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Use Of Foils In Frankenstein

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Frankenstein Foil Essay
The idea of obtaining new knowledge is what makes us human to strive to be the better version of ourselves. The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley alludes to the effect that knowledge on humans and brings up ethical questions on the value of human life. The theme is further developed in the novel through the use of foils within the characters. At first glance Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein seem suitable foils to a greater extend but in reality the creature is a better contrast for Victor Frankenstein. The creature responses to Victor's hatred with love consequently exhibiting Victor’s inhuman side.
It can be argued that Walton and Victor are foils because Walton's direct responsibility with his crew highlights …show more content…

At the beginning of the novel Victor is obsessed with finding the secret of life. He isolates himself from the world in order to fully focus in his studies. Once he successfully reaches his objective he want nothing to do with it. His abandonment to the creation leads the creature to seek vengeance on Victor. His vengeance results to the death of William, Victor's Father, Elizabeth and Henry which cultivates Victor’s hatred. Victor's abandonment turns the creature into a child who is desperately in need of love. “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on. Even now my blood boils at the recollection of this injustice” (Shelley 275). Victor's unjust actions hurts the creature because he does see Victor as a fatherly figure. The creator continues to show his love for Victor when he says, “I have devoted my creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love and admiration among men, to misery” (Shelley 275). At the end of The creator’s love manifest the inhuman side of Victor. Victor gives life to a human being that tries to give him love but in return he runs away and abandons the person who is essentially his …show more content…

Victor creates life and the creature takes away life. Victor is God because he can create people and he can decide how their physical characteristics will be like. “My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create” (Shelley 173). The creature asks Victor to create life with specific characteristics. Much like how people pray to God when they want to conceive a child. The creature his God because he chooses when it’s time to kill a human. When Victors does not obey the creature orders he slowly starts to kill of the Frankenstein

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Many authors choose to incorporate a variety of characters in their literary works as an effort to interest the reader and develop the work as a whole. Frankenstein is no exception to this trend, as Mary Shelley includes various personalities for her characters. She incorporates certain foils in order to emphasize distinctive qualities of the main character. One of these foils, De Lacey, acts as the instrument of contrast for Victor’s overflowing passion for the monster’s rejection and ultimately alters the meaning of the work into an important lesion in judgment.

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In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, she tells the cautionary tale of Victor Frankenstein and the downfall he brought upon himself by creating a horrid creature. In literature, a foil is a minor character that possesses traits that emphasize the characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, supporting character Henry Clerval serves as a foil for lead character Victor Frankenstein. The foil between the two characters expresses their interests and desire to become famous, Frankenstein’s foolishness, and their passion in pursuits.

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It is quite telling that the most severe punishment in our society other than the death penalty or torture is solitary confinement. Although, isolation is in itself a form of torture, it can drive someone to the brink of insanity. Although published nearly 200 years ago, Mary Shelley clearly understood the potential detrimental effects of isolation, as demonstrated in her famous novel, Frankenstein, where both main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, suffer from and cause isolation for the other. Mary Shelley directs the reader to believe that isolation is the true evil, not the monster, Victor or any emotion inside of them. At the beginning of the novel, Victor is isolated from other people, causing to forget his scientific

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Because Victor turns a blind eye to the creation, he vows revenge against him and all the people Victor loves. Even though the man receives little guidance and support, he becomes a monster similar to Victor because of his choices to do evil: murder and take revenge. Critic Magill explains, “His revenge, although excessive, is motivated” (322). The creation could have the decency to move on with his life, but one factor prevents him. His appearance restrains him from having a normal life despite the capacity for love and affection he harbors in his heart.

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The idea of knowledge in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley interprets knowledge as an evil pursuit. The knowlege is misused, due to Victor, the monster, and the interference with nature. Theses reasons are different perspectives that lead to tragedies. The novel Frankenstein identifies Victor's desire to gain knowledge as misusing it.

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If Victor personally knew the monster was dangerous, and that what he created would who cause so much destruction and hurt the ones he loves then, Victor would not of created the monster. In the beginning of the novel, Victor becomes widely obsessed with the thought of learning,logic and knowledge which takes over his life in which ends up involving those around him, including those he cares most about. Victor is desperate for knowledge and discovery, but not only just pertaining to Victor but along with other characters in the book as well, including, Walton, the sea captain and narrator of the novel and the creature, the monster in which Victor created. In the beginning of the book,

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In reality, he is disgusted by the sight of his creation so he abandons it leaving it all alone in the world without any guidance and runs away to the next room. Victor himself suffered from being a social outcast and now he bestowed the same feeling onto the creature by abandoning him. By treating the creature as an outcast, “he will become wicked … divide him, a social being, from society, and you impose upon him the irresistible obligations—malevolence and selfishness” (Caldwell). Not only is Victor selfish for abandoning his creature but he is shallow as well. Instead of realizing that he achieved his goal of bringing life to an inanimate body he runs way because of how hideous it is.

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