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'Selfish Desires In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'

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Recommended: Frankenstein literary analysis

The first letter in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein reveals a variety of literary devices such as ‘theme’ that accurately foreshadows various elements from the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Victor and Walter begin by setting out for recognition and popularity, these two desires intertwine together as they go in-depth when Victor says "wealthy was an inferior object, but with glory with attend discovery". This quote sheds light on Victor selfish desires.

Overall throughout the novel, both Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton complement each other when it’s to experiences. To clarify, both Frankenstein and Walton share similar experiences of indecisiveness and struggle in the story. In one of the scenes, Walton's letter foreshadows Victor's
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373 Words | 2 Pages

I agree with Thompson that Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein are similar because they both bring someone back to life, but Robert Walton is the better man because he is more father figure like than Victor. After two years of Victor being gone, he finally finds the monster. The monster finally has his turn to talk to his so-called father, and he says, “You, my creator, abhor me... You accuse me of murder, and yet, you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature” (Shelley 103). The monster calls Victor “my creator” which proves that Victor created life, but he feels hatred and disgust toward his creation.

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337 Words | 2 Pages

The process Frankenstein obtained in constructing the creature he has planned for was based on his determination, obsession, and commitment. For instance, in chapter four it states, “To examine the causes of life…. I became acquainted with the science of anatomy, but this was not sufficient; I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body”(Shelley 18). This proves how he was committed towards his work since he studied constantly with little bits of rest. Clearly, showing his obsession was not letting him stop until his work was complete.

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74 Words | 1 Pages

Victor Frankenstein is introduced to Robert Walton and the two almost instantaneously click due to their benevolent and deep mindset. The two characters view life as an adventure and choose to pursue goals most would never dare to. Victor pursues life after death and Robert peruses the cold journey up north. Not only do they pursue goals most would comprehend, the two also push away key family members from their life during their endeavor.

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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.

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499 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelly, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature. The creature and Victor Frankenstein have conflicts between each other, which is why Robert Walton is necessary to help the reader relate to Frankenstein, by having many of the same attributes are Victor Frankenstein does. Robert Walton has many similar traits to Victor Frankenstein, ultimately helping the reader greater relate to Dr. Frankenstein. Even though Frankenstein is viewed as a monster himself and Walton is considered a normal person.

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1487 Words | 6 Pages

The novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley depicts certain ideas that can not be described or written within novels. For example, the telling of the story between three different narrators can teach the reader about putting together “pieces of a puzzle” in order to understand the plot of the story. The three narrators in Frankenstein are Victor, Walton, and the Creature, all with very distinct personalities and character traits. Of these storytellers, Victor could possibly be debated as the most extraordinary. The qualities that make Victor pictured as this unique character, that the fact that he is a dynamic character, and that he is an unreliable narrator.

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524 Words | 3 Pages

Ambition as propelling it is, however can lead to the demise of the person influenced by it. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, informs the reader of the consequences of ambition, by telling a story of man named Victor Frankenstein who is overwhelmed by his ambition to see the atrocities he commits. In his ignorance created a monster who served to be Victor’s mistake as he slaughtered his family members. The novel illustrates the dangers of ambition because it is the main reason of Victor’s downfall. Pursuing a desire too strongly as to cause obsession is what destroyed Victor.

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994 Words | 4 Pages

„I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me; whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend” (Shelley 163-164). This is the wish of the scientist Robert Walton whose letters start Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Unlike the first thoughts coming to mind when hearing the title, friendship is one of the main topics in the story and the wish Walton expresses in the beginning stands for the desires of all the main characters. Not only Walton feels to be in need of companionship, the central character Victor Frankenstein does so too and even the Creature he brings into being expresses its strong wish to belong to someone.

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1088 Words | 5 Pages

Once noted, the parallels between Frankenstein’s fears and desires and the reality the monster experiences are many. Now that Victor is in university, he no longer has family and friends to fall back upon in the unknown territory of his university. Frankenstein voices is that “[he] believed [himself] totally unfitted for the company of strangers,” irrational as it may be, and believes himself solely dependent on his family and childhood friend for companionship. Without the love guaranteed to him by his family, Victor believes he is unfit to make companions by himself and destined to a life of loneliness. He places much importance on the fact that his father and Elizabeth love him and are concerned with his well-being.

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751 Words | 4 Pages

Selfish Desires Selfishness has caused the downfall of countless characters throughout a multitude of literary works. This selfishness is also what usually precedes a character’s isolation due to the consequences of their actions. One example of this can be found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein when Victor Frankenstein defies the natural order to accomplish his personal goals. Likewise, in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the Mariner makes a fatal mistake of performing a selfish action without thinking of the consequences. These works use the character’s actions and the main characters to explore how selfish decisions leads to one’s own isolation and the destruction of those around them.

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1921 Words | 8 Pages

The fictional horror novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is driven by the accentuation of humanity’s flaws. Even at the very mention of her work an archetypal monster fills one’s imagination, coupled with visions of a crazed scientist to boot. Opening her novel with Robert Walton, the conduit of the story, he also serves as a character to parallel the protagonist’s in many ways. As the ‘protagonist’ of the story, Victor Frankenstein, takes on the mantle of the deluded scientist, his nameless creation becomes the embodiment of a truly abandoned child – one left to fend for itself against the harsh reality posed by society. On the other hand, Walton also serves as a foil to Victor – he is not compulsive enough to risk what would be almost

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1135 Words | 5 Pages

Victor Frankenstein is selfish. The novel portrays Victor as a selfish character who is only concerned about his own well-being. Frankenstein wanted to manipulate the power of life. He abandons his creation because of the creature’s appearance and also withholds information or lies about his creation. Due to Victor 's selfishness, readers feel sorry for his creation.

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839 Words | 4 Pages

This attitude is clearly naive. Walton possesses the same eagerness that destroyed victor and the monster. Victor says to Walton,

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1420 Words | 6 Pages

This quote makes it apparent that Victor regrets his decision to heavily pursue knowledge and create his monster, clearly showing that the path that he embarked on was one that resulted in severe suffering. In conclusion, it is clear that Victor Frankenstein’s intentions are pure, however he is unaware that his pursuit of knowledge directly leads to his personal suffering. Robert Walton, similar to many explorers during his time, is ambitious to discover land beyond the North Pole. However, to reach this goal, he has to walk the dangerous path of acquiring knowledge. Walton’s goal, which is to reach the North Pole, requires him to captain a ship which travels through thick and thin.

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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.

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