We have now started reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It always takes me awhile to really get into books, so it's not my favorite yet, but I am enjoying it. One of the moral questions that it poses is: What responsibility does the creator have for their creation? If Victor Frankenstein created his monster, is he responsible for its actions?
I don't have all the answers, but here are some of my thoughts on the subject. I think that every one has to be accountable for their own actions. A child eventually has to make their own decisions without blaming their parents. However, I also believe that the child can only be held responsible for what they know and understand. If they don't know that stealing is wrong, but take something that isn't theirs, it isn't stealing because they didn't understand that it was wrong. It is only when someone learns something is wrong they can do it. Like they say, ignorance is bliss.
Any creature that can read Paradise Lost and understand it can understand that it is wrong to kill people. I therefore find it more of a cop out than anything for the creature to say that it is Frankenstein's fault that it committed murder. Passing blame doesn't make you less responsible for your own choices.
No comments:
Post a Comment