Tis My Opinion

S.M. Jones

Professor Lutz

ENGL 2030

12-1-2018

Murder: A Phenomenon 

            To many, the first murder to ever be committed was that of Abel by the hand of his own brother, Cain. As the story goes, both Cain and Abel were commanded by God to give an offering their Creator. Abel offered up the firstlings of his flock for he was a keeper of sheep and the Lord was pleased. Cain, on the other hand, was a tiller of the ground and thus thought the first fruits from the land would be a sufficient offering, to which the Lord had no respect whatsoever. Because of this, Cain hated his brother and promptly killed him. Though there was much hate between Frankenstein and his Creation, the question of whether or not Frankenstein’s hypothetical act of killing his Creature could be considered murder cannot be as easily answered as if one were to pose the same question to the killing of Able by the hand of Cain.

            Murder: 

1      noun

Law. the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder, or murder one), and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder, or murder two).

2      Slang. something extremely difficult or perilous: “That final exam was murder!”

3      a group or flock of crows.

4      verb (used with object)

Law. to kill by an act constituting murder.

to kill or slaughter inhumanly or barbarously.

5      . verb (used without object)

to commit murder.

The word ‘murder’ has many definitions and connotations. For our discussion, we shall focus on the first and/or fourth/fifth in the process of coming to a coming to a conclusion pertaining to the morality- or lack thereof- of Frankenstein’s desire to extinguish the flame of life he so fervently kindled within the inanimate body of his Creation.

            The first definition of the word ‘murder’, as seen above, is “the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law”. With this definition in mind, as well as the fourth and fifth, we must then contemplate two follow-up questions in order to come to a rational conclusion: “Can Frankenstein’s Creation be considered human?” and if so, “By what law must this Being abide?”

            What does it mean to be human?

adjective

1.     of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or having the nature of people: human frailty

2.     consisting of people: the human race.

3.     of or relating to the social aspect of people: human affairs

4.     sympathetic; humane: a warmly human understanding

noun

5.     a human being  

When we look up the word ‘human’ in the dictionary, we find that it has more than one definition. To answer the question of the Creature’s classification we need only to consider the physical form of said Creature. Presumably, Frankenstein constructed this Creature’s body from the remains of unburied human corpses. Grotesque though it may be, by the very definition above, this Creature is, in fact, thoroughly human. 

            Okay. You are not convinced. All the more reason for us to dive deeper into what it means to be human. Two synonyms for ‘human’ are sympathetic and humane. The Creature shows evidence of sympathy and humane feelings during the first few days of his observation of a small family of cottagers: “They were not entirely happy. The young man appeared to weep. I saw no cause to their unhappiness; but I was deeply affected by it.” (113, emphasis added) If the origin of the Creature’s physical composition wasn’t enough to establish in you a since of humanity then surely this display of such genuine affection and sympathy will suffice as proper evidence. 

            Having thus classified the Creature as a member of the species Homo-sapiens, let us return to the matter of lawful action. Though it is evident that this Creature is capable of benevolence, we mustn’t forget his immense capacity for malice and destruction. Throughout the novel this Creature commits three separate- but deliberate- murders.  Because of this, one would be correct in accusing the Creature of unlawful activity. In many countries during the time period in which this novel takes place, capital punishment is a just procedure in law. With this in mind, it would be safe to assume that a jury would indeed find it necessary to put this Creature to death for his repeated crimes. Being that Frankenstein is alone in his knowledge of the existence of his abominable Creation, he alone must bear the responsibility of enforcing law as his judge, jury, and executioner. So, in the hypothetical event of Frankenstein’s killing of his Creation, we must consider the fact that, in so doing, Frankenstein is enacting a just punishment and thus cannot be said to have murdered his Creation. 

            So, you have read this far and still disagree with the above argument on the basis that you don’t believe said Creature deserves the right to be called human. There is yet another path of reason we can consider in answering the question of whether or not the action of Frankenstein killing his Creation could be considered murder. 

            As stated above, there is a yet another definition of the word human: “of or relating to the social aspect of people.” By reason of this definition, this Creature himself is painfully aware of his lack of human status. He eventually separates himself from the human race all together: “[F]rom that moment I declared everlasting war against the (human) species…” (138) Thus the Creature himself answers the question of whether or not he belongs to the human race. 

            “So,” you ask, “if the creature is not human, then what would you call the result of his demise by the hand of his Creator? By the hand of Frankenstein?” Frankenstein, in this case, could be considered a nefarious artist who works with human remains as his medium. As an artist dissatisfied with his work might toss the product of hours of intense concentration into a wastebasket without a second though, so too must Frankenstein be allowed- neigh, obliged- to kill hiscreation if it so displeases him. That is if he is, in fact, capable of such a feat. But alas, whether or not he is capable, to find this out you must read the book.