"A Responsible Mother"

"I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created..."
-- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Now one would wonder why is this quote even worth analyzing? When most think of Frankenstein, they think of the monster created by a mad scientist whose work drove him nearly crazy. However, if one really takes an in-depth look at the themes and meanings behind the actual novel Frankenstein, one would see that the role of responsibility is something that many of us fear and will run from at least once in our lives.
As we walk through life each day we make decisions. They could be good or they could horribly alter our lives or the lives of others. We make the decision of whether or not we will perform our daily work tasks, whether we will voice our opinions of something, and even whether we will allow someone or something to shape our day. Either way, each day is filled with decisions that we must make. But what happens when even the smallest decision makes such an impact on our lives or the ones around us that we are forced to deal with the responsibility of that decision? Do we run from it? Do we hide from it? Or do we just take responsibility for our actions?
The thing about Frankenstein is that he worked on his goal of creating life for so many years and so intently that the question of whether his work became an obsession began to come about. However, after his work had finally been completed, he began to become disgusted with his creation and began to run away from it rather than take responsibility for it. His lack of responsibility ultimately brought about fatal circumstances to himself and the people he loved as well.
When we make decisions, the bottom line is that we have to take responsibility for them whether we want to or not. Too often we hear about mothers and fathers abandoning the creation of life that they brought into this world and never take responsibility for that life. As a result, that forgotten life takes on a form of its own where the dangers of society began to shape and mold that once innocent life into an inner image of lifelessness and numbness.
So often we take extreme joy in the toils and adventures of life that we often forget to ask ourselves, "How is this going to look tomorrow?" or "Who may this affect later on in life outside of myself?" We tend to become so selfish that we don't ask such questions and simply act on an impulse and in the end when it comes time to take responsibility for our actions, we simply run away from it, in hopes that everything will just disappear and things will go back to how they were before. If you're going to play the role of Frankenstein and create life into a decision, take the road of responsibility and don't let a small thing become a reckless monster terrorizing us all.