Title: The State Versus Adam Shelley
Author: Benjamin M. Schutz
Date of First Publication: 1991
Place of Publication: Ultimate Frankenstein
Type: Short Story
Characters: Mary Shelley; The Creature; Victor Frankenstein; Elizabeth Frankenstein
Themes: MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; ANDROID; POSTHUMAN; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER; BYRONIC HERO; RACE/POLITICS
Critical Summary: In the form of a Forensic Evaluation, written by the Chief of Forensics Services, Dr. Waldman provides the reasons behind the accusation of 14-year-old Adam Shelley’s crimes and violence with an evaluation of his physical and psychological health. The evaluation begins with Adam Shelley’s mother, Mary W. Shelley, who is denied the opportunity for an abortion, and she is assumed to have attempted suicide. Although she becomes brain-dead after head trauma, the care her body and baby received from a Dr. Henry Frankenstein provide a successful birth for Adam Shelley. Adam experiences the difficulty in growing up in State Services and foster homes, while also battling the devastating reactions his gruesome appearance brings to those around him. Mysterious deaths surrounding Adam Shelley occur during his childhood, but no evidence exists to accuse him. He goes after the one who made his life possible, Henry Frankenstein, and demands a mate of his own. In anger of Henry refusing to do so, he kills William and Alphonse Frankenstein (Henry’s brother and father), and his close friend, Victor Moritz. Before he kills Henry, the Creature rapes his wife Elizabeth, proclaiming he will make a child with her. Adam ends up killing Elizabeth and Henry Frankenstein and is hunted down until arrested. After these deaths the boy is brought into questioning and is thoroughly analyzed for physical and mental evaluation. Although his body is abnormally large, ridden with radiation-induced disease, and clearly deformed, there is no sign of irregular development nor any cognitive disabilities. The doctor concludes that his anger is due to a childhood without nurturing love, and also from the devastation he experienced when everyone around him reacted negatively toward his ghastly, inhuman appearance. He concludes that no sentence should be reduced, and that he will continue to inflict violence and death among society if not executed.
The connection of “The State Versus Adam Shelley” between Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is their strong shared theme of the mad scientists being tracked down and destroyed by their own monster. The elements of horrific scenes (like the way he rapes Elizabeth right in front of Dr. Frankenstein) are immensely similar to the way Shelley creates sudden, violent, unsympathetic acts from the creature. The use of both original names and combinations of these names in this story makes it easy for readers to understand the characters’ role to Frankenstein and the creature, and how they compare to the original characters in Frankenstein. It appears that if any mad scientist creates a living being (or assists in their birth with the use of radiation), the creator is inevitably charged with the responsibility to provide for the creature’s happiness. Although “The State Versus Adam Shelley” creates a type of sympathy for the creature and his lack of childhood love, it does not share the same complexity as Shelley’s novel, and it is more difficult to elicit the same compassion for the creature, Adam Shelley.
Administrative Notes: Jena Curtis, CSUF; Matthew Vu (editing)