Frankenstein: Learning Morality

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What does it mean to be human? Are humans born with an innate knowledge of right and wrong or is this knowledge gained through experience? Are humans personally responsible for their actions? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein explores these questions through the character of the Creature, who, ironically, is not human. The Creature is not innately good, because he does not have knowledge of good or evil when he comes to life; instead, he first lives to survive and later comes to an understanding of morality through his experiences. Both the Creature’s goodness and evilness are learned through his experiences of humanity and the world, rather than being innate. Originally, the Creature’s actions are not derived from innate good but from instinct. The Creature describes his first night saying, “It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half-frightened as it were instinctively, finding myself so desolate I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but, feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept” (962). At this point, the Creature has no experience of the world, he reacts to the environment which he is in, but he does not understand. Later, when attacked by the villagers, the Creature does not retaliate and harm them; instead, he runs away to safety (964). This is not because he understands the moral problem of violence, but because he instinctively avoids pain, such as cold or beatings, and is attracted to pleasure, such as warmth and safety. The Creature’s decision to run away instead of fighting back is not a conscious decision but an instinctual one. Even if the Creature had defended himself against the villagers, the action could not have been judged morally, in the same way that an animal cannot be judged evil for defending itself. The Creature simply does not understand the consequences of his actions in

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