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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ruin Explorer" data-source="post: 9610225" data-attributes="member: 18">I think there are broadly four interpretations of book, really, through history:1) Von Frankenstein is an understandable tragic figure and the monster is evil, for which von Frankenstein is somewhat but mostly not culpable. This was the common book-only interpretation up until the 1950s I think.2) Von Frankenstein is an awful, awful man, but the monster is also evil because it does "evil" things. This is a fairly conventional opinion, but I think is increasingly less common (in part because people understand children better).3) Von Frankenstein is an awful, awful man, and the monster is not really evil despite doing horrible things, because it essentially has no reason not to do them, being a child, and morality/decency is something learned, not something intrinsic.4) Nobody is to blame, it's a tragedy for everyone! Von Frankenstein was driven to madness by sadness, and so was the monster, essentially. (This is still uncommon but I have seen it).Only the first one is like, even arguably "incorrect". The rest are all viable opinions, which says something for the book.</blockquote>