Mary’s
Shelley’s Frankenstein is not an
explicitly religious text, but there are many religious references. Victor’s
expedition to the summit of Montanvert, a journey he is determined to make
alone, is parallel to the 23rd Psalm—“Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow death, I will fear no evil: For thou art with me.” After the
deaths of Justine and William, Victor is determined to spend his time alone, to
keep from others, and wallow in his misery. His expedition is indicative of the
way he is attempting to live his entire life—living his life as isolated as
possible, but the monster is always with him.
The
23rd Psalm is referring to the Lord as a positive force, and
although Victor is the “creator,” and the monster states that he “ought to be
thy Adam,” (126), the monster is a constant negative presence in Victor’s life,
much like God is a constant presence is the life of religious people. Victor
“was determined to go alone, for [he] was well acquainted with the path, and
the presence of another would destroy the solitary grandeur of the scene,” and
he looks on the “valley beneath,” and in solitude he calls for the monster, who
then appears. There is never as much of a separation between Frankenstein and the
monster as Frankenstein would like, the two are always intertwined even in the
far reaches of Montanvert. The creator is haunted by his creation, but is an
escape possible?
No, there can be no escape. If we are speaking in biblical terms, God is always interconnected with the lives of the people he created. In exodus, God briefly abandons the Jews. For a while, he watched them suffer under the rule of the Pharaoh. Although God eventually comes to the rescue of the Jews, albeit through Moses, it shows that he could have helped the Jews long before he did. It is clear that there is natural relationship between a creator and the creation. While Frankenstein does not need to take a paternal role to his monster, the two will always be linked. As much as Victor wants to distance himself, he knows that because he imbued this monster with life it is his responsibility.
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