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Examples Of A Morally Ambiguous Character In Frankenstein

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A morally ambiguous character is one that isn’t entirely good or evil. I would say that the Monster is the best example of a morally ambiguous character in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. The Monster commits several violent crimes despite his love of nature and people. Mary Shelly uses the Monster’s moral ambiguity as the backbone of her novel, Frankenstein, to display certain tropes about humanity. The Monster commits several violent actions. After Victor abandons him, he tries to assemble some resemblance of a life by traveling and learning about society, something that Victor failed to teach him. While on his travels, he takes his first casualty. “Frankenstein! You belong to my sworn enemy—to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; …show more content…

Victor abandoned the Monster at his birth and since the Monster has had no favorable interactions with humans. He wants to learn what he was never taught. “What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people, and I longed to join them, but dared not…I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching and endeavoring to discover the motives which influenced their actions” He spies on a family for months trying to decipher how humans interact with each other. He also knew that joining them would most likely elicit the same reaction Victor had. To try and prove his caring soul, he provides extra wood for the family and avoids any direct communication until he deems it is the right time. He decides to talk to the blind father since he knows he will only be judged on his humanity. His plan is working until the end. Revealing that he had been stalking the members of the household, he completely loses the fathers good graces. “Great God! Exclaimed the old man. Who are you... At that instant the cottage door was opened, and Felix, Safie, and Agatha entered. Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me” (136). The family’s reaction to the Monster appearance speaks to Mary Shelly’s goal to expose the shallowness of humanity. Both Victor and the family ran away from the Monster's hideous face, but did not give him a chance to reveal what a kind and gentle creature he is. Retorts like this are the root of the Monster’s horrific

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