Frankenstein 9

     As I near the end of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I notice a theme I had not yet realized was appearing in the book: duty. Duty is both one's sense of obligation to one's fellow beings and one's sense of responsibility for oneself. Victor shows a sense of obligation towards the creature. When the creature asks Victor to make a female creature, Victor hesitantly agrees.

"I had now neglected my promise for some time, and I feared the effects of the daemon's disappointment" (Shelley, 118). 

     Victor is the speaker of this quote and it shows how he feels obligated to serve the creature. However, Victor really has no reason to be in debt to the creature. If anything, the creature should be Victor's "slave." Victor have the creature the precious gift of life. There is no greater gift than this. Without Victor, the creature would not exist. The creature has done nothing but awful things to Victor. Because of this, the creature is clearly in debt to Victor. Victor has done nothing wrong (well, besides create him) and does not deserve to be the creature's slave.