Vitality is the principle in which all living things possess a life above basic physiological functioning. One could argue that Mary Shelley’s “monster”, despite his retinue of decomposed body parts, is just as vital as any live human being. The no-name monster reanimated by the late Doctor Victor Frankenstein undergoes a monumental metamorphosis. In the bowels of a hated laboratory tower, the monster evolves from death into an articulate, sentient being who triumphs over language and builds the capacity to understand philosophical concepts. Like his human creator and like all humans, the monster learns to love and to hate and this is what ultimately leads to his tragic end, “I shall collect my funeral pile, and consume to ashes this miserable frame, that its remains may afford no light to any curious and unhallowed wretch, who would create such another as I have been” (Shelley 161). Frankenstein’s monster is more than just the sum of his parts, more than just basic functioning. From his birth to his inferred death, this “monster” exhibits a humanity that is refined, compassionate, and horrible, but human non-the-less -Me.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 20:50:00 +0000
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