Introduction Directed by James Whale in 1931, Frankenstein is a chef-d’oeuvre horror film depicting several social issues in Europe after the First World War. The war caused unparalleled destruction, which threatened to tear the social fabric characterized by declining human welfare and stagnation in most societal issues. James Whale adapted Mary Shelley’s 1818-masterpiece book, Frankenstein. The movie Frankenstein can be interpreted from the disparate point of view as it covers many issues touching on politics, religion, sexuality, and human origins, among other issues. This paper is an analysis of the movie Frankenstein by focusing on the social themes in it. Plot analysis In the opening scenes of the movie, Heinrich Frankenstein creates a lifeless human figure, but he desires to get life into it, which would culminate in the successful creation of an artificial human being. His girlfriend, Elizabeth, tries to convince Heinrich to abandon his plans, but she fails terribly on this attempt. Fortunately, for Heinrich, he manages to ‘breathe’ life into his creature, which turns into a docile and obedient being. However, the being becomes an aggressive monster upon being locked up after its creators start thinking it is unfit for society. The monster attacks Frankenstein and his friend, Waldman, as they labor to rescue Fritz, who apparently dies from the monster’s attack. At this point, Frankenstein realizes that the monster should die, and he hatches a plan to inject it with a lethal substance. He manages to execute his obliterating plans, and he leaves for his wedding, knowing that the monster is dead. Waldman is left behind to watch over the dead creature as Frankenstein leaves for his long-awaited wedding. The monster resurrects and attacks Waldman before escaping to the unknown. In its escape, it meets a lovely girl, Maria, and after the two playing an interesting game of tossing flowers in a water body, the monster ultimately tosses the girl into the water as the final flower of the game. The monster then attacks Frankenstein’s fiancée on the wedding day and escapes without being seen. In confusion, the father of the drowned girl arrives carrying the lifeless body, which angers the villagers to pursue the monster. In the closing stages of the movie, the monster attacks Frankenstein in the mountains, but he survives after being trapped in an old mill. The monster is also trapped in the mill, and the villagers set it on fire, thus ending its spree of destruction. Analysis of social themes As aforementioned, James Whale, the director of the movie, hinged his script on the social difficulties that swept across Europe after the First World War. Those who participated in the war came home devastated emotionally with nothing to pride in except that the architects of the war had won. Normal people were turned into death hungry soldiers, and after the war, the majority of them suffered post-traumatic stress disorder due to the vagaries of the war. According to Remargue (1996), one of the returning soldiers from the war lamented, “We feel as if something inside us, in our blood, has been switched on…we are dead men with no feelings, who are able by some trick, some dangerous magic, to keep on running and keep on killing” (