ipl-logo

Justice In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

1114 Words5 Pages

The act of finding purpose in one’s life is a blessing and a curse. The pursuit of happiness and the act of seeking companionship is a noble one. Yet, being plagued by the ultimate question of why one is here is what every man faces. Mary Shelley’s early 19th century romantic gothic novel, Frankenstein, uncovers that the search for justice in a society consumed by vanity is a long and futile one. The Creature responds to his injustice by vowing the destruction of humanity and the man that created him but ends up finding his solace, and his initially noble quest leaves him as one of the most human individuals in the novel. The Creature’s first response is to find out who he is and in that discover who he is and in that discovers what he is …show more content…

The Creature knows that with Victor being dead, he does not have to go on, he does not need to be driven by vengeance anymore. The Creature states that he “ shall no longer feel the agonies which now consume [him], or be the prey of feelings unsatisfied, yet unquenched” (Shelley 209) and this shows the reader just how complex a Creature he truly is. He knows that the deadly games he plays with Victor did not leave him fulfilled. He comes to terms with his decision and openly accepts his fate. “ Light, feeling, and sense will pass away; and in this condition must [he] find [his] happiness” (Shelley 209). When he is talking to Walton, he knows what he has to do, and the result of it. Lamb argues that the Creature “lineaments of his own identity” because the Creature took Paradise Lost as history itself and a way to determine who he really is like, that of Adam or Satan (Lamb). The Creature in the end never got his happy ending but finds peace. He says that his “work is nearly complete” (Shelley 209), and that he does not need anyone else to die to find his peace. The Creature in pursuit of justice realizes that “ [His] spirit will sleep in peace;” (Shelley 209) when he carries out his final

Show More
Related
246 Words | 1 Pages

As Victor soon dies from illness, Walton is filled with extreme grief as he starts to travel back to England. He continues to write back to his sister when he is suddenly greeted by the creature who stands before his creator in anguish. Horrified by the creature's appearance, Walton argues that Victor is gone because of the creature’s doings. Weeping, the creature explains his pain and regrets for being consumed with evil. Consequently, the creature then declares that the only way to relieve himself from all this suffering was to die in triumph and soon leaves.

Read More
781 Words | 4 Pages

The creature finds solace in nature and is able to find some measure of peace and happiness in his interactions with it. This is reflected in the quote, "Soon a gentle light stole over the heavens and gave me a sensation of pleasure. I started up and beheld a radiant form rise from among the trees. I gazed with a kind of wonder. It moved slowly, but it enlightened my path; and I again went out in search of berries" (Chapter 11).

Read More
604 Words | 3 Pages

Frankenstein was right. For many people, it is only natural to seek some sort of justice after being wronged, in some cases that sort of justice is revenge. One sees these concepts in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Victor creates an unlikable creature, essentially running away from it giving that creature no person that is like them. Eventually, Victor promises to give the creature a companion but destroys them and with that the creature's hope.

Read More
780 Words | 4 Pages

In this area of the passage, the creature has no one to learn from because of how he was created. The creature was made out of limbs, that Victor collected to bring his creature to life. Before the creature discovered the papers, he compared himself to a fallen angel, Satan. The creature says, “like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me.” (Shelley, 105).

Read More
1121 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More
351 Words | 2 Pages

Justice is an idea made clear to all humans from the very beginning of our lives. We learn the laws of nature and the consequences of breaking them. Although justice is simply a concept developed by man, it has its core in the laws of nature. Perhaps the most fundamental of the natural laws is creation, the law broken by Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Creator, the role Victor attempts to play, can only be enacted legitimately by one being.

Read More
101 Words | 1 Pages

In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the author utilities traditional Gothic literary elements to create a semi-autobiographical, supernatural metaphor for her own experiences. Drawing from past tribulations as an outcast, Shelley tugs at the fabric of a classist society, unraveling the shroud of status to reveal a far darker plausibility- perhaps the development of an individual's character lies not solely on oneself, but rather, "individuality" evolves as a reaction to society. Through the manifestation of characterization, emotive diction, and select allusions, the author paints an insightful, poignant, multilayer -portrait of man's quest for righteousness, additionally illuminating the internal desire humanity possesses for acceptance.

Read More
639 Words | 3 Pages

Each year grade eleven students at Monsignor Doyle read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein even though there is a multitude of other classical books that could be read. [Pause] Many students and even some parents feel like Frankenstein shouldn’t be read because it’s boring and the grammar is difficult to understand. However, students should continue to read Frankenstein because there is a strong emphasis on being misunderstood and judging someone before you get to know them. This is something that many teens do to other steens and this book allows them to see how the outcome of that judgment affects that person. It goes without saying that the monster is a monster because from the outside he looks different and scary.

Read More
405 Words | 2 Pages

In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, selfishness is a theme most prominent in the piece, and how it plagues and destroys both Frankenstein and everyone around him.  Shelley describes the battles of selfishness in humans and how destructive it really can be through the narrator, Frankenstein. Shelley describes the scenes of Frankenstein in his own self-induced exile, his neglect, his loneliness, and his disgust. In multiple ways is selfishness portrayed through each and every one of the characters in the novel.

Read More
441 Words | 2 Pages

In Frankenstein the monster had injustice against him with how he was created. The monster was abandon by Frankenstein after his creation, so he didn’t know anything. He was denied any help by his creator which was unfair to do. The monsters search for justice is getting revenge on Frankenstein for creating him the way he is.

Read More
1097 Words | 5 Pages

Voltaire, a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher, stated that “With great power comes great responsibility.” Taking responsibility is recognizing and admitting the choices we have made, how we carried out this choices into actions, and their outcomes. There should be a correspondence between the actions we choose and our moral values. Having moral responsibility is one of the things that separate us from animals. As social beings, we have learned to follow the rules of society and to fulfill certain obligations.

Read More
1039 Words | 5 Pages

Imagine a man walking down the street suddenly getting robbed. The man who is pickpocketed will certainly detest such injustice and gain the sympathy of society. On the other hand, the thief will be looked down by society. People judge the thief based only on this incident and brand him as a disgraceful and spiteful member of the community. What the public has failed to realize are the internal strife and emotions that the perpetrator has to bear due to his crime.

Read More
560 Words | 3 Pages

The creature shows this perfectly, spending the early part of his life learning and absorbing knowledge from his surroundings. From the De Lacey’s he learns to be good and kind, and then attempts to make contact with them in an intelligent and kind fashion. He is rejected with violence, and then shot soon after for trying to save a drowning child. It is only after these negative events that his behavior begins to change, becoming more angry and full of rage. Before committing to becoming a true killer, he attempts one last time to solve his desire for companionship, and seeks out Victor.

Read More
1206 Words | 5 Pages

I had feelings of affection and they were requited by detestation and scorn. ”(Ch. 20). This proves that he knows he is the only one of his kind, thus cannot find a mate or friend without Victor making another creation. So, when Victor decides not to go through with the Creature’s request, the Creature feels the pain forever. Now he knows he will be miserable and live in isolation for the rest of his life.

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 Justice In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Open Document