The theme of Good vs Evil is one that is at the very foundation of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein.
Evil means profoundly immoral and wicked while good means moral, pleasing and welcoming. The
two concepts of Good and Evil are most often considered as the opposite of each other and very
rarely overlap. However, the plot of Frankenstein is not like that of other novels, where usually a
hero (good) rising above and prevailing over a villain (evil), this novel shows the transformation from
good and kind to evil and hateful as a result of human's inherent prejudice of that which is not the
norm of society and the effect that one man's selfish ambition causes - chaos and suffering.
Both good and evil can be seen the most clearly in the character of the creature. When the creature
is born his mind is as John Locke theorises: a tabula rasa (blank slate), this means that he is not
inherently evil, but nor is he necessarily good either and that all that he becomes is a r esult of his
experiences – through sense perception (which is the use of our senses to acquire information about
the world around us and to become acquainted with objects, events, and their features). Despite
this his own creator, Victor Frankenstein demonises the creature because of his ugly features and
abandons him thinking him to be an evil monster rather than the confused almost-child that the
creature is at this point in the novel. However, despite the abandonment of his creator and ‘father’,
the creature goes on to learn all about the world, himself and humans and more specifically how he
is different to all other humans. Despite the creature being an incredibly good individual with
nothing but pure intentions, he is constantly rejected by man who do not hesitate to abuse him
upon seeing his face and stature, labelling him a monster with no comprehension of who the
creature truly is. This is seen in three different events: when the creature enters a village; when the
creature reveals himself to the De Lacey’s and when the creature tries to regain the favour of his
creator Frankenstein. Each time the human reaction to the creature is the same – one of disgust and
loathing. The villagers immediately band together an attack the creature and Felix has the same
reaction and beats the poor creature: ‘dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick’;
the verbs ‘dashed’ and ‘struck’ show not only that the creature is beaten by Felix but that Felix and
his family, however kind and caring they may be to each other only see the creature as a monster as
evil and a monster despite the creature having been nothing but kind and caring towards them.
Even Frankenstein tries to physically assault the creature upon seeing him: ‘my rage was without
bounds; I sprang on him’, the abstract noun ‘rage’ shows just how much hate is directed towards the
creature, all because of his looks. The last straw for the creature is when Frankenstein rips up the
body of his mate right before his eyes: ‘tore to pieces the thing…the wretch saw me destroy the
creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness. This cruelty from Frankenstein is
the defining moment in which the creature decides to become truly evil. Having sworn revenge
against all men (‘If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear’; the juxtaposition of the abstract nouns
‘love’ and ‘fear’ show the creatures transformation from good to evil as a result of the hatred and
cruelty shown towards him) and especially Victor Frankenstein, the creature goes on to terrorise
Frankenstein and murder those he loves for the sake of revenge. This change from good to evil is
most evident when the creature says: ‘I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me’, this allusion to
Milton’s depiction of Satan in Paradise Lost displays the creature's transformation, just as the devil
fell from God’s grace and became evil, so does the creature. The` noun ‘hell’ shows how much
hatred and anger he has after experiencing cruelty of man.
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