Shelley describes Frankenstein’s complicated family relationship. Frankenstein appears close to his family, but he also appears to harbor some disdain for them. Victor’s family demonstrates concern for Victor during his period of madness. While Victor speaks lovingly about his family, he also alludes to family turmoil. When he returns home to mourn the death of his younger brother William, the tone goes dark. “Yet, as I drew nearer home, grief and fear again overcame me. Night also closed around, and when I could hardly see the dark mountains, I still felt more gloomily” (Shelley, p. 58). This sentence suggests that home is a source of turmoil for Victor.
Victor’s family void may reflect Shelley’s life experiences. Shelley’s mother died shortly after her birth. Victor’s mother dies when he is younger before he goes to school. In order to fill the void caused by his mother’s death, Victor turns to science. Victor views science as a means of producing companionship. He wants to give life to his own scientific creation. Victor says, “Pursuing these reflections, I thought that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in the process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption” (Shelley, p. 39). Victor is motivated by a desire to bring the dead back to life. When he accomplishes this, he speaks about his creation with disdain because he does not have control over it. He, like Shelley, is not able to bring reason to life and death.
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