Title: Frankenstein, Victor
Author: Simon Clark
Date of First Publication: 2006
Place of Publication: Night Visions 12 (anthology)
Type: short story
Characters: Victor Frankenstein; The Creature
Themes: ANDROID; BYRONIC HERO; POSTHUMAN; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; RACE/POLITICS; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER
Critical Summary: In a world being populated by the descendants of The Creature from Shelley’s novel, humans hunt and killed off what they regard as monsters. The monsters seek not only to escape persecution, but to find Frankenstein’s prototype (The Creature) and breed with it due to it being the Alpha Male. We follow a group of hunted “monsters.” Ruth, Gen, Joseph, April, Asia, Iman, Grace and Adam all played beautiful, strong monsters. Ruth was the ringleader and brains of the operation. A man by the name of Marshall helps deliver these monster creatures on boat to their destination. Ruth and Marshall make love and find out that Marshall was the Alpha Male’s offspring. These monsters are all tall, thin, slim with perfect muscle formation, whose skin glows.
At the end of the journey, after experiencing casualties, the group is ambushed but meet the Creature himself. As his son, Marshall makes a plea to the Creature for help and calls him father. The Creature is chained but breaks free and helps his fellow “monsters.”
There are many characters that were borrowed from Frankenstein including the monster, Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and Lord Byron. The Creature played a vital role in the story. Victor Frankenstein was known in both stories to have been the creator of the monster. Mary and Lord Byron were mentioned but did not play major roles.
The many themes that were present in this story that relates to Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein were the Android, the Byronic hero, Race and Politics, and the Last Man and Posthuman. The monsters are all built Creatures, and Marshall is not even aware that he is part monster and human. He is a hybrid. Victor and The Creature remain Byronic. The war between humans and “monsters” opens on a political theme of war, persecution, and refugees. The new race pushes toward the Posthuman. The central idea here comes from Victor Frankenstein’s thinking in the novel, when he decides not to build a mate for the Creature because he might create a “race of devils” to persecute humankind. The novel turns this around to make the “monsters,” though greater in number, the persecuted.
Administrative Notes: Rebecca Loera, CSUF; Dr. David Sandner, CSUF (editing)