Who is punished through a sentence of death?

              In Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, a character called Justine is found guilty of killing a boy named William, a boy whom she loved and the family of which she was deeply close to, Justine resolves to plead guilty of this crime she did not commit after her trial. She shares the truth with Elizabeth, who is angered by the situation but finds consolation in Justine’s freedom from the worst parts of humanity.

Elizabeth’s pain lies with the fact Justine will die for actions she did not commit. That the people of the justice system are perpetrators of cruelty without remorse, and these actions unto Justine are in contradiction with justice. Elizabeth says, “I will try to comfort you; but this, I fear, is an evil too deep and poignant to admit of consolation, for there is no hope.” While Elizabeth sorrows for Justine, she believes that in Justine's’ resignation to being framed as guilty, she rises above her circumstances and ultimately the sentiments of the people sentencing her to death. She describes the departure of life as a freedom from viciousness of man but highlights the sickness that lies with the decision to kill someone. She says “Oh! How I hate its shews and mockeries! When one creature is murdered, another is immediately deprived of life in a slow and torturing manner; then the executioners; their hands yet reeking with the blood of innocence, believe that they have done a great deed. They call this retribution. Hateful name! When that word is pronounced, I know greater and more horrid punishments are going to be inflicted than the gloomiest tyrant has ever invented to satiate his utmost revenge.” It’s mistaken that by taking the life away from a person that is perceived to be a committer of harm and wrongdoings is relieving the world of further pain and making right what they did. In taking a life you are draining the spirits of their loved ones, and of yourself. Elizabeth highlights that through leaving the world you are free from the hateful and disgusting expressions of humanity. She says “Yet this is not consolation for you, my Justine, unless indeed that you may glory in escaping from so miserable a den. Alas! I would I were in peace with my aunt and my lovely William, escaped from a world which is hateful to me, and the visages of men which I abhor.”

Through Justine’s story, Shelley highlights the contradictions of the justice system, which as it functions is just as bad and even more wrong than the crimes of the people it persecutes. This is not just a story of the 1800s, but these ideas were upheld and are practiced to this day. It can be further explored that the justice system and the people who perpetrate it are not the protectors of society, that through the punishment of people who commit acts “against society”, the system has a hand in worsening crime through enabling vengeance and celebrating bloodshed. The treatment of people who commit crimes (that aren’t absolutely evil) as outcasts and then sentencing their death strips away their humanity, ignores them as a whole person, while also chipping away at and desensitizing the people who live under this system. If the systems we live under sets the tone for the interactions under it, and injustices aren’t bought to light, what becomes of humanity?