How Does Victor Create Alienation In Frankenstein

Through the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley demonstrates that the pursuit of knowledge brings alienation through Victor's ambition to create the monster, the monster's curiosity in nature, and the emotions that are inflicted as a result.
Knowledge brings alienation from family through Victor's ambition to create the monster. Victor is inspired by the science behind life to death and desires to make a creation of his own, the monster. His ambition to create the monster becomes so powerful he shuts out the rest of the world. Victor lets it take control and he “favors his ambition above his friendships and family” (Themes). Prior to his creation of the monster he had a great relationship with his family but ended up losing it due to his gain

Victor’s “impulsive experimentation” eventually leads to his and the creature’s separation (Schmid). He thinks that creating the monster could represent something new and amazing but it becomes the physical representation of Victor. They each have the same desire for knowledge that ruins themselves. Victor notices this and he sees the way that the creature is alienated but Victor is alienated for the exact same reasons. When the creature is ‘born’ Victor is immediately disgusted and runs away leaving the creature alone to fend for itself. The creature is left alone and feels all of the pain that comes with alienation and the guilt that haunts Victor makes him feel the same pain that the monster feels. In the end the novel implies to the reader that “neither the creature nor Victor can stop” in their quest for knowledge which is the detriment to their lives

The creature meets the character Safie ,who is connected through the DeLacey family, and learns to read through watching her. The monster discovers novels such as The Sorrows of Werter by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Paradise Lost by John Milton. On a personal level he connects with Milton’s Paradise Lost in the way that he had never thought about his alienated relationship with his creator, Victor, compared to the relationship with Adam and God. The novel connects the creatures' strife with God and Adam’s story and brings up the point that the monster “suffers needlessly through its contact with the corrupting influences of society” (Kolstad). He notices that his relationship with Victor is exactly like God and Adam because within their relationship Adam abandons his promise to God just how Victor leaves his creation alone to thrive. The creature states that an “increase in knowledge only showed what a wretched outcast I was” because he learned of what a true relationship between family is supposed to be and he realizes that he is a social outcast and is lonely (Shelley 141). He feels all of this alienation and loneliness and is angered by