Kevin Ruano
Ms. Landau
Period 2 English 12 H
7 January 2015
Victor
Victor's ambition in the field of science led him to the terrorizing secret of life which put him in an agonizing position of life and death. Victor's struggle throughout the book, to maintain his sanity and his health, is clearly highlighted by Shelley in various scenarios were Victor confronts the creature. This puts Victor as the true protagonist in the story because the audience can see what he wants and they become involved deeply in his character. Although it was ultimately Victor's fault for the savage destruction the creature brought towards Victor's life, he is the true protagonist in the story because it was not his intention to create such a horrific creature, he
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"After so much time spent in painful labour, to arrive at the summit of my desires ... that all the steps by which I had been progressively led to it were obliterated, and i beheld only the result" (Shelley 31). Victor, caught up in the mindset of being the first to give the gift of life, blindly worked on his experiment without realizing what he was going to truly create. "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with suck infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form?" (Shelley 35). When Victor's creation came to life, Victor trembled in disgust towards the monster he had given life to. Victor unintentionally gave life to a being so wretched, for Victor himself could not stand the monstrosity he had …show more content…
" ... because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred. Have a care: I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth" (Shelley 104-105). The creature plans nothing but complete annihilation of not only Victor's human body, but of his heart and everything he loves. It is the creature's goal to hurt Victor in ways unthinkable by the human heart. "How can I describe my sensations of beholding it? I feel yet parched with horror, nor can I reflect on that terrible moment without shuddering and agony. The examination, the presence of the magistrate and witnesses, passed like a dream from my memory, when I saw the lifeless form of Henry Clerval stretched before me" (Shelley 129). The creature committed the murders of the people Victor cherished the most. This broke Victor and this is how the creature planned out Victor's torment, putting the creature as the antagonist of the
Victor was just released from his imprisonment on suspension of the mysterious murder of Henry Clerval, but Victor recognizes him to be the second victim of the creature he created. In his dream Victor feels the creature’s ‘grasp in [his] neck, and could not free [himself] from it’ (Shelly, 163). Shelly creates this dream not only to represent Victor’s fear of the creature, but his desire for it to kill him and end his suffering. Victor says his life is full of ‘various misfortunes’ but even after taking double the dosage of his sleeping medication he is unable to escape his ‘thoughts and misery’ (Shelly, 163). At this point in the novel Victor is now responsible for the deaths of, at least, three people because of his creation and longs for peace but not even sleep can give him that. Victor’s dream of being murdered by his own creation is Shelly’s way to represent his want of release from life so no longer has to remember the mistakes of his
Although humans have the tendency to set idealistic goals to better future generations, often the results can prove disastrous, even deadly. The tale of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, focuses on the outcome of one man's idealistic motives and desires of dabbling with nature, which result in the creation of horrific creature. Victor Frankenstein was not doomed to failure from his initial desire to overstep the natural bounds of human knowledge. Rather, it was his poor parenting of his progeny that lead to his creation's thirst for the vindication of his unjust life. In his idealism, Victor is blinded, and so the creation accuses him for delivering him into a world where he could not ever be entirely received by the people who inhabit it. Not only failing to foresee his faulty idealism, nearing the end of the tale, he embarks upon a final journey, consciously choosing to pursue his creation in vengeance, while admitting he himself that it may result in his own doom. The creation of an unloved being and the quest for the elixir of life holds Victor Frankenstein more accountable for his own death than the creation himself.
Throughout the book of Frankenstein, the creator of the being Frankenstein, Victor, is experienced as a suffering being. He recalls from the very beginning a time during his childhood where he was happy and surrounded by love, a time when his mother lived. Victor’s downfall or the beginning of his disgrace, initiates with the death of his mother. Victor leaves his family to start a new stage in his life, he leaves on quest for answers a true quest for knowledge. Personal motivation will lead Victor to take on the challenge of overcoming death, or to be more specific, give life to a dead body.
If Victor had nurtured the creature, the creature would have been gentle and kind. The creature’s environment, experiences, as well as actions changed his personality. Mary Shelley does a great job of showing what the creature endured, and how everything he went through led him to his
In Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit to discover “the cause of generation and life”, he creates something that becomes the victim of his self-absorption and irrational manner (Segal). Following some insight on the creation of life, scientist Victor Frankenstein decides to take science into his own hands and create a creature out of human cadavers. It is not until the creature comes to life that Victor ponders the perplexing appearance of the creature that is before him. As Victor looks upon the creature he has created, he wonders “Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence” (Shelley 138). With the recognition that the creature truly looks like a monster, Victor abandons the creature and leaves him to the harsh assumptions of society. Although the creature employs a genuinely empathetic and compassionate manner, society refuses to acknowledge him because of his beastly appearance making him the victim of Victor’s persistent curiosity.
After everything Victor has been through now he has to be alone in this world. He has lost everyone in his family and now all he has left is the monster. He faces a lot of regret because he was the one who created the monster who killed his family. He blames himself for all their deaths. Victor stated, “ They all died by my hands” (Shelley 175). Now he is faced with living without all of them because of his creation. He realizes that the creation took over his life and that he was now the slave and the monster was the master (Shelley 210). Victor toward the end of his book accepts the grief in his dying by saying, “My spirit will sleep in peace, or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell” (Shelley 213). The only bad thing about him waiting till death to accept his wrong doings is that he never got to stand up for his family until the end when they were all already gone (Schmid). This marks the end of Victors struggles because now that his is dead he no longer struggles with science or the
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
I believe that Victor and the creature are both right about what they want and yet monstrous in their reactions. Victor is right about what he wants; one reason is because he is very committed to his work and in creating life for his creature. On the other hand he is evil because he abandoned the creature and left him on his own: "I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited" (Shelley 57). Shelley shows Victor's monstrous reaction to the creature in the way that he abandoned the creature to his own luck and he shows no responsibility for him.
To conclude, Victor is the villain because he abandons the creature and leaves it to fend for itself. The creature is miserable and wants company, because he was abandoned by Victor it was an impossible task. Victor is the villain because he tries to play god. He wants to be worshipped and acknowledged like a god. He does this by creating his own being. Despite the fact that Victor didn't physically murder anyone but he did morally, he is still the villain of the novel in my eyes. In the eyes of a romantic novel, Victor abandons, in the eyes of an archetype novel, Victor tries to play God and in the eyes of a gothic novel, Victor's subconscious wants William and Elizabeth dead. Overall Victor is the Villain
Because of Victor’s need for fame and desire for power leads to Victor becoming a monster. Victor begins his quest to bring life to a dead person because he does not want anyone to feel the pain of a loved ones death. At first he is not obsessed with his project. As he moves along in the project he thinks about what will happen to him. "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me." (Shelley 39) He realizes that he will become famous if he accomplishes the task of bringing a person back to life. The realization that he will become famous turns him into an obsessive monster. He wanted to be admired, and praised as a species creator. He isolates himself from his family and works on the creature. “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation, but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley 156) By spending most of his time inside on his experiment, he has no time to write or contact his family. He puts fear within his family because they fear for him.
Although he may have lustfully pursued an act taboo to society, the end result was equivalent; utter disgust. Victor had worked long, “. . . for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body (Shelley 35).” Victor abandoned family and friends to work on this project. At the moment of finishing his creation, “. . . horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room. . .(Shelley 35).” Victor quickly developed a societal attitude upon sight of his creation, soon abandoning it. This abandonment is the first instance of Victor’s failure to nurture his creation, and initialized his cycle of neglect upon the
Victor’s enormous ego causes pain and destruction in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Victor creates a being that he thinks will make him a genius forever, however ends up causing more pain to him and others. The creature starts to endure more pain than the others as Victor abandons him, leaving him feeling unwanted. Because Victor did not care for his creation, the Monster sets out to destroy him, and ends up destroying Victor and everything or anyone that was considered close to Victor. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor’s ego leads to the destruction to the ones around him and himself.
So it is only fitting that his first relief from this spell of paralyzing fear is an encounter with the beauty of nature. Directly after Victor 's creation of the monster Shelley perfectly encapsulates the acute horror, and painful realization that brings about his illness in the following quote. Shelley writes, "I passed the night wretchedly. Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly that I felt the palpitation of every artery; at others, I nearly sink to the ground through languor and extreme weakness. Mingled with this horror I felt the bitterness of disappointment; dreams that have been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now become a hell to me; and the change was so rapid, the overthrow so complete!" (Shelley, 16). Shelley illustrates just how heavily the consequences of what Victor did weigh down on his conscience. She does this by combining the description of Victors physical symptoms of panic like his racing pulse, and faintness, with a description of his mental anguish to express a deeper message from a ever more true to life Frankenstein that the reader can empathize with as he realizes the gravity of what he has done to unbalance the natural
Through the theme of birth and creation, Shelley criticises Victor not only for creating the new being, but also for abandoning it when it comes to life. Victor first wishes to create the being because he thinks:
Soon after Victor creates the monster and it kills William, Victor laments the creation of the creature, referring to it as “my own spirit let loose from the grave” (Shelley 51). Though Frankenstein may be referring to the creature as a spirit because of the fact that it is essentially a reanimated corpse, he also could be referring to the creature as a realization of his unconscious desires. The creature, in cursing his creator, refers to his “‘form [as being] a filthy type of your’s’” (Shelley 91). The creature here talks about himself as if he is almost the same as Victor – something similar but yet more loathsome. This is exactly what the creature is if he represents those desires of Victor that cannot be revealed, even to himself. In murdering many people in Victor’s family as well as Clerval, the creature is acting out Victor’s unconscious desire to be free of his family; when Victor is creating the monster, he isolates himself from other human beings and stops responding to his family’s letters (Shelley 36). Up until the creation of the creature, Victor desperately wanted the “glory that would attend the discovery, if [he] could banish disease from the human frame, and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death!” (23). From these intense feelings of wanting to make a mark upon the world by making a huge discovery, springs forth