I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend… Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all humankind sinned against me?
I really enjoyed listening to the conversations about good and evil during this week’s Teams Meeting. The question about whether Frankenstein’s creature is truly evil or not can be and has been debated for decades. And although I don’t have an answer to that, this book certainly made me think more about my perceptions of “good” and “evil”.
The idea of morality and good versus evil in the first place is so fascinating to think about because as humans, we are the only ones as far as we know that think of that. How does that quote go? About how the only true thing that separates humans from animals is our concept of good and evil? (Somebody comment if you know which one I am thinking of.)
Because when you think about it, animals can love and learn and be kind, but can also fight and murder and destroy. When a lion kills a gazelle it is simply for survival, right? However, if you view it from the gazelle’s point of view it can be seen as evil, while from the lion’s point of view, good. (This is why I have trouble watching nature documentaries, I never know who to root for!) The bottom line is, there is no solid definition of good and evil. It’s not black-and-white and straightforward but more abstract, a concept that is reliant on perception. Human perception, social perception, personal perception, etc.
Then there is the whole idea of nature versus nurture and how that ties into this as well. Are we all born with either good or evil traits/tendencies pre-programmed, something above us and out of control? Or are we all born as completely blank slates and it is our environment that determines what we become? I have read some philosophies of morality that suggest that as humans, we are all born evil, and instead it is our purposeful choices to combat that that make us good. On the other hand, I have also read of ones that suggest we are all born good but with potentials of evil, and it is if we act on the evilness that we become so.
These analyses as a whole are so interesting to me. And I think Shelly did a good job at sparking some more conversation about it by giving us the creature, an echo of a human. Was he created good or neutral and then turned evil by the cruelty of the world? Was he created evil right off the bat? Or is he not evil at all? I definitely want to read about what more people think.
" data-author-type="
Warning: Undefined array key "type" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/html-layout.php on line 20
" data-author-archived="
Warning: Undefined array key "archived" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/html-layout.php on line 21
">
Warning: Undefined array key "id" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/html-layout.php on line 41
-"
Warning: Undefined array key "archive" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/html-layout.php on line 42
itemscope itemid="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Person" >
Warning: Undefined array key "img" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-avatar.php on line 4
Warning: Undefined array key "show_social_web" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-socialmedia.php on line 6
Warning: Undefined array key "show_social_mail" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-socialmedia.php on line 7
Warning: Undefined array key "show_social_phone" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-socialmedia.php on line 8
Warning: Undefined array key "type" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-name.php on line 15
Warning: Undefined array key "type" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-name.php on line 17
Warning: Undefined array key "type" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-name.php on line 19
Warning: Undefined array key "archive" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-name.php on line 31
Warning: Undefined array key "name" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-name.php on line 34
Warning: Undefined array key "bio" in /home/nrhelmsp/public_html/brit.lit/wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/views/author-box/parts/html-bio.php on line 8
I find I fall somewhere in the middle on the question of Original Sin and the Blank Slate. Humans are no more innately good or evil than animals are. But we’re not blank slates, either! We come pre-programmed with instincts, cognitive faculties, and the particularities of the time, culture, class, etc. we’re born into. We are not radically free to be whoever we want. (Though our society should always push to make us more free, I think.)
I loved reading this book and watching the monster grapple with good and evil. He obviously wanted to be good and live in the company of other but he also was quick to become angry and vengeful. I live Dr. Helms comment, we are not just blank slates we come with instincts. We can see this in the monster as he navigates his life in the woods when he first comes back to life.
The frustrating part is that the more willing you are to take a step back, the more black-and-white concepts like “good” and “evil” become a spectrum or a series of spectrums. The term “morally grey” exists for a reason – to refer to something that, depending on perspective, determines “which side” someone’s actions fall under, “good”, or “evil.” And that’s really the kicker, the question of, “What makes someone/something good/evil?” has to be determined by the infuriatingly non-answer of, “Perspective.” From the creature’s perspective, his creator is likely considered “evil”, and vice versa, and though no one would be very likely to argue that either of them is morally faultless, from their perspectives (despite complexities) they probably consider themselves to be “good”. To make a long story short, morality is dependent on perspectives, which are changeable, and I lost my train of thought…
Great work on your post!
This reminds me of debates I’ve heard about redemption. If someone has done “bad” things, can they redeem themself? Does that depend on the motivation they had for doing said action? Does it also depend on the perspective?
The creature didn’t seem to see a path forward for himself, to the point that he refers to himself as “polluted by crimes”.
I think this is a really good thing to look into, even though “good” and “evil” are on different sides of a spectrum there is no black and white, there will always be that grey space. People can be good and have some evil traits, or evil people can have some good traits. I don’t know enough about the human brain developing as a baby, but who knows if people are born evil or good, or are people made that way by the things happening around them. The monster is a good example of that because he was good and became a “bad person” after he was treated as such.