Victor Frankenstein the main character in Mary Shelley’s book narrates the innocent and heavenly nature of his being when he was just a child: “I was [my parent’s] plaything and their idol, and something better – their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by Heaven (…)”
Who would not describe children in such fashion? They are, after all, ignorant of all the evil and wretchedness of the world that they are just starting to explore. This is not the case, however, with the monstrous act which this 11-year-old girl committed this last Monday in Ohio. During the absence of her mom’s supervision, the girl allegedly beat a 2-month-old baby to death and is currently detained at a Juvenile Detention Center by the authorities.
Is the world doomed by looking at an act that has no reasonable explanations and justified purposes? Innocence and childhood are terms that are difficult to use together again as society experiences cases of sorrow and suffering such as the one presented.
Nevertheless, both texts represent a different side of what society understands by childhood. On one hand, Shelley describes Victor as an innocent kid who represents a gift sent from heaven; and on the other hand, a girl just as innocent as Victor has murdered a defenseless and vulnerable child.
Maybe innocence and childhood are terms that should not go together anymore.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/10/us/11-year-old-charged-with-murder/
