Taking responsibility for one's actions is a hallmark of maturity, leadership, and capability. When one can admit their faults or wrongdoings when they happen, life usually moves along much smoother. Consequences for those who attempt to shift blame off themselves for their own misdeeds tend to be much more severe than those who acknowledge them as their own. In literature, agency is the ability of a character to act on their environment, those who act positively and take responsibility for their actions would be said to have good agency. The absence of this quality can result in large consequences for not only the person lacking in agency, but those around them as well. Victor Frankenstein and Rodion Raskolnikov’s delusions of grandeur, unwillingness …show more content…
to listen to outside authority, and lack of agency harm themselves and others, in their respective stories. Rodion Raskolnikov has delusions of grandeur that sent him down the path towards trouble in the first place. Raskolnikov fervently believed himself to be above basic societal laws and standards because he was a so called “extraordinary man”. He developed a theory during his time at college about “extraordinary men” where he said, “I...hinted that an extraordinary man has...an inner right to decide in his own conscience to overstep... certain obstacles, and only in case it is essential for the practical fulfillment of his idea (sometimes, perhaps, of benefit to the whole of humanity)” (Dostoevsky 260). Raskolnikov was especially deluded and placed himself on par with Napoleon and the like,”Legislators and leaders of men, such as Lycurgus, Solon, Mahomet, Napoleon, and so on, were all without exception criminals, from the very fact that, making a new law, they transgressed the ancient one”(Dostoevsky 260). He argued that, because of his elevated status, he should be able to break laws and cross moral boundaries that confine the average man, and to prove that he was an “extraordinary man” he set out to transgress these laws, expecting no retribution. It seems Raskolnikov, at the same time that he is having these delusions of grandeur, feels the need to prove himself of them, “And you mustn't suppose that I didn't know . . . . I simply did it; I did the murder for myself, myself alone . . . .I wanted to find out then a quickly whether I was a louse like everybody else, or a man" (Dostoevsky 414). Raskolnikov’s delusions certainly were a prevalent factor to how his story ended up harming himself and those around him but even he was not as bad as Victor Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein sought to create new life and in the process of this he meddled with the laws of nature and even thought himself above God, Even more foolishly he thought that once he had created new life, he would be able to control it. He would come to regret all he had done, as evident when he himself expresses his abhorrence of what he had created, "For this I had 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 43). Victors self centered mindset and need to prove himself are some of the main causes of the tragedy that unfolds after the creation of the monster. Victors sense of superiority can be seen early on when he says, "Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed? It was a bold question, and one which has ever been considered as a mystery; yet with how many things are we upon the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries" (Shelly 37). He blames the supposed cowardice of the scientific community as the reason for lack of advancement, implying that he is so superior as to be able to answer these previously unexplainable questions. As the reader can see both of these men’s problems are due to a similar root cause. Victors delusions of grandeur caused him to create the monster that would be the death of him and realized too late that his hubris was to blame, exemplified when he says "Learn from me...how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow” (Shelley 39). This egotism, shared by both Victor and Raskolnikov, is a major contributor to their downfall and the harm that besets those around them. Victor and Raskolnikov also both were unwilling to listen to either their conscience or outside authority while undertaking their amoral endeavours. Victor had years of failure and time to consider the consequences “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body”, but he never chose to alter the path he was on (Shelley 43). Once he had created the monster he had a chance to destroy it, but did not take it, and rather let it run wild, “I could hardly believe that so great a good fortune could have befallen me, but when I became assured that my enemy had indeed fled, I clapped my hands for joy” (Shelley 47). Victor could have taken the fact that he had failed repeatedly in bringing his creation to life as a sign that he should not meddle in such affairs, or used the time he had to reflect upon the consequences of bringing new life into existence. Furthermore, victor was even warned against pursuing pseudosciences by one of his professors, who says, “every instant that you have wasted on those books is utterly and entirely lost...My dear sir, you must begin your studies entirely anew" (Shelley 31). Despite all of these outside discouragements, Victor nonetheless continues down the path he had his mind set upon, showing just how impudent he really is, similar to Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov doubted himself many time on the matter as shown in his internal debates,“Why am I going there now? Am I capable of that? Is that serious? It is not serious at all. It's simply a fantasy to amuse myself; a plaything! Yes, maybe it is a plaything” (Dostoevsky 2) but still chose to kill alyona. Although his mental state was not the best, this still does not excuse the murder of an innocent person, and he should have used these opportunities that presented themselves as a way to exit out of the situation he was in. According to his own theory, only ordinary people could accidentally think that they were extraordinary, and by doubting himself, he should have known that he was not extraordinary, thus making the murder unnecessary (Dostoevsky 262-263). Furthermore, he had to spend time and energy convincing himself that the plan which he was going to undertake was “not a crime” and, according to his own thesis, an Extraordinary man would have just known that the decision he was about to make was the correct one (Dostoevsky 74). If Raskolnikov had stuck to the rules and axioms of his own design he would have seen that he was not by any means an “extraordinary man” and that this murder he was planning would not go in his favor. Along with not heeding visible signs that oppose their aims, Both Frankenstein and Raskolnikov refused to take responsibility for what they had done. Raskolnikov murdered an old pawnbroker and her sister, purely to see if her was “extraordinary” enough in his own words, “I only wanted to have the daring...That was the whole cause of it” (dostoyevsky 413). After committing these murders, Raskolnikov seeks to hide what he has done from his family, friends, and the police, but only ends up worsening the situation for him and everyone else. He places stress upon his family, endangers sonia, places innocent people under suspicion, and worsens his own situation. His blind ambition and need to be an extraordinary man could have caused the death of an innocent painter that was falsely accused of the crime Raskolnikov was responsible for. By trying to lie about what he has done, Raskolnikov aggravates his situation with the police, and it is only a few key character witnesses and porfiry's silence that keep him from receiving a much worse sentence (Dostoevsky 528-529). Victor’s and Raskolnikov's lack of agency greatly harmed their own situations and made their lives much more difficult, but one of the more inexcusable things that came out of their situations was the harm to others. In their heedless dash towards their goals, these negligent men put lives other than their own at risk. Raskolnikov may have ended up not letting an innocent man be punished for his crimes, but he still murdered two innocent people, caused sonia to move to siberia with him, and hurt his family by attempting to isolate himself from them (Dostoevsky 83, 531, 311). These two thoughtless individuals lack of agency caused harm to these around them, all the while they seemed to be indifferent to what was going on, showing just how uncaring and irresponsible they really are. Frankenstein, after creating a monster and abandoning it , tells nobody of the existence of this creature, and this only makes the matter worse.
He possibly could have located the monster, with the help of others, in a timely fashion, thus averting the many calamities that followed. However, Victor chose to abandon his monster and not inform anyone of its creation, and ignore it for months (Shelly 56). When Victor finally sees the monster again, it is after the monster has killed his youngest brother, william. When an innocent woman is blamed for this crime, and Victor could testify and save her life, he takes no action, saying that he would be thought crazy for his tale (Shelly 66).This in and of itself is an insanely selfish thing to do, with minimal effort Victor could have saved another person's life but because it could jeopardize his own reputation, he chooses not to. Even after two people have perished due to his thoughtlessness, Victor still does not inform anyone of the monster which he has created and still allows it to run loose. Later in the novel, after Victor destroys the companion the monster asked him to build, the monster strangles Victor's innocent friend Henry (Shelley 166). Victor’s actions caused a number of deaths and endangered many people. Henry, Elizabeth, William, and Justine all had nothing to do with the creation and subsequent abandonment of the monster, and yet due to Victors irresponsibility, they paid the ultimate price. Williams death is a turning point in the novel, as it shows victor for the first time that his actions actually do have consequences “Nothing in the human shape could have destroyed that fair child. He was the murderer! I could not doubt it”, and yet he chooses to continue to make irresponsible choices that continue to endanger more people (Shelley
63). In the end of their respective stories, both men paid the price for their actions, and, in a way, were forced to take responsibility for what they had done. Raskolnikov finally saw the error of his ways, and confessed to the murders, which resulted in his imprisonment in siberia, a much more lenient sentence than what was expected. Victor, on the other hand, realized far too late how badly he had messed up. however he somewhat redeemed himself by trying to track down and kill the monster which he had made. He was not even able to complete this as he dies before he was able to kill the monster. however, had either of these men taken responsibility initially, they could have avoided the struggle along the way. Rodion Raskolnikov’s and Victor Frankenstein’s lack of agency caused the harm and misfortune that beset them and those around them, whilst simultaneously driving on their stories. Both Victors and Raskolnikov's lack of responsibility and spinelessness ensured their destruction,
His actions after this point are those. of an evil being, one that is damned. The monsters crimes affect Victor's family and therefore punish Victor. This punishment haunts him through the rest of the novel. Victor is weak and it is only near the end of the novel that he attempts to face his creature and destroy it to restore nature.
As a romantic, archetype and gothic novel, Victor is responsible for the monsters actions because Victor abandons his creation meaning the creature is dejected and ends up hideous and fiendish. It is unfair to create someone into this world and then just abandon it and not teach it how to survive. The quote from the creature “Why did you make such a hideous creature like me just to leave me in disgust” demonstrates how much agony the creature is in. He is neglected because of his creator. The monster says “The hateful day when I received life! I accurse my creator. Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?” Victor is wholly at fault for his actions, image and evil.
...or was not thinking of others in his actions, but only of himself. He did not consider the tumult the abnormally large creature could cause in the world, nor what the feelings of the monster would be towards him if he abandoned him. Victor also did not contemplate the safety of his friends, as he had the chance to stop the creature’s misdoings but failed to do so, risking the life of his friends. Therefore, Victor was a selfish being, who only concerned himself with his wishes and never evaluated the situation of his loved ones, ultimately causing their demise. The misfortunate events that occurred through Victor’s life could have been prevented, and also discontinued when Victor had the chance. However, Victor’s irresponsibility overcame these opportunities and he in turn, caused misfortunes for himself as well as his loved ones.
Taking responsibility is “the state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management” (dictionary.com). When you decide to take the responsibility of something or someone then do it to your greatest ability and do not leave any stones unturned. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley determines the role of responsibility for the welfare, acts, the deaths and the lives of others. Taking responsibility means being accountable for your actions, accepting the mistakes and taking the ownership of the mistakes that come along with one’s actions. Taking responsibility does not mean that all the actions will go as planned but accepting the consequences even if they do not go
As a result of Victor’s secrecy, he becomes completely fixed on the creation of his creature, he does not inform anyone of the danger posed by the monster, and he is unable to tell anyone about the creature for fear of not being taken seriously. Victor’s secrecy during and after the creation of his monster indirectly causes several deaths. While the monster is primarily responsible for the deaths of his victims, Victor’s concealment allows the monster to commit and get away with his murders easily.
Victor experiences very little joy at all after the creation of the monster. He suffers from numerous bouts of depression, he most tolerate the deaths of his brother, best friend, and wife, all of which were murdered at the hands of the monster. His friend Justine is executed because of the death of William, for which she is falsely accused and convicted. His father also dies after the murder of Elizabeth, Victor's ill-fated bride. With so much death surrounding his life, how is it possible that Victor could still be cognizant of his actions when he decides to pursue the monster and end its violent fury? He can't. Victor's mind is so clouded by the sorrow and pain of his past that he is blinded to the fact that he is attempting to destroy a creature with far greater physical strength and speed than any mortal. Much of his conflict appears to be created by the monster, when in fact the torment comes from Victor's own hands because he himself created and gave life to the monster.
If Victor had stayed around and showed the monster the real world, he might have not have went on to perform violent actions. This portrays Victor as a selfish character and gives more of an insight on his personal life. As a child, Victor is only interested in furthering his own knowledge and not worried about anyone else. He spent much of his time “drawing the picture of [his] early days... when [he] would account to [himself] for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled [his] destiny” (Shelley 34), or otherwise a magnificent creation that would change his future. When constructing the Monster, he put all of his relatives in the back of his mind, and only focused on his own success and victory. This further explains the theme of being selfless and only doing certain things that will benefit
Social and Individual Responsibility in Frankenstein Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in a time of wonder. The main wonder was whether you could put life back into the dead. Close to the topic of bringing life back into the dead was whether you could create your own being, like selective breeding, but a bit more powerful. Close to where Mary lived, there was a man named Vultair who was experimenting with putting electricity through frogs to see if they could come back to life. With that going on close to her, as well as the fear of a revolution and the pressure on her to think of a ghost story, it is not surprising she thought of a horror story that would still be popular in the 21st Century.
Despite the rash actions that Victor takes, he ultimately does assume complete responsibility for the creature that he brought into being. After the monster murders William, Justine is then tried for the murder. Victor accepts that it was his fault even though he was not the one that actually murdered him: "But I, the true murderer, felt the never-dying worm alive in my bosom, which allowed of no hope or consolation" (74). Victor felt as if he had actually murdered both children because he had created the murderer. Even though in the end Justine took the official blame, Victor seized the responsibility so he took steps towards catching the monster and stopping him from killing anyone else. If he was not concerned with it being his fault one way or another he would not have continued to try to put the monster to rest. Later on, while Victor is creating a companion for the monster, he realizes the implications of a second creation: "Had I right, for my own benefit, t...
“Revenge alone endowed [him] with strength and composure; it modeled [his] feelings, and allowed [him] to be calculating and calm” (145). Victor gained new purpose and even on his deathbed holds to the principle that he is justified in desiring the death of his enemy. Moment before his death he turns to Captain Robert Walton and says, “I feel myself justified in desiring the death of my adversary. During these last days I have been occupied in examining my past conduct; nor do I find it blamable” (156). He even begins to lose the small amount of compassion he had for the creature’s struggle. When visiting his family’s graves he cries that, “they were dead, and I lived; their murder also lived” (145). Previously in the novel he blamed himself for the deaths of Mathew, Justine, and Henry, claiming to be their murderer and lamenting on the evil he had set forth into the world. Victor now places the weight of these deaths solely on the monster’s shoulders and believes it is his god given burden to cleanse the world of this evil. He had been “assured that the shades of [his] murdered friends heard and approved [his] devotion… rage choked [him]”(146). The death of the monster would not even weigh on his conscience since it is god’s
...der that the novel’s outcome is inevitable. The deaths of both Victor and the monster signify what dangerous knowledge can do to one. Somewhere along the way Victor failed to remember that he must care for what he creates, similar to the way nature looks after its creations. Excessive knowledge may prove to be destructive when not used properly. The monster was deemed to be inhumane and cruel, but Victor was his creator; therefore, Victor is just as inhumane and cruel as the monster. Victor had enough knowledge to create the monster, but he did not have enough knowledge to understand the monster. Victor’s creation is was not a monster when it was created, he had the potential to be something extraordinary. While dangerous knowledge may be destructive, limited knowledge can be even more lethal. The omniscient Victor failed to realize that the monster had a heart.
One of the greatest gifts God has given to man is free will. Free will is the ability to choose our own life’s path, to make decisions, and to suffer our own consequences. God has intended free will to allow us to live our own life by the rules we choose. However, does free will reach a certain point as which to not crossover? Man has always envied God, and has always tried to become god-like. Does this ambition compromise our free will? In Mary Shelly’s classic novel Frankenstein, Viktor Frankenstein’s tries to bring the dead back to life, and he is successful in animating a creation of his own. The consequences of his ambition compromised his free will and destroyed his life. Viktor Frankenstein reached the point of free will which man is not intended to cross over. Viktor Frankenstein is a fool for trying to play God.
Victor, out of horror of what he had created leaves the monster in isolation. The monster describes what it was like, “It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as it were instinctively, finding myself so desolate… I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept,” (Shelley 87). At this point the monster is just an innocent child, who in his first hours has faced abandonment and such strong emotions. However, he is pure, like most babies. While he looks like a monstrosity he shows himself to be anything but. His first encounters with humans are all very negative. A man runs away screaming just at the sight of him. Villagers pelted him with rocks and chased him away. This makes him very fearful of humans. However, when he comes across the De Lacey family in their little cottage he sees how peaceful they are and he regains some hope. “What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people; and I longed to join them, but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night before from the barbarous villagers, and resolved, whatever course of conduct I might hereafter think it right to pursue, that for the present I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching, and endeavoring to discover the motives which influenced their actions,” (Shelley 93). He is curious little
The monster is left to live his life with no help from his creator after being abandoned. While having the mind of a newborn, this is not easy for him. By not knowing right from wrong, he murdered Victor's loved ones in order to get attention. He never had anyone to teach him how to live life with dignity and respect. This is a major loss for a living being. The creator is at fault here because the monster does not know better. Victor should have taken responsibility by accepting, raising, and controlling the monster.
Victor does not tell Henry of his science experiment to not worry him. Even Victor knows that it is better to not know about the creature. Victor feels cursed by his knowledge of the creature, which is shown through his secrecy to even his best friend. Meanwhile, a dead body was found and it was Victor’s brother, William. Victor knew the murder was the creature’s doing, yet he did not tell anyone, proving his unwillingness to share the miserable truth and spread the paranoia he carries with others.