In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses Victor’s selfishness and ambition for knowledge to questioned how far society has to go to satisfy our yearn to be God. Vicor’s God complexion shows the dangers of wanting to challenge the limits of human knowledge without thinking of the consequences. When Victor attends university and the material he has learned is belittled by a professor as a waste of time, Victor is determined to prove him wrong. As Victor becomes more interested in the sciences and in the creation of life he sees that as the only way to make advancements that others have not yet done. He succeeded in bringing the dead back to life but not in the form he had in mind.
The cold, calculated nature speaks to the Monster’s state. He has become the same thing he once found incomprehensible, ran from and was hurt by. The systematic destruction of Victor’s life evens the scales. It provides the Monster with an opportunity to address his abandonment issue, which lies just below the surface, while not actually addressing it. However, taking a life, and its significance, remain an aspect of life the Monster overlooks.
Another time in the novel where it shows Victor being a moral monster is in chapter 8, page 67, paragraph 1, it goes on to say “ A thousand times rather would I have confessed myself guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine, but I was absent when it was committed, and such a declaration would have been considered as the ravings of a madman and would not have exculpated her who suffered through me.” This quote shows how even though Victor saw the creature in the woods the night before the murder, he sat there and let Justine take all the blame for the crime instead of speaking up and confessing. His reasoning behind not confessing and helping Justine is because he didn’t want to be seen as mad, Victor cared more about his ego and how people looked at him over helping others and doing the right
Guilt can either be an emotion that makes a person feel remorse for his or her’s actions toward another, or can be the conduct involving the executions of such crimes and wrongs. In the novel, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, both definitions of guilt were the common theme. However, the main problem was whether the creature or the creator, Victor Frankenstein, were guiltier for their actions. The one presumed to be more guilty was Victor Frankenstein who created the monster in the first place causing his family pain and failed to take responsibility for the monster’s actions. Although he didn’t directly kill his family, the monster is guilty too.
The Path Imagine a child waking up in the hospital with no recollection of how he ended up there. Alone in the room with no parents or nurses around he may instantly feel alone. Not even able to remember his name, he cries out for a nurse, but when a nurse does not appear he gets out of the hospital bed and goes to look for one on his own. In a confused state he approached a nurse in his gown.
He commits the most heinous crimes and shows a terrifying volatility, having “murdered the lovely and the helpless”, yet he seeks forgiveness at the side of his dead creator, expressing regret for his actions (146-148). At the deathbed of Victor, the creature laments that he “the miserable and the abandoned” is “an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled” and resents this injustice, for he is was he was created to be
Victor travels to a small island to begin his research in order to create a female for the creature. Eventually, Victor fears that the creature will reproduce with his new mate infesting the world. Therefore , he destroys the new creature before he finishes stating that “Even if they were to leave Europe, and inhabit the deserts of the new world, yet one of the first results of those sympathies for which the daemon thirsted would be children, and a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth” trying to justify his actions. Even though, the creature promised that he will stop his crimes(Curran). Victor’s actions just makes the creature more miserable and resentful.
This quote explains how Victor ditched his creation without even acknowledging its mind, only his looks. This would eventually lead the creature to do his own adventure and eventually learn all about Victor leading to all the murders. If Victor just took accountability and confronted the monster during the creation process the murders would not have occurred. Some may say that the monster release was good in the situation because of how big and scary he was. But Victor shouldn’t be afraid to confront the creation he made.
Victor would stop at nothing to finish his project and became so obsessed that he was isolated from his family and friends. His way of collecting lifeless matter for his creation is unethical and morally wrong. Eventually, he is punished for his actions: “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.” (pg.56) Additionally, extreme devotion to the building of his creation caused Victor mental distress due to the fact that he neglected his own needs in order to work exclusively on the creature: “I had deprived myself of rest and health.”
In order to further understand the person who is Victor Frankenstein, we will analyze two specific quotes in which he ponders the consequences of creating his monster. The first specific quote that shows Dr. Frankenstein pondering the consequences of his actions is when he states, “but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust fill my heart.” When Victor is initially building his creation, all he thinks of is the great science behind his work. However, he never once thinks of the consequences he may face once his creation becomes a reality.
Frankenstein: A Passionate Revenge Cycle “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science”(Einstein). This quote by esteemed physicist Albert Einstein describes the relationship between the unknown and known and how a mystery is used to find answers. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, protagonist Victor sought after the concept of life as it was a mystery which led him towards a dangerous path of scientific discovery.
The fact that Victor sees the creature as such a vile thing shows us that Victor doesn’t have any respect whatsoever for it. The creature states that he was ‘dependent on none and related to none’ which also
In Prometheus, the consequences of robbing the fire from the gods affect not only himself, but also humanity when Pandora’s box was opened, thus resulting in the suffering of both Prometheus and humanity. In Frankenstein, the creature invokes destruction, chaos, and death, making Victor aware of his great responsibility as the creature's creator. However, he quickly fails to uphold it. For example, as soon as the creature is animated to life, Victor’s first instinct is to run away, but in doing so, he has abandoned it; Thus expelling any sense of love that the creature could have experienced. “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep (42).”
Examples such as prejudice and guilt are very conspicuous between Victor and Creature; their actions cause them to view each other as a target of hostility and anathema as Victor says, “ For this purpose I will preserve my life: to execute this dear revenge will I again behold the sun and tread the green herbage of earth, which otherwise should vanish from my eyes forever” (173). Both despise each other for their actions, Victor desires the Creature’s death since it brutally murders his friends and families leaving him tormented, while the Creature wants Victor to experience its pain from loneliness and retaliation destroying the female creature who would be his salvation. In the end, guilt from their actions plagues both of them resulting to their ends. Christian bible references consisting mainly of God, Satan, and Adam and Eve apparent throughout the Creature as it compares itself , “[...] no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam’s supplication to his Creator [...]
This unquestionably exhibits his egocentric conventions as he places himself above everyone else even in matters of life and death. Furthermore, if Victor himself is willing to take responsibility for her death then it becomes unambiguous as to whether he should be held accountable for the actions of his creation. Throughout the story, the monster struggles with the repercussions brought about by his creator which leave him in turmoil. He does eventually overcome these obstacles, although it is undoubtedly too late.
