ipl-logo

Frankenstein's Failure, By Daniel Kokotz

976 Words4 Pages

Frankenstein’s Failure Summary
In the article “Frankenstein’s Failure” by Daniel Kokotz, he claims that Victor Frankenstein was so wrapped up with the ambition to be the first to discover the secrets to life, that he failed to realize or think about the negative effects that come with creating a human being. In the article, Kokotz gives an expose of the novel “Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus”. Kokotz had an interesting view of Frankenstein's motives, he implies that in the story Frankenstein had completely innocent goals, but they end up haunting him. In fact, his dreams were even generous in nature, as he hoped to better humanity by eliminating death and disease. Daniel Kokotz also suggest that Frankenstein’s desire to enhance human nature and discover ways to improve it is not a new idea. The author provides the reader with examples such as the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, in this tale a hero dedicates his life to finding a plant that will grant eternal life. Kokotz uses this story to further prove that Victor’s hope in his discovery of life is not too crazy or over the top. Though Victor Frankenstein’s goal was to further scientific enhancement, he was very naive and simply did not anticipate the negative repercussions his scientific findings would bring.
Daniel Kokotz believes that Victor Frankenstein's motivation to …show more content…

The author explains how Frankenstein's ambition for discovery takes him on the opposite path that he planned to go. I do believe Victor Frankenstein failed to see his flaws in his experiment with life and he could have been more mature about the way he handled the monster. Victor Frankenstein failed to realize that something that is desired is not always

Show More
Related

Frankenstein Ap Lit Analysis Essay

773 Words | 4 Pages

Frankenstein Lit Analysis Rough Draft Since the beginning of time, Man has always pursued knowledge, but this pursuit is always kept within certain boundaries, especially while searching for the truths behind the creation and origin of life. As this quest for knowledge continues, men can become consumed with the perilous thoughts and ponderings required to attain this wisdom. In her novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explains how the pursuit of forbidden knowledge can become dangerous through symbolism, allusion, and foreshadowing proving each effectively to the reader. Employing symbolism as her first technique, Shelley uses this in the way many other enlightenment authors do. The strongest use of symbolism is prevalent while Victor is contemplating

Read More

Frankenstein Rhetorical Analysis Essay

608 Words | 3 Pages

All humans find themselves obsessively determined to succeed in gaining something, whether it be knowledge, a promotion, or someone’s love, only to find out that what they thought they were going to get is not what they actually wanted at all. In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley describes this phenomena occurring within Victor Frankenstein’s internal narrative. He is obsessed and determined to discover the secret of life, and once he does he realizes its effects on not only his life, but others’ as well. Throughout the passage found on pages 30-31, Mary Shelley reveals the attitudes of curiosity, wonder, and determination through descriptive characterization of Victor Frankenstein and his thoughts, effectively bringing her own attitudes to fruition through language, symbols, and sentence structure.

Read More

Archetypes In Frankenstein Research Paper

457 Words | 2 Pages

Victor Frankenstein's obsession with creating life is fueled by his desire to unlock the secrets of the universe, but he fails to consider the consequences of his actions. He becomes so consumed by his research that he loses sight of the humanity that should guide scientific inquiry. As a result, his creation becomes a monster that threatens the very fabric of society. Furthermore, the novel also highlights the dangers of the pursuit of knowledge without regard for the consequences.

Read More

Victor Frankenstein Tragic Hero Essay

839 Words | 4 Pages

As Adam Philips once said, “Tragic heroes are failed pragmatists, their ends are unrealistic and their means are impractical.” In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, the obsessed scientist Victor Frankenstein becomes fascinated with natural philosophy and undergoes a journey trying to manipulate the laws of nature. Victor is a great demonstration of a tragic hero and displays all the characteristics necessary throughout the novel. To begin with, Victor had excessive pride at the beginning of the novel, a characteristic of a tragic hero. Victor was obsessed with science and reading textbooks from the young age of 13 and as he ages, he becomes fascinated with alchemy and the decay of life, concerning his father.

Read More

Victor's Desire For Power In Frankenstein

146 Words | 1 Pages

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has been an American classic for almost 200 years, which contains both philosophical and moral themes in the text, making the reader question the limits of humankind and its desire for power. For every character presented in the story their independent desire to overcome their intentions becomes so intense that the future that lies upon them is nothing close to what they can imagine. Victor Frankenstein´s desire to quench his thirst for power ends up clouding his judgement and making him elude the future that awaits him. As Victor´s intention to succeed in natural sciences grow to an abnormal point, his judgement about what to do with that knowledge didn't let him contemplate the future consequences

Read More

Annotated Bibliography On Frankenstein

1439 Words | 6 Pages

After successfully creating the monster, Frankenstein is perplexed by what he has created. Due to the monster’s annoyance with Frankenstein, he acts back against Frankenstein mostly due to his lack of parenting and responsibility. Shelley’s novel strongly connects with the act of parenting. It is clear that Victor Frankenstein did not complete his role as a parent. Due to this, it further led the monster to misbehave and feel as if he does not have a purpose in life.

Read More

Who Is Victor Frankenstein A Victim

554 Words | 3 Pages

In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a monster was created by a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, that leads to the negative consequences of science and knowledge. The monster faces societal rejection which plays a crucial role in developing his personality. Frankenstein believes that by creating the Monster, he can discover the secrets of life and death. He is motivated to attempt these things by ambition. He wants to achieve something great, even if it comes at great cost.

Read More

Obsession With Revenge In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

610 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, ambition evolves into a form of obsession with revenge. But the result of vengeance is a curse to human life and its longevity. Both main characters in the novel, Victor and the monster become obsessed and let vengeance be their downfall. Victor was a very ambitious character who longed for knowledge and the presence of new life. He soon became obsessed with his creation and said,“I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.

Read More

Understanding Of Justice In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

1100 Words | 5 Pages

A timeless human goal has always been to set visionary goals to advance the coming generations. Although many results can be successful, a great number of them can turn out deadly. In the novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley illustrates the result of a man’s visionary motive of creating life, which consequents into the birth of the deadly creature. The creatures understanding of justice is based on eliminating anyone or anything preventing him from reaching his goal; accordingly, his actions to attempt revenge upon Victor only led to his downfall throughout the novel. The creature’s understanding of justice and it’s revenge against Victor is the driving force of the story because it builds up the anticipation the reader has for the final confrontation.

Read More

The Dangers Of Ambition In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

524 Words | 3 Pages

Depending on one’s ambition can lead to tremendous leaps of advancement for mankind or its inevitable destruction. Thus, Victor Frankenstein demonstrates that tragic

Read More

Fate In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

548 Words | 3 Pages

Victor Frankenstein, through his actions, changed his destiny; sadly, his deeds led to the negative effects destiny had prepared for him. He failed to recognize the “hidden power” destiny holds when he sought to make nature accommodate to his superfluous creation. By disregarding the effects of providing life to a lifeless creature, fate, in the end formed a path of suffrage, and took those most dear to him. Unfortunately, Frankenstein’s recognition of destiny’s power was discovered to late and along with those whom he loved, his happiness and peace were also taken

Read More

Pursuit Of Knowledge In Frankenstein

1109 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the novel, these characters toil with the pursuit of forbidden knowledge by suffering through the ramifications of their decisions to satisfy their desires. The author implies that blind ambition can lead to the downfall of beings who don’t limit their curiosity. These endeavors include determining the secret of life as well as its creation, discovering a passage in the North Pole, and learning to understand one’s place in the world. Victor Frankenstein suffers from the cost of knowledge by allowing his thirst for the unknown to exceed his limits. In like manner, he pushes his own limits and spends countless nights working to construct his creature even though he is cautioned that only God is capable of creating life.

Read More

Character Development In Frankenstein

1921 Words | 8 Pages

Such passion is seen in Victor’s ‘noble intent’ to design a being that could contribute to society, but he had overextended himself, falling under the spell of playing ‘God,’ further digging his grave as he is blinded by glory. His creation – aptly called monstrous being due to its stature, appearance, and strength – proved to be more of a pure and intellectually disposed ‘child’ that moves throughout the novel as a mere oddity, given the short end of the stick in relation to a lack of familial figures within his life, especially that of parents. Clearly, Victor Frankenstein had sealed his fate: by playing God he was losing his humanity, ultimately becoming the manifestation of Mary Shelley’s hidden desires, deteriorating into The Lucifer Principle by which the author Howard Bloom notes social groups, not individuals, as the primary “unit of selection” in human psychological

Read More

The Theme Of Nature Vs. Nurture In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

549 Words | 3 Pages

If Victor Frankenstein had spent more time with the “baby”, the monster would not of done the evil and devastating things to mankind. Showing Victor’s love, and make the monster feel safe and secure would have made the Monster less barbaric in his actions. Victor could have prevented the Monster’s turn towards a murderous future and protect him from the people of the world around him. Both Nature and Nurture fit into the Monsters wretched attitude and abominable

Read More

Victor Frankenstein Character Analysis Essay

1220 Words | 5 Pages

In 1818 Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, a novel that follows Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious man on his journey to defy the natural sciences. In Volume I of the novel, Victor discusses his childhood, mentioning how wonderful and amazing it was because of how his family sheltered him from the bad in the world. “The innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me” (35). When Victor brings up his childhood, he suggests that parents play a strong in how their kids turn out, either "to happiness or misery" (35). In particular the main character was sheltered as a child to achieve this “happiness” leading to Victor never developing a coping mechanism to the evil in the world.

Read More

More about Frankenstein's Failure, By Daniel Kokotz

Related Topics

Open Document