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Victor Frankenstein Suffering Quotes

1325 Words6 Pages

Apurv Srirangapatnam
Mrs. Bryan
Pre-AP English 10
Dec. 6th 2022
Copanionhip
Throughout history, guilt has been a source of thought for laymen and philosophers alike. The consensus is praise for those who solve their problems alone and disdain for those who rely on others for help. However, some considered these ideas to be riddled with flaws and impractical for the real world. One such author is Mary Shelley, who explores her ideas of suffering and companionship in her gothic novel Frankenstein through its titular character, Victor Frankenstein. Although Victor ultimately does not resolve his suffering, by facing the consequences of them, he forces himself on a journey that allows him to discover the importance of companionship when addressing …show more content…

This could ultimately be the reason why Victor tries so hard to face his suffering since he believes that there is a way to address it once and for all. Victor has just created his creature and is forced to deal with his emotions in solitude leading him to feel like, "This state of mind preyed upon my health" (Shelley 48). This deliberate repetition of the nature that guilt has on the human body is a unique look into Victor’s psyche. As Victor describes his state of mind following the execution of Justine at the hands of his silence he laments, "The fangs of remorse tore my bosom and would not forego their hold" (Shelley 170). The consistency of Victor’s lexicon seems purposeful in its monstrous elements, which could suggest that Victor believes in the shared characteristics of both a metaphorical monster and the very literal effects of suffering. Both sentences use elements of personification to instill fear in the audience, the very fear that Victor feels when facing the foreign feeling of …show more content…

This often occurs in fulsome paragraphs that highlight Victor’s appreciation of romanticism and as such, his views on the topic of suffering. Robert Walton notices that "The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions seem still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth" (Shelley 11). Walton’s description of an escape from Earth is justified as the earth represents suffering; Victor uses the beauty of nature to free himself from said suffering. Being able to deal with guilt after so much has happened in Victor's life is a clear indication of the enlightenment he has experienced. However, Victor has also made an important realization about companionship and its limitations. Throughout the novel, everyone who Victor seeks companionship from suffers as a result of their connection to him. They all die at the hands of the creature simply for their relation to him. This could be explained by Victor’s status as a romantic, where it is a fundamental belief that one should live a solitary life rather than one in society. In Victor’s mind, he may believe that, for himself, his companionship cannot come from others, thus explaining his turn to nature for comfort. This point is strengthened by the fact that Victor can seek companionship from Walton, and yet refrains from it for the majority of their time together; only

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1512 Words | 7 Pages

Additionally, he acts as if everything affects him so greatly and that there are rarely times of delight and anguish mixed with each other. Perhaps Shelley chose to present him in this way to say that he is an unreliable narrator who frames events according to what he should have been thinking. After realizing that he caused his brother’s death, Victor remarks on the guilt he felt, “No one can conceive the anguish I suffered...” (Shelley 50). Because he believes he feels so strong that no one else would understand, this shows ignorance of other people’s hardships.

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911 Words | 4 Pages

I dreaded to behold this monster” (Shelly 62). Victor reveals that the thought of the monster makes him quiver in fear this shows that he has realizes the terrible mistake

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815 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, Victor's actions are motivated by his own desires and ambitions, often at the expense of those around him. In Chapter 7, he reflects on his pursuit of knowledge and states, "It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world" (Shelley 50). With this quote, Shelley shows Victor's preoccupation with his own intellectual pursuits, which take priority over his relationships and the well-being of those around him. Another example of Victor's lack of empathy can be seen when he creates the creature without considering the potential consequences for the creature's well-being. He states, "I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart" (Shelley 34).

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565 Words | 3 Pages

The desire to learn new things can be a beneficial habit, however, in certain scenarios, the outcome can be disappointing. The science fiction novel Frankensteins is a good example of this case. Victor quotes, “Learn from me, if not precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge....” (Shelley, p.53). Frankenstein’s desire to learn new things changed his life forever by making his creation, which turned out to be an ugly monster.

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1200 Words | 5 Pages

In “Frankenstein”, the characters experience varying degrees of isolation, leading to profound effects on their mental well-being. Victor Frankenstein himself is plagued by the ramifications of his ambitious pursuit of knowledge, ultimately isolating himself from society. This self-imposed solitude takes a severe toll on his mental health, as evidenced by his poignant statement. "I shunned my fellow creatures as if... I had been guilty of a crime" (Shelley 56).

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1281 Words | 6 Pages

The creature wants to take revenge on Victor for abandoning him and causes Victor grief by killing the people he cares about. When the creature kills, Victor feels responsible and guilty of the murders. He continually breaks down with each death by “his” hands, which makes him go mad. The task of creating a monster turned Victor into a monster

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758 Words | 4 Pages

Emotional and physical isolation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are the most pertinent and prevailing themes throughout the novel. These themes are so important because everything the monster, Victor, and Robert Walton do or feel directly relates to their poignant seclusion. The effects of this terrible burden have progressively damaging results upon the three.

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864 Words | 4 Pages

Victor did not create the companion for the creature because he was worried of what he would become. The hope he could’ve given himself and his creature would have saved both of them from their

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489 Words | 2 Pages

He often reflects on how this one moment in time shaped his fate. In chapter two, readers come across one of these instances when Victor states, “For when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion, which afterward ruled my destiny, I find it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys.” (pg 20) Shelley uses a simile to compare Victor’s obsession and ambition to a mountain river, which started off slow from “forgotten” origins, of his hope and a sigh of hope. This highlights the theme of ambition and its consequences, as Victor's ambition grows beyond control, stemming from his obsession with knowledge, and his inability to control himself.

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1370 Words | 6 Pages

Victor falls ill with anxiety, and as a result of Victor’s neglect the monster begins to destroy his life. Even when the monster confronts Frankenstein, threatening that he “will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of [Frankenstein’s] remaining friends, 102" Victor does not acknowledge the problem he has caused, the literal embodiment of his anxiety. He does not attempt to confront the monster head on or alleviate his loneliness, both a form of acknowledgement and thus a healthy way to respond to his fears. Instead, he once again pretends the monster doesn’t exist which only further enrages and empowers him. Once again, this mirrors the fact that when fears and anxiety go undealt with they will only grow and confirms that the monster is the embodiment of this

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1279 Words | 6 Pages

The monster ends up asking Victor to create a mate that would be able to keep him company. Victor agrees but ends up not going through with it. This causes the Monster to reach his breaking point. He wants to seek revenge against Victor in hopes to show how much pain and anguish he has so selfishly caused. Although Victor isn’t the one who kills his loved ones, he still feels responsible.

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1511 Words | 7 Pages

Victor is stirred by his work, but not in a positive manner. He goes on to explain his feelings towards the creature by saying, “… my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred” (136). Victor is so bewildered and repulsed by the creature that he misses key signs of violence, from the creature, that may have saved Victor’s family had he not been so

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949 Words | 4 Pages

After being sick for months, Victor feels much better and his spirits are even enhanced with the help of nature. Following the deaths of William and Justine, Victor is once again filled with grief. As a result, he turns to the only healing force he knows: Mother Nature. Victor states, “Often, after the rest of the family had retired for the night, I took the boat and passed many hours upon the water” (Shelley 95). He is feeling stressed out about recent events, and having solitude in nature is the only thing that helps him remain somewhat sane. He doesn’t turn to his father or Elizabeth for comfort, rather he turns to nature because it gives him the type of consolation that only a mother can provide.

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1921 Words | 8 Pages

Such passion is seen in Victor’s ‘noble intent’ to design a being that could contribute to society, but he had overextended himself, falling under the spell of playing ‘God,’ further digging his grave as he is blinded by glory. His creation – aptly called monstrous being due to its stature, appearance, and strength – proved to be more of a pure and intellectually disposed ‘child’ that moves throughout the novel as a mere oddity, given the short end of the stick in relation to a lack of familial figures within his life, especially that of parents. Clearly, Victor Frankenstein had sealed his fate: by playing God he was losing his humanity, ultimately becoming the manifestation of Mary Shelley’s hidden desires, deteriorating into The Lucifer Principle by which the author Howard Bloom notes social groups, not individuals, as the primary “unit of selection” in human psychological

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929 Words | 4 Pages

The gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley centralizes on humanity and the qualifications that make someone human. The content of the novel Frankenstein depicts a monster displaying human traits that his creator Victor does not possess: empathy, a need for companionship, and a will to learn and fit in. Throughout the novel Shelley emphasizes empathy as a critical humanistic trait. The monster displays his ability to empathize with people even though they are strangers. On the other hand Victor, fails to show empathy throughout the novel even when it relates to his own family and friends.

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