Is Frankenstein Inherently Good Or Evil

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It is strange that the nature of humanity is picked apart through the medium of fiction. Authors seek the truth through the most absurd flights of fantasy. Within fiction, where strange beasts and imaginary people lie, authors ask the question “What is human?” There is no better example of an author asking just this question than Mary Shelley in her Frankenstein. It through Victor’s creature that she asks and answers the question “Is man inherently good or evil?” Rousseau believes that all knowledge comes from experience, Locke states that man is inherently pure until society corrupts them and, Hobbes argues against both entirely, stating that man is initially bad and needs a society to contain and control him. Shelley walks the line between Locke and Rousseau to argue…show more content…
The creature, without any selfish motivation, does good deeds, therefore proving he is not evil. The creature initially stole from the Delacey family “but when [he] found that in doing this [he] inflicted pain on the cottagers, [he] abstained” (Shelley 99). Therefore the creature, when learned from experience that his action of stealing, which was not evil or bad-intentioned, but simply based on a survival instinct, hurt the cottagers, he stopped doing it. He gained knowledge and became “good” because of what he learned, showing that Shelley argues for Locke’s belief. This kind act also exemplifies the good action that the creature did, without the action benefiting him. Since this is out of character for any inherently evil being, the creature is shown to lack an evil nature. Secondly, the creature saves a small girl from drowning. This benevolent action counteracts any possibility that the creature was inherently evil because it is another positive act that does not
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