Ben Yaniero
Mrs. Schroeder
English 4
7 December 2017
Responsibility to Self Vs. Responsibility to Humanity
Frankenstein's monster made a promise to his creator, that one day he would destroy everything and everyone Victor Frankenstein loved, and he kept it. Victor Frankenstein set out to create life and instead he created an abomination. The creature Victor created was both his greatest success and ultimately, his downfall. Dr. Victor Frankenstein was torn between two opposing forces, his responsibility to himself and his responsibility to humanity.
Victor’s responsibility to himself may seem simplistic, however, Dr. Frankenstein is a very neutral character. He had duties to his family, to his monster, and to his morality. Balancing each of these responsibilities wouldn’t be too much for the
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Frankenstein’s first personal duty is to his family. This mainly includes keeping them in the dark about his work. If Victor was to tell his family about his work, it is extremely unlikely they would understand his motives. Thus, requiring him to constantly lie to his family, and once the monster has been created, that lie becomes extremely difficult to tell. The creature consistently puts his family in grave danger and uses them to get what he wants from his creator. 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. However neutral he is, there are certain things Victor just won’t do. Compromising his personal responsibilities and his responsibilities to humanity are two excellent