Who Is Victor A Monster

In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” the character of the creature is often considered to be the monster. Despite this initial impression, once explored more deeply, it is apparent that Victor himself is the one who commits monstrous acts based on his inherent nature. Rather than his upbringing or environment influencing his actions, he acts outrageously instinctively, characterized by his cruelty and selfishness. By examining Victor's motivations and actions, it becomes evident that he is the true villain and the Creature is a victim of Victor's influence. Thus, Victor’s innate nature, rather than his upbringing, is what propels him to commit his monstrous acts.

Victor’s nature is shown to be selfish and inconsiderate through all of his actions

He innately takes responsibility for his actions and understands when he does something wrong. Creature finds shelter in a cabin where a small family resides. He never approaches them, but watches from afar, envious of their loving dynamic. When he gets hungry and eats their food, he notices their dismay. Without being taught anything, he grasps their sadness and makes amends by refilling their food storage. He sees this as his apology to the family and upon witnessing their joy, he understands he has been forgiven (96). His innate nature drives him to return the stolen food and assist the hospitable family. The family doesn’t even know of his existence and he could easily have run away and escaped the trouble he caused, but instead, despite gaining nothing, he works hard to return to the family that is rightfully theirs. Along the Creatures journey, he comes across a girl in danger. She had fallen into a deep pond and was not resurfacing. Instinctively, the creature dove in and rescued the young woman, but instead of thanks for such a selfless act, he received a bullet wound. A hunter had spotted him and without even entertaining the fact that the creature could be good, he judged with his eyes alone. Simply seeing the creature resulted in such a drastic decision (111). This is the nurturing that the creature received in his lifetime. He was so innately good, and yet humanity had failed him over and over again simply

He had done so many wrong things and taken so many lives. Even if Victor had wronged him, he took a despicable approach to act out vengeance by killing innocent people. The Creature threatens Victor into making him a companion, but when Victor does not heed his warnings, the Creature goes after Clerval, Victor's friend (150). It is apparent that the Creature has an “eye for an eye” mindset when he does these things, as he wants Victor to feel his pain. Clerval's death was the price of the creature's hope of companionship. This vengeful manner is not taught to the Creature, which is why people often view him as the monster, but would it be possible for someone so ‘inherently bad’ to feel things so deeply? To sympathize with others at such a level. He saw Victor's actions as the murder of his mate and reacted in such a way naturally. Despite the Creature never learning the hatred he felt, he saw the new Creature as his only hope. In a world where he had been turned away in every possible circumstance. Even by his creator, he is left lonely and unloved by Victor's escape from responsibility (44). Victor was the one who created him, and yet even through his father's eyes, the creature was hideous. The Creature, with all the hatred of humanity on his shoulders, was desperate for an escape from the loathsome watching eyes and his only getaway was someone who could look past