The Destruction Of The Monster In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, builds and animates a creature. The creature is isolated by Victor Frankenstein and goes about exploring the world and attempting to find a place to fit in. Frankenstein regrets his creation and fears it may have malicious intent towards the human race. When he finds his monster again, it recounts the two years of exploring and learning it did and demands that Victor make him a companion so he would finally have someone who would understand him. Victor refuses, so the monster threatens to murder him and his family and friends if he did not comply. So Victor again isolates himself and begins building another monster for his first. He later destroys the monster before its

This can be seen in his inflated sense of importance and deep need for admiration. In the book, Victor states, “No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success. [...] A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their beings to me.” (Shelley 55) In this passage, Victor essentially makes himself out to be a god. He believes that the world shall be eternally grateful and that his scientific endeavors could be done by he, and he alone. This inflated sense of self importance and his obvious need for admiration from his peers is telling as to his personality and his narcissism. Victor Frankenstein is also preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, and brilliance. He is certain of success and that there is no possible way he could fail in his mission, “The materials at present within my command hardly appeared adequate to so arduous an undertaking, but I doubted not that I should ultimately succeed.” (Shelley 39) Victor is so completely certain that he is going to succeed in this impossible task because he believes himself to be brilliant and powerful. Another symptom of narcissistic personality disorder is interpersonal exploitation, i.e. acting without thought of the consequences to others and only the gain to be made for yourself. Although a case can be made that the monster’s mere existence is

Sufferers of OCD have a tendency to have thoughts that they might cause others harm. Victor displays this behavior after the death of his brother when he is considering who could possibly have murdered him, “Two years had now nearly elapsed since the night on which he first received life; and was this his first crime? Alas! I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch, whose delight was in carnage and misery; had he not murdered my brother?” (Shelley 63) Victor sees his monster as sort of an extension of himself, as it is his creation and thus feels responsible for his brothers death and feels he could cause more harm to his friends and family by allowing his creation to continue to run amok. Another symptom of OCD that victor shows is his aggressive impulses. When the monster comes to check Victor’s progress on his companion, Victor writes, “I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged.” (Shelley 156) Obviously, Victor was not thinking when he destroyed the monster’s unfinished companion right in front of him. This was a blatant aggressive impulse. OCD sufferers also tend to socially isolate themselves. After the monster demands a companion, Victor isolates himself from his family, friends, and home. “Having parted from my friend, I determined to visit some remote spot