Being Human

What does it mean to be human? By scientific terms, to be human means that you are of the species Homo sapiens. By looking at this question more philosophically, we realize that there are more things to being human than just that. If we look at Frankenstein and his monster, then we discover that they both have human characteristics, but they also have characteristics that we would perceive to make them less human. This statement begs the question, who is more human, Frankenstein or his creation?

   First I will examine the human attributes of the creation, the supposed “monster.” The monster comes to life as an adult and was made as a science experiment, which is an attribute that makes him seem less human. He does have the same feelings as a human; he longs for friends, he wants to be loved and accepted, and he feels joy, anger, and sadness. The monster got nervous before talking to the old man, and then wanted revenge when the man’s children did not accept him. That is what any human would feel.

Although the monster does do some violence in this story, wouldn’t any of us perform such violence if we were so hated and shunned from society? We see things like this happen in our society; people who feel alone and hated by society take their anger out by hurting their fellow man. Although we would call these acts inhumane, the people were human before. The line between being human and a monster depends on love; love can make a man human, love can keep people from doing harmful things. If the monster was only loved by his creator, then he would not have done all those violent things.

  The monster asks Frankenstein for a companion, a wife that will love him like Safie loves Felix. The monster knows that the love of this future companion will stop him from harming human kind and he knows that the love they will share will keep them both from becoming monsters. The monster is only less than human, by his looks and by his violent actions. The monster does not look like a normal human, and even he, himself, does not like the way he looks. He knows he does not look human.

 The monster killed the young boy, in revenge for his miserable life. The monster might look older than what he is, but we must remember that he is really only a little over a year old. Although he learns many things about life, superhumanly fast, we must consider that maybe he does not know fully what he is doing because some knowledge comes with time. By taking a closer look at this, I realize that the monster does know what he is doing because he did not feel remorse once he killed the boy and then framed it on the girl Justine, fully knowing that she would die because of it. These actions are what really make the monster less than human.

Frankenstein is a normal human being, but he has many characteristics that make him more like a monster. For instance he worked for many months with dead bodies in the hopes to create a super human. That statement describes a mad scientist, and that’s what Frankenstein was. He got so into his project that even when it horrified him, he still had to keep going. If the people he loved and cared about saw him then, they would think he was a monster.  He finally realized what he had become once the monster had come to life. Frankenstein had finally realized that he had become a monster. I think that Frankenstein was even acting like a monster when he wouldn’t tell anyone about the monster, he just sat by and watched a innocent girl get jailed then executed.

Frankenstein also has human attributes. He was born like any other human, had the want for more knowledge, has morals, and many other things like other humans. He loves Elizabeth, which as I said before can make someone human, but I think he lost site of that love when he made the monster and when he had the idea that no one would accept him if he told them about his creation. I think at some points he has forgotten about the love that she also has for him. He does not consider her emotions when he does things. I believe that for most of this book, Frankenstein is more of a monster than he is a human.

What I believe makes you human, is if you share love with something or someone that inspires virtues in yourself. Mary Shelley defines being human as being able to experience and reveal emotion, acting in accordance with the said emotions, and the ability to be aware of others feelings. Her definition is very much like mine. Love inspires emotions, and without love, one can lose site of others emotions and can totally lose emotions in themselves.