The True Story of Frankenstein: A Monster, A Scientist, and Big Lessons
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| Victor Frankenstein awakening his monster in the lab |
The Life of Frankenstein, The Man, The Monster & Some Important Lessons
Have you ever seen a picture of a tall green monster with flat hair, bolts coming out of his neck, and a clumsy walk? And most people do. You could find him on Halloween buckets, funny cartoons, or cereal boxes. And people will point him out and say, 'Look, there's Frankenstein! But you know what? Actually, that's a pretty big mistake! Frankenstein is not the creature. The monster was created by a young scientist named Frankenstein. The creature himself never even got a true name in the book. Frankenstein: a novel written by a young woman named Mary Shelley over 200 years ago, and much more than just a scary story. This is a story about big dreams, terrible mistakes, loneliness, and what happens when we forget to be kind. Now, let us go back and view the wonderful world of Frankenstein in a simple, fun, and meaningful way for all to understand.
How a Ghost Story Competition Changed History.
To understand the Frankenstein story, we must first look at how it was made. That sounds like a film! It was the summer of 1816, and an 18-year-old English writer, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (later Mary Shelley), was visiting Switzerland with her friends. They include famous poets Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The weather that summer was bad. A giant volcano on the other side of the world had erupted, and dark ash had spewed into the sky. It rained all the time. Outside, it was cold and dark. The group couldn’t go hiking or swimming, so they stayed near a warm fire. Lord Byron thought of something fun to do to pass the time: Let us each write a scary ghost story! For a moment, Mary could think of nothing. But one night, after they had talked about science and whether people could ever bring back dead things, she had a vivid nightmare. She saw a young scientist kneeling beside some strange creature of mixed parts, watching it come to life. She opened her eyes. She was scared and motivated. She began to write what she thought would be a short story. Her husband Percy urged her to develop it into a full novel. The book, Frankenstein, was published in 1818, and the Sci-fi world was born!
The Story: Victor’s Big Dream
Now let’s get into the story. The book is about a young man named Victor Frankenstein. Victor was raised in a loving family in Switzerland. He was smart and curious and liked reading books about science. When he was older, he left home to go to the university to study chemistry and biology. Victor had a big question on his mind: where does life come from? And men can conquer death? Victor was not writing to his family, nor meeting his friends, but spending all his time in the laboratory. He collected old bones and body parts from cemeteries and animal shops. For months, in secret, he worked on a giant human figure. Finally, one cold, dreary November night, Victor brought the body to life by way of his scientific methods (and electrical sparks). The creature’s dull yellow eyes flew open. It panted, its legs began to move. Life had been created!
The Great Mistake and the Panic
You’d think Victor would be proud, right? He had just done what no man had ever done before! But Victor looked upon what he had made, and was seized with the most terrible dread. The creature was huge, eight feet tall! Its skin was yellow and tight over its muscles, its hair black, and its eyes watery. This was not the sleek, handsome human Victor had expected. A terrible sight it was. Victor ran out of his lab in fear and disgust. He made no effort to converse with his creation. He gave him neither food nor help. He ran away and hid in his room. The next morning, Victor woke up, and it was gone. Victor was glad, and he only wished he could forget the whole business. But, as we shall see, problems do not vanish by being ignored.
The Monster's Version of the Story
We see only Victor’s POV for a long time. But halfway through the book, something wonderful happens. Victor meets his creature again, and the creature gets to speak! When the creature first woke up, he was a big baby. He didn't know how to speak, or what fire was, or how to procure food. Scared, hungry, and bewildered, he went out into the cold of the forest.
As he made his way about the world, he found simple pleasures:
- The sun was warm on his face.
- The sweet singing birds in the trees.
- Fresh berries and spring water.
At last, the creature reached a small wooden shed beside a cozy cottage in which a family lived. For many months, he remained in the shed, watching the family through a small crack in the wall. The creature learned amazing things by watching them: So he learned to say words by listening to the family talk. Reading: Found a lost bag of books in the woods, learned how to read! Empathy: The family loved each other a lot. When he saw they were poor, he secretly cut wood for them at night so they would not freeze. Love filled the heart of the creature. He so wanted to go out and say hello and be their friend.
How Good Intentions Turned into Anger
Naturally, one day the creature decided to make an attempt to be friends with the family. He waited until the younger members of the family were gone, leaving only the blind old father. The creature entered the cottage and spoke to the old man in a soft voice. The father couldn't see the scary face of the creature, but he heard his kind voice and treated him with respect. And the creature cried for joy; he had found a friend at last! Then the whole family was home again, all at once. They saw an eight-foot giant standing by their blind father, and they screamed in terror. The son took a stick and struck the creature until it ran away into the dark forest. This was the novel's turning point. No matter how kindhearted a creature he was, people would always hate him just because of the way he looked. Sad and angry. The anger became rage. He burned down the family’s unused summer cabin and vowed vengeance on the creator who had brought him into a world that would never love him.
The Wheel of Retribution
The rest of the novel is a melancholy, dramatic chase between the creator and the created. The creature finds Victor and makes a deal; Make me a female like myself, that I may not be alone. If you do this, we will leave mankind alone forever and live in the wild jungles of South America. At first, Victor agrees out of fear. But he thinks better of that as he works on the second creature. He is afraid that the two monsters will either mate or destroy the world. Victor destroys the new creature in front of the monster in terror. In fury, the monster swears terrifyingly, I will be there on your wedding night! Tragedy follows Victor wherever he goes. The monster kills Victor's bride, Elizabeth, on his wedding day and attacks Victor's best friend. Victor lost everything he ever loved. The story ends in the frozen lands of the Arctic. Victor chases the creature over the ice to kill the culture but becomes ill and dies on a ship. He is not pleased when the creature finds Victor’s body. He laments instead. He realizes that revenge didn't ease his pain. It only made him feel more alone. The creature promises, "I'll kill myself in a huge fire", before dissolving into the dark, icy mist.
Big Lessons to Learn From Frankenstein
So why do schools and colleges still teach this book today? Frankenstein contains many important lessons that are as relevant today as they were in 1818. Here are four important lessons from the story:
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover: The creature was born good and kind. He wanted to help people. He liked nature. But he looked weird and scary, so people treated him like he was not a good guy. Their cruelty had made him a monster. It teaches us to look at people through the heart and deeds not the way they look outside.
Take Responsibility for Your Actions: Victor wanted the glory of inventing something spectacular, but not the work that would go with it. If you make something or choose something, you have a responsibility to care for it. Parents take care of kids, and Pet owners take care of pets. Victor abandoned his creation, and that was the start of all the heartbreaks that followed.
Loneliness is a deep wound: The creature’s greatest suffering was not from hunger or cold but from loneliness. We need love, kindness, and community to stay happy and healthy. It can hurt deeply when someone is excluded or bullied. Being welcoming and friendly to others can really change a life.
Science is great! Science Needs
Ethics: It creates rockets, computers, and medicine. But Frankenstein poses an important question: Just because we CAN do something with science, does that mean we SHOULD? Scientists are always asking themselves if their inventions are going to help the world or harm it.
Pop Culture vs. The Real Book
If you watch movies or look at Halloween decorations, you might notice that pop culture has changed Mary Shelley’s story quite a bit over the years.
In the movies, the monster is called Frankenstein. He only grunts. Or roars. His skin is green, and he has bolts in his neck. He is an evil-minded man.
In Mary Shelley’s original book
Frankenstein is the scientist (the creature has no name), the creature speaks eloquently and reads books, he has yellow skin and black hair, and he is born good but becomes angry from loneliness.
Why Frankenstein Still Counts
You may ask: What is the relevance of a book written 200 years ago to us today?
The answer is a definite YES!
Today, scientists are creating Artificial Intelligence (AI),
developing advanced robots. and genetic editing. When smart machines or synthetic biology are covered in the news, stories, scientists, and thinkers reference the story of Frankenstein.
It is a useful warning light to mankind :
- How do we protect our new technologies?
- What if Smart creations will someday have feelings? How are we to treat them?
- How do we keep our compassion as we move forward?
Mary Shelley wrote this story when she was a teenager, but she had a strange ability to see into the future.
Concluding Thoughts: The real message
The story of Frankenstein is not really about the monster. It’s the story of what it means to be human. It shows us that knowledge without kindness is dangerous, that we all, no matter how strange we might seem on the outside, deserve to be understood and looked after. So next time you see a green monster with bolts in his neck on Halloween you can smile and tell your friends the real secret: The creature wasn't born a monster. The world's lack of love made him one. we can choose kindness, responsibility, and understanding regularly to help make sure our world is a bright and welcoming place for all of us.
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