“These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? He appeared at one time a mere scion of the evil principle and at another as all that can be conceived of noble and godlike…For a long time I could not conceive how one man could go forth to murder his fellow, or even why there were laws and governments; but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased and I turned away with disgust and loathing.”
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Mary Shelley seems to prefer to reveal a great portion of her thoughts on human life through the thoughts and struggles of the monster. Frankenstein’s creation seems to be used to express Shelley’s themes particularly well due to his relative innocence. He was just born about one year ago; he has only one year’s worth of experience and one year’s worth of understanding of human nature. It would do Shelley little good to convey her message simply through another human; inevitably, that human would contradict their own reflections on humanity because he is, first and foremost, human. Yet by imposing such themes on the monster, Shelley is able to ponder human nature through fresh eyes. Frankenstein’s monster dwells on mankind’s duality of conscience for the first time and in a way that most humans, who are used to this conflict, would not be able to think. Frankenstein’s creation provides Shelley with the only way she could properly convey her themes concerning the paradox of man.
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