor believes. What’s ironic about this belief—that humans are special due to their sensibilities—is that Victor, a human, is often more callous than Frankenstein, the inhuman. Victor’s belief that humans are fettered by their sensibilities is laughable as he continuously acts against his own conscience due to his innate repulsion to anything that doesn’t fit into the categorization of human. In sum, human egocentrism purports humanity and sensibility is inextricable while such a belief is illusory.
But what makes Frankenstein scary? The societal fear tied to the monster is the fact he isn’t a monster, humans are. Frankenstein represents the ideal attributes romanticized by humans. He’s intelligent, kind, brave, and emotional. However, his appearance contrast this ideal and it makes humans viscerally disgusted by him, and here lies true humanity. Victor represents real attributes that lie deep in humans. He’s callous, reckless, and believes that contrition absolves destruction. Frankenstein is scary because he’s a mirror that reveals the ugliness of the human condition and the fact our “sensibilities” don’t make us different from monsters.