“Cursed be the day, abhorred devil, in which you first saw light! Cursed (although I curse myself) be the hands that formed you! You have made me wretched beyond expression. You have left me no power to consider whether I am just to you or not. Begone! Relieve me from the sight of your detested form.’”
This quote from Frankenstein takes place during the scene when Victor Frankenstein sees the monster he created after the murder of his brother. He is equal parts horrified at his creation and horrified at the fact that it was he himself who has created such a monster.
The excerpt I chose reminded me of a documentary I once watched on PBS about the counterculture movement of the 1960’s. It described how the the young adults participating in the movement were participating “the age of selfishness, anti-authority”. To me, this reaction is remarkably similar to Frankenstein’s horror at what he created in his monster. Parents of adolescents who were politically active in the 1960’s were horrified at what their children were becoming–wild, unrecognizable, uncontrollable and weird, it was a real-life Frankenstein situation. In that sense, it was a very real disgust over one’s “creations”, and it changed history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75p0EOzowpw
So I really like the way you are clear about what it is in the Frankenstein that you’re comparing (i.e. that dual shock at the monstrous creation and at being arguably a monstrous creator). My only concern is that when I watched the clip I didn’t really see/hear the overall shock at having created monstrous counter culture youth. The bitterness and the testimony here comes from the assassination of Kennedy and King and how that kind of defeated the monstrous energy. The line about selfishness is there, but it’s not a parent or an outsider talking about a kids as monstrous; it’s a participant reflecting back on the time.