Keeping the monster a secret and protecting his family, often requires Victor to do things that compromise his morals. Dr. Frankenstein’s second personal duty is to his morality. Victor is a very open minded being, he welcomes any form of knowledge and is not afraid to be controversial for the sake of discovery. Victor is comfortable with just about anything outside of harming human beings. He has robbed graves, and created abominations from partially decomposed corpses, making it easy to tell what kind of person Frankenstein is.
The character Victor Frankenstein is fueled by his ego and is a neglectful and abusive parental figure of the monster. His great ambition is to gain glory in the science world. The quotes “The world was to me a secret, which I desired to discover” (Shelley 26) and “In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you, but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder.” (Shelley 35) display his ambitious nature and his ego makes him have a great desire to break the laws of nature and become “Greater than nature will allow.” (Clemit
Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" depicts Victor Frankenstein and his creation of a grotesque monster. Through the use of intense imagery and description, Shelley showcases Victor's doubts and fears regarding his abnormal creation that ultimately turn to awe, which circles back to regret. To begin, Mary Shelley describes Victor Frankenstein's motivations for his creation and the original mindset Victor had about the monster; thus, leading to his overall doubt when he first brings the creature to life. The "grotesque assemblage was a far cry from the grand vision that had initially captivated" Victor, and his "youthful idealism, fueled by the intoxicating promises of alchemy and the forbidden arts, had wanted in the harsh crucible of reality." Victor
In Mary Shelley’s book, titled Frankenstein, there is much debate about whether the creator, Victor, is the true monster or if the creature itself is, but the self-satisfaction sought by both beings is what leads to their irrational behavior and destructive actions, and therefore could be interpreted as the true monster of the story. To begin with, Victor created the monster under a strong fervor that didn’t allow him to rest. He explains that his original intentions were to help better his fellow human beings and their lives, but as he delves deeper into his creation and experiment, he begins to have visions of a beautiful man, who would woo almost all as a creation of wonder. At this point, Victor is no longer thinking about how this creation will be help mankind, but how he can
This inspired Victor to indulge in the idea of the completion of a task that had never been done before. However, before Victor commenced in his project, he was aware of what was at stake, be it failure or success. When the monster was created, out of fear Frankenstein abandoned him. The monster followed Frankenstein from place to place, at first attempting socialization only to be subjected to abuse based on appearance. Angered by the reaction of both his creator and society, he attempts a deal with Frankenstein that entails him leaving Frankenstein alone if Frankenstein were to make the monster a mate.
In the beginning of the novel, one cannot help but feel sympathy for the monster. Terrified, the poor wretch found himself forced to navigate the early stages of his life independently as he lacked any help from his maker. It was also a sorrowful factor that Frankenstein acted with repulsion to the Creature when the being strived for his creator’s love and affection. If Victor had not turned his back on the entity, and instead did his rightful duty in educating the brute, perhaps the immediate result would have been a more commendable
“His yellow skin scarcely covered the work the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black… but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips” (Shelley 58) Victor Frankenstein describes his creation as an abominable creature. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor has the responsibility of taking care of his monster. However, Victor's actions after creating the monster result in an atrocious relationship with creator and creation. Victor--the creator--is supposed to look over his creation, in the same way parents take care of their child.
I personally believe that Victor Frankenstein is curious, selfish, and cowardly. Victor’s outlook on the world has always been more on the curious side since he was a kid, but you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat. In the book Frankenstein gives us an insight on what his child was like. In chapter two, he says “The world was to me a secret which I
Victor's ambition, or pressure to win his father’s approval, urges him to make a creature that would be “inferior, in size, to no one” (Claridge 18), and this action is one of anger towards his family and one to compensate for the insecurity he felt under the expectations of his father. Victor was driven by only retaliation and desperation, and so he was not considering all of the morals of science stacked against him: “Frankenstein, being a mere man and not God, was incapable of manufacturing the goodness-instilling portions of the soul” (Foht 84). He says his father never corrected his studies with modern science or limited his aspirations, so Victor says, “My dreams were therefore undisturbed by reality” (Shelley 26). Victor’s parenting is not much of a contrast to that of Alphonse Frankenstein.
Back in Geneva, Victor begins to study how he will create a second monster; he wants to know the latest developments in the scientific community. He recovers himself and tells his father that he wishes to go to London on a tour. He promises his father that upon his return he will marry Elizabeth. In September, he leaves Geneva, travels through France to Germany, Holland, and then London. His best friend Henry Clerval accompanies Victor on his journey.
His creator abandoned him once again, which led him not only to feel hatred, but to kill Victor’s wife. It was Frankenstein’s influence on the monster that led to his life falling apart at the hands of his creation. Furthermore, these themes of hatred and horror are significant to the downfalls of these characters, and hence, the novel as a whole. The deaths were horrifying for Victor and the loneliness and betrayal were fueling the
“I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health.” (Shelley, ch. 5), Frankenstein says, as he looks at the human life he has created. Obsession of a goal leads to a loss of innocence for Victor Frankenstein, the monster, and Robert Walton, in Mary Shelley’s work of literature Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s obsession with creating human life, had caused him to be successful in the creation of his monster.
The book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley in not a book about a dumb monster, but instead is a book of many highs and lows with the creature being intelligent and almost superhuman. Many different people's decisions in this book affect the people around them. This leads to the theme, your decisions have a side effect on others. Here are some reasons of why it is a theme. The first reason is the way Victors decisions affect others, next is the creature's decisions effects on others, and lastly is the way societies decisions affect others.
In Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein", the theme of ambition and its consequences is prominent throughout the story. Victor Frankenstein's ambition to create life ultimately leads to his downfall and the destruction of those he loves. His relentless pursuit of knowledge and power blinds him to the ethical implications of his actions, and he becomes consumed by his desire to succeed. The consequences of his ambition are not limited to himself, as his creation, the "monster", also suffers immensely due to Victor's actions. The monster's isolation and abandonment by his creator lead him to seek revenge and ultimately bring about the tragic ending of the novel.
Stephen Kendrick once proclaimed, “Almost every sinful action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive”. Victor Frankenstein commits several egocentric wrongdoings, which lead him to contemplate his past irresponsible actions. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein Victor’s selfishness of building the monster takes a toll on him as he questions his motives and loses those dear to him. Victor creates the monster only for his own satisfaction not thinking how it would affect others around him. Because he knows the monster is dangerous, he is more concerned with his safety than anyone else’s.
