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Victor Frankenstein Foil Essay

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Page 2 of 2 In the novel Frankenstein, the contrast between the main character, Victor Frankenstein, and the minor character, the monster, represents a foil. The qualities and characteristics of the minor character, the monster, help to highlight the weaknesses of the main character, Victor Frankenstein. This foil also illuminates the meaning of the work that the pursuit of knowledge can sometimes go too far and lead to consequences. The major character, Victor Frankenstein, pushes the limits of scientific knowledge and this desire ends up controlling him to a point of no return. Frankenstein’s experiment of creating life eventually turns him into a selfish man who is only concerned with his wants and desires. Frankenstein allows his desire for the experiment to go too far and he ends up dealing with the consequences …show more content…

The result of his ambition, putting his wants and desires before others safety, results in him shutting himself out from the rest of the world so that he can satisfy himself. Those who are close to Frankenstein are the ones that end up getting hurt the most and Frankenstein is left with guilt. Frankenstein not only went too far in creating the monster, but he then went as far as leaving the monster to defend for himself in a world that was unknown to him. The monster’s confusion in the world foils and reflects Frankenstein’s poor judgement and selfishness. Frankenstein’s decision to create the monster and then leave him without any guidance, shows the worst part of Frankenstein’s desires and true colors. When Frankenstein first abandons the monster and leaves him alone in the apartment, the foil begins to unravel between the two characters. When the monster escapes from Frankenstein’s apartment, he is like an alien trying to find his way in the world. The creature feels lost, confused, lonely, and is completely shunned by

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Sacrificing. Suffering. Despising. The novel Frankenstein by Marie Shelly tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a grotesque creature in an experiment trying to invent life of his own. Victor regrets his action so turns the creature lose to the world and closes himself in his abysm of thoughts.

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Character Foils: Victor and The Monster Often in a literary work, authors use minor characters to emphasize specific traits and characteristics of a main character. In Mary Shelley’s best selling novel Frankenstein, the monster is a minor reflection of Victor Frankenstein. Victor’s personality traits from when he was a child, and as an adult, are carried over and placed into his creation unintentionally by Victor himself.

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Whenever an author tries to use character growth and personality traits to stress a point or emphasize a theme, a common literary device to use is a foil. This is normally done between a main character and an important side character. In the novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, such a device can be found and is used to its utmost potential. The two major characters that act as foils to the main character are Robert Walton and the monster. Each one adds a unique element to the story and truly help illustrate Victor Frankenstein as a character.

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Frankenstein Rough Draft In the novel Frankenstein, our main characters Victor Frankenstein and the creature have grown to become really close friends. As the novel goes on you can see the creature and Victor grow a strong relationship with each other and how similar the creature is to Victor. Victor Frankenstein is a scientist who makes this evil creation which is the creature. This creature develops throughout the novel by adapting to the natural world and sharing the same traits as Victor.

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The "monster" feels as if he has already been judged, and that even if he made the effort to garner some affection, he would completely and utterly fail in doing so. Eventually, Frankenstein travels to the North Pole in order to further isolate himself from the world around him. This isolation works for a while, until Frankenstein comes to the realization that Dr. Frankenstein, his "father", has followed him in the hopes of pushing him off the edge of the world. While Grendel's torture was physically, Frankenstein is mentally tortured instead. The world around him makes it clear that he is not wanted, nor is he accepted.

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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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The prevalence of intense obsessions within characters of drama or fictitious literature is undeniable. This has created a reoccuring theme of self-destruction. In “The Maltese Falcon” by Dashiell Hammett, the audience is presented with several characters obsessed with obtaining a priceless statue. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein also featured an obsessed character. Victor Frankenstein’s was consumed by his goal of creating life and the outcome haunted him until his death.

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Page 1 of 2 Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein includes a protagonist, an antagonist, and several foil characters. For the reader, these minor foil characters highlight certain characteristics of the main character, Victor Frankenstein. This can be used to either show contrast or comparison between the characters. One very important foil character in this novel is Victor’s friend, Henry Clerval. Clerval first appears during Victor Frankenstein’s story-telling of his life to traveler Robert Walton.

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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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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.

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Studying character within a form of literature includes looking at character development, characteristics, and how these lend themselves to the relationships amongst the characters. In Frankenstein, Victor and his creation have a rough relationship right from the beginning. Victor is hostile to the creature from the moment he first sees him alive. Victor and several other people the creature encounters make the assumption that the creature has an awful personality because of his his concerning physical features. If Victor had been willing to give the creature a chance, there is a large possibility that he would never have killed a young boy, Elizabeth, or sought to get revenge on Victor.

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The monster continues by reassuring the creator of his independent intelligence and power over the creature by telling Frankenstein, “This you alone can do”. Here, the creature assumes a role of submissiveness and reliance on Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s monster gains the sympathy of the reader who, despite condemning the murder of innocent people, commiserate with the lonely creature who is in search of an acquaintance, which he will likely never find. The monster also displays power and aggressiveness over Frankenstein; “You are my creator; but I am your master; obey!” The monster wants to desolate Victor’s heart, not by killing him directly,

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In the novel Frankenstein,by Mary Shelley, the mysterious and unnatural origins of the character of Frankenstein’s monster are an important element. The Monster, having been created unethically and haphazardly, is at odds throughout the novel, resulting in his alienation from society and prolonged feelings of anger, desertion, and loneliness. Shaping his character, his relationships with other characters, and the meaning of the work as a whole, the Monster’s origins are what define him. The Monster faces rejection and violence every time he attempts to make contact with the new, foreign world he has been thrust into.

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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.

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