"Victor Frankenstein does not live up to his role model. He lacks compassion for his creation" (Madigan 3)A predominant theme in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is that child education and/or parenting techniques. Specifically, the novel presents a theory regarding the negative impact on children of the absence of caring, maternal love. To demonstrate this theory, Shelly focuses on Victor Frankenstein's experimentation with nature, which results in the life of his creature, or "child." Because Frankenstein is not satisfied with the appearance of his offspring, he abandons him and declines all his "parental" responsibility. Frankenstein's poor "mothering" and abandonment of his "child" leads to the inevitable wickedness of creation. Victor was not predestined to fail, nor was his creation naturally depraved. Rather, it was Victor's poor "parenting" of his offspring that led to his creation's thirst to justify his unjust life, leading in turn to the ruin of Victor's life. Frankenstein originally planned to use the results of his investigations to help humanity. , but this focus quickly turned into an exhausting obsession; he was only concerned with the means rather than the ends of his ambitious adventures. Therefore, Frankenstien did not take into account that he would be responsible for the outcome of his studies, namely the mothering, protection and care of creation. Victor never even probed the creature's real existence, somewhat resembling an unplanned pregnancy that never happened emotionally and rationally even after the child was born. He certainly didn't prepare adequately for parenthood. An example of Victor's complete helplessness regarding procreation, care and education of children. Complicated pregnancies and childbirths, miscarriages and deaths plagued her own youth and early adulthood. Of the four children she had, only one survived to adulthood. She also suffered a miscarriage that almost killed her. Issues of pregnancy and child development were central issues in Mary Shelley's life, and her novel expresses her own feelings and philosophy about the birth and raising of children. Works Cited Defrain, John and Stinnett, Nick. Ilg. Secrets of strong families. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1985. Madigan, P. The Modern Project of Rigor: Descartes to Nietzsche. Landham: UP of America, 1986. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus. Edited by: DL Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. Broadview Publishing. 3rd edition. June 20, 2012