One of the most tragic events in the novel is when William is murdered, this is a key point in the novel as it is where Frankenstein falls way out of his depth, before this point Frankenstein could put things right but now he can only improve the already very tragic situation. From whichever way you look at it Frankenstein has a responsibility to be honest with his family. Yet Shelley chooses to make the character more to blame and in some ways more interesting by him holding the truth away from his family. He has a personal and social responsibility to admit at least some fault in Williams’s death, consequently saving Justine’s life. At one point Frankenstein almost comes clean “ You are all mistaken. I know the murderer. Justine, poor, good Justine is innocent” at this point Shelly lead’s the reader into the thoughts that maybe her Character is going to fulfil his responsibility’s and act the way society expects him to act be honest. Alas he does not and “justice” proceeds on Justine. Shelley persists in representing Frankenstein as feeling genuine heartfelt remorse, “ A thousand times rather would I have confessed myself guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine” but this is not as genuine as it may seem as Shelley does not proceed to describe Frankenstein’s sorry with a confession. Instead he goes on with more lies and deceits. Shelley intended these chain of events to be the worst behaviour of Victor Frankenstein, although more people go on to die and in arguably a more horrific and gothic fashion, on this occasion he lies to his friends, family, the court and just about fails on every natural law of human kindness and responsibility. He is being unjust. This is one major demonstration of how Victor
has created a being surpassing his power and comprehension and this is the other major demonstration of unjust actions in the novel.
Several themes seem to run through Shelley’s Frankenstein, some obvious, others subtle. The most widely heralded theme is the idea that ignorance is bliss. In Shelley's time, the power of human reason, through science and technology, challenged many traditional precepts about the world and man's relationship with his creator. Yet at the same time, many questioned these humanist notions, stressing the limits of human capacity. Shelley details this theme in her book, making an allusion to the counter-humanist idea in chapter four when Victor warns Walton not to follow in his footsteps, saying. “Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow”. Indeed, to Shelley and many others of her time, some riddles of nature should never be discovered by man. Even the alternate title, The Modern Prometheus, undeniably relates this point. Prometheus, a figure in Greek mythology, took fire from the gods in order to give it to man and consequently suffered eternal punishment. Clearly, Victor Frankenstein is this modern Prometheus—in a way, he stole the idea of creation from God and used it for his own ill-advised purposes.
A second theme stresses the idea of human injustice towards outsiders. Throughout his narrative, the monster laments over man's cruelty to those who are different. Indeed, Frankenstein's monster is an outcast—he doesn't belong in human society. Yet the monster's alienation from society, his unfulfilled desire for a companion with whom to share his life, and his ongoing struggle for revenge, are all shared by his creator. As the story develops, Victor becomes increasingly like his creation. Both characters live in relative isolation from society, both hate their own miserable lives, and both know suffering. Shelley, through this theme, paints a very bleak portrait of man and his relationship with outsiders, as well as the cruel vengeance of society.
The creation of this creature is the one of the most memorable and exciting moments in the book. This scene is created by many directors in a variety of interpretations depicting highly exciting and suspenseful actions. The original text when it was written would have had a similar effect on the reading and literary public as merely decades before poems were the only base for exhilarating writing and the power and popularity of the novel was only now emerging and a novel such of this was of immense importance to the literary world and still is.
