ipl-logo

Examples Of Moral Conscience In Frankenstein

800 Words4 Pages

In the novel "Frankenstein" the moral conscience of the main character Victor Frankenstein can be questioned several times. In several instances Victor Frankenstein puts his loved one's lives in danger throughout the entire novel. Also Victor Frankenstein sometimes feels little or no remorse from his actions that harm the people close to him. Victor Frankenstein never fully realizes that all of the horrendous events that happen to him and his loved ones stem from his creation of the monster he made at Ingolstadt. It is Victor Frankenstein's lack of a balanced moral conscience that leads to much of the tragedy in Mary Shelley's novel, "Frankenstein".

When Victor Frankenstein's brother William is murdered, Frankenstein is almost certain …show more content…

I cannot personally have the death of someone who is innocent be my fault because I refused to tell the truth. Also that is simply the right thing to do, Victor Frankenstein created the monster and angered it by neglecting it, now he should pay the price. I believe that Victor Frankenstein is truly upset about what happened and he feels bad. Frankenstein never intended to murder people with his creation he made, and also the fact that his creation is showing some "defects" upsets him greatly. The issue with Frankenstein's guilt and remorse though is if he feels like this he should have told the public about the true murderer instead of keeping this a secret. I wouldn't fully trust Frankenstein's word after this part of the book. Being able watch an innocent woman die know it's your own fault shows that you have no moral conscience and cannot be …show more content…

Victor never gave his creation a female companion which his monster needed greatly because no human women would ever love the monster. The monster was neglected and the best way to help the monster get love and attention would be by giving him a female companion. Victor also knew the monster would kill his wife if he didn't give him a female companion because the monster himself told him. When Victor leaves his life alone in the cabin the night of their marriage that was completely his fault, Victor himself knew that his creation would try to kill his wife that night and he left her vulnerable and alone. Victor Frankenstein could have avoided this entire situation in the first place if he had been his creation's companion and showed love for him, instead of neglect and

Show More
Related
591 Words | 3 Pages

The biggest theme in Frankenstein is secrecy. There are multiple reasons to believe this in the book, and the movie Frankenweenie. In Frankenweenie Victor is forced to show Edgar how he brought his dog back to life to be able to keep Sparky a secret. When Victor first created the monster he was so scared he just left it alone, giving away that he doesn’t want to take responsibility for it or let anyone know that he was the one who created him. Victor could have avoided Justine being hung if he would have spoken up about the monster.

Read More
503 Words | 3 Pages

In order to protect the view he holds of himself, which stems from his god complex, Victor Frankenstein uses rationalization to shelter himself from the guilt derived from his indirect involvement with the murders of William and Justine. In allowing young Justine to confess to the murder of William, though she is innocent, Frankenstein experiences conflicted emotions. Victor writes that “such a declaration [of who the true criminal was] would have been considered as the ravings of a madman,” (Shelly 86). This rationalization of not telling the truth is because of his inability to take responsibility for his actions. In the same passage, Frankenstein describes the guilt and sadness he feels as “fangs of remorse” (86).

Read More
687 Words | 3 Pages

The novel Frankenstein brings to light many problems and situations that shed light on the faults of mankind. Cruelty was a huge factor in the novel; throughout Frankenstein is cruel to his body and to his creation. When he first makes the creature he runs from it, leaving the creature to fend for himself; even when reuniting with the creature he continues displays cruelty. The creature, in turn exhibits Victor cruelty right back. Within Frankenstein cruelty can be attributed, often affecting both Victor and the creature; serving as a crucial motivator and revealing their anger, pain, frustration till eventually both die.

Read More
974 Words | 4 Pages

The Dangers Of Responsibility Responsibility is the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone. Responsibility is something that every human needs. A lack of responsibility can be harmful to the person and the people around them and a plethora of responsibility can change a person 's life. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Shelley’s portrayal of Victor as selfish suggests that not taking responsibility can lead to pain, death, and the suffering of others as the reader sees in the novel which relates to today 's society of powerful countries not taking responsibility for the weapons that they create, and the damage that is revealed as a result.

Read More
1049 Words | 5 Pages

In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, it scrutinizes the punishments when a man creates life, and plays the role of God. Victor Frankenstein, is at fault for the creature’s actions. Victor was looking for some honor and triumph, but when he accomplished his experiment, not only did it bring terror to Victor, but to the whole world. The monster never learned right from wrong and was never raised correctly, his first moment of life, all he experienced was the fear in Victor's emotion, and was abandoned right from the start. Victor selfishly isolated himself from society and ran away from his responsibilities which caused destruction to the people Victor cared for and loved deeply.

Read More
542 Words | 3 Pages

Have you ever been held responsible for the tragedies caused to others? For most the answer is no, however, for some, their actions have led to the misfortune of guiltless lives. In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, because of the absence of attention and teaching, the reanimated creation Frankenstein is unstable; Victor Frankenstein is who to blame. Two events that he should be accountable for are not training his creation to know right from wrong and abounding the monster which led to the murder of innocent people. Firstly, Shelley uses conflict of “human” versus nature to demonstrate the major idea that Victor Frankenstein is responsible for the loss of innocent lives.

Read More
1265 Words | 6 Pages

The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley says a person is responsible for their actions if they do not weigh the possible consequences of their actions before making their final decision. Throughout the novel, Mary Shelley shows the consequences of actions that are done without proper thought beforehand. Victor Frankenstein wants to create life, he wants to be god, and his lust for this goal overtakes his common sense. Victor rushes into making his creature and then makes rash decisions which also contributes to his demise and the death of several of his close friends and family. The monster should be held responsible for his actions to a certain extent, however, his actions are influenced by Victor’s initial impetuous decisions.

Read More
1134 Words | 5 Pages

This much is true for Victor’s failure to take responsibility for not only teaching his creation about life but also failure to take responsibility for the actions of his creation. “Frankenstein! You belong then to my enemy… you shall be my first victim” (153). Victor’s knows that he is responsible for the death of William because he abandoned his creation and made the monster learn the hard way that he would not be accepted into society. But he has no choice but to let Justine take the fall for the death of his brother because he fears being seen as a madman.

Read More
1511 Words | 7 Pages

In life there are many evils that will try to defeat a person but the key to living a happy, fulfilling life is learning to have empathy for others who are facing their own evils. Empathy is hard to have if a person has not endured any real struggles in their life. Being able to know firsthand how it feels to go through difficulties helps create a level of empathy that leads to compassion for one another. Victor Frankenstein is a prime example of someone who has faced evils in their own life but in the end did not find compassion for others, instead he found his own hell. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor’s lack of empathy opens the door into his world of selfishness, cruelty, and unhappiness.

Read More
675 Words | 3 Pages

Victor Frankenstein is guilty of not only negligence, but also the crimes the monster commits as they were a direct result

Read More
1260 Words | 6 Pages

Guilt can either be an emotion that makes a person feel remorse for his or her’s actions toward another, or can be the conduct involving the executions of such crimes and wrongs. In the novel, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, both definitions of guilt were the common theme. However, the main problem was whether the creature or the creator, Victor Frankenstein, were guiltier for their actions. The one presumed to be more guilty was Victor Frankenstein who created the monster in the first place causing his family pain and failed to take responsibility for the monster’s actions. Although he didn’t directly kill his family, the monster is guilty too.

Read More
790 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creature, both display a sense of moral ambiguity. Each character has committed both good and evil alike, and neither knew the consequences of what they had done. However, Victor Frankenstein is generally the morally ambiguous character by his treatment of his creation and his own imperious personality. He wanted to be able to help science by recreating life or bringing it back, but at the same time, he did not want to consider the consequences of doing so. Victor tries to prove himself as a good moral character in the relationship between his creation and himself.

Read More
929 Words | 4 Pages

The gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley centralizes on humanity and the qualifications that make someone human. The content of the novel Frankenstein depicts a monster displaying human traits that his creator Victor does not possess: empathy, a need for companionship, and a will to learn and fit in. Throughout the novel Shelley emphasizes empathy as a critical humanistic trait. The monster displays his ability to empathize with people even though they are strangers. On the other hand Victor, fails to show empathy throughout the novel even when it relates to his own family and friends.

Read More
918 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel Victor and the Monster come across many relatable situations that they are forced to overcome. Victor Frankenstein had a very happy childhood, and he describes his parents as being “possessed by the very creature of kindness and indulgence”. Although Victor had a very happy childhood, these characteristics do not seem like the foundation of good moral character. Similarly Victor’s monster was not raised with the foundation of a good moral character. When the monster was first created he possessed more strength than he knew what to do with.

Read More
556 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the novel, the main character Frankenstein, made many poor decisions that I would consider to be morally wrong and unethical. Frankenstein’s research and discoveries are ethically wrong because he was taking dead bodies from cemeteries, cutting off their limbs, and body parts to create a human like creature. He did not have anyone's consent to do this study causing it to be unethical, and he also should not be able to do this because he is playing the role of god. In the beginning of the book, Victor Frankenstein described to Walton that he had created a monster using body parts from a graveyard.

Read More

More about Examples Of Moral Conscience In Frankenstein

Related Topics

Open Document