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Victor frankenstein and the creature comparison
Frankenstein literary critiques
Frankenstein literary critiques
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When Victor Frankenstein gives life to his monster, Mary Shelley shows the reader how disappointed Frankenstein is with the outcome of the monster, "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe"(Shelley 55), these descriptive words show how Frankenstein is disgusted with the monster that he has created. He is disappointed because he wanted his creation to be something beautiful, instead, he creates an ugly monster. The monster enters the world and is immediately unloved by his creator. Frankenstein does not take responsibility for his creation instead he abandons him, leaving him to fend for himself. The monster did not start out more evil than anyone else, “He does acts of evil, yes, but they can be equated to tantrums from a lonely
The creature’s moral ambiguity characteristic was a vile ingredient to the construction of this novel Frankenstein because it made the reader 's sympathies with him even after the audience knows he had committed murder because the readers had seen the truth this creature had to face. That he had tried everything within his power to peacefully live with them, to interact, communicate, and befriend them “these thoughts exhilarated me and led me to apply with fresh ardour to the acquiring the art of language”, that even though he was seen as a monster because of the looks he was created with, something he had no control over, he still had hope to be seen as equals, ”My organs were indeed harsh, but supple; and although my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, yet I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable ease. It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows and execration;” this hope of his was utterly crushed, and can only set him up for utter disappointment(12.18). Because in the end he only received hates, scorns, violence, and prejudice from his good will. So in the end of the story, Mary Shelley’s forces the readers to see within the creature’s heart and for
The Creature, Victor Frankenstein’s creation, is shaped into a monster through its experiences, instead of the nature of itself, which is more expected. Victor Frankenstein, on the other hand, is shaped into a monster because of his mind’s power-hungry nature. Victor treats his creature poorly and he himself becomes wicked. While the Creature also becomes wicked in the end, its actions are more justified because multiple people treated it poorly, causing the Creature to lash out. Even though Victor Frankenstein and the Creature both turn into wicked monsters, to some extent, only one of
In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein the protagonist Victor Frankenstein creates a monster. The monster in the novel is deprived of a normal life due to his appearance. Like the creature, some serial killers today are killers due to the same rejection. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warns that a childhood of abuse and neglect will often result in evil actions.
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...
As Frankenstein is enroute to his pursuit of gaining more knowledge, he states, “I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed” (Shelley 41). Frankenstein’s decision in allowing his intellectual ambitions to overpower everything else in his life leads him to be blinded to the dangers of creating life. He isolates himself from his society when creating the monster, letting himself be immersed in his creation while being driven by his passions, allowing nobody to be near him. The fact that he allows this creation of a monster to consume his total being reveals how blinded he is to the immorality of stepping outside the boundaries of science and defying nature. His goal in striving to achieve what wants to in placing man over nature makes him lose his sense of self as all he is focused on is the final product of his creation. He starts to realize his own faults as after he has created the monster, he becomes very ill and states, “The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him” (48). His impulsive decision to make the monster leads him to abhorring it as it does not turn out to be what he has expected. Because he chooses to isolate himself in creating the
When Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein is analyzed, critics comes to a conclusion about Victor Frankenstein's creation. The creature invokes the most sympathy from the readers than any other character in the novel. Because he is abandoned by society which manipulates the creature to do evil things despite his good heart. Therefore Shelley's message throughout the novel is that a person is not born evil, they are made evil.
I had the opportunity to read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley several years ago and it became one of my favorite books. My initial feeling was sorrow, what a wonderful story that has been slowly destroyed by Hollywood through the years. We think of Victor Frankenstein as a mad scientist trying to destroy mankind, and the monster having bolts in his neck with very little intellect. Mary Shelley’s book is completely different from the Hollywood version we are accustom to. The monster is intelligent and has emotions, the mad scientist or Victor was scared of his own creation due to his appearance. The monster initially showed no signs of evil in the novel, but where did he learn it from? Who is the real evil monster
...od; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy and I shall again be virtuous" (Shelley 66). In the novel, Victor has two chances to provide this happiness for the creation. In both cases, all the creation desires was a companion, be it Victor or a new creation. And, in both cases, Victor is influenced by his initial reaction of disgust at the sight of his original creation. This reaction originates from a preconception, a fear caused by the human nature to prejudge based on past experience. This prejudice is indeed the source of the pain and torment in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. If a "monster" exists in the novel, it is this aspect of human nature.
Throughout Frankenstein, one assumes that Frankenstein’s creation is the true monster. While the creation’s actions are indeed monstrous, one must also realize that his creator, Victor Frankenstein, is also a villain. His inconsiderate and selfish acts as well as his passion for science result in the death of his friend and family members and ultimately in his own demise. Throughout the novel, Shelley investigates the idea of monstrosity. She makes the point that a monster does not have to be genuinely evil in order to be considered monstrous.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein centers around a creator who rejects his own creation. The plot thickens as Victor Frankenstein turns his back on his creation out of fear and regret. The monster is cast out alone to figure out the world and as a result of a life with no love, he turns evil. Shelley seems to urge the reader to try a relate with this monster and avoid just seeing him as an evil being beyond repentance. There is no doubt that the monster is in fact evil; however, the monster’s evilness stems from rejection from his creator.
Society rapidly judges the monster and forms opinions based on his outside appearance rather than his internal intentions. After creating the monster, Victor reflects on his work: “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe...His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath...formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips” (Shelley 55-56). Victor’s description of his monster takes on a negative perspective. He uses words such as “horrid” and “catastrophe” to portray his vengeance towards the monster. After he creates the monster, he flees due to his horridness. Soon after, he returns and he “stepped fearfully in: the apartment was empty, and [his] bedroom was also freed from its hideous guest. [He] could hardly believe that so great a good fortune could have befallen [him]” (Shelley 60). Even the monster’s own creator, Victor Frankenstein, quickly considers him to be villainous. Despite that the monster is his own creation and he does not know the monster’s morals...
In psychology there is a theory known as “Tabula Rasa”, according to The New World Encyclopedia this theory states that, “individual human beings are born "blank" (with no built-in mental content), and that their identity is defined entirely by their experiences and sensory perceptions of the outside world.” According to this theory, Frankenstein is responsible for how the creature behaved. By abandoning the creature, the creature was shown no love, and it’s “sensory perceptions of the outside world” were ones of despair as the outside world feared the creature. That being said the creature was only exposed to negative experiences, making it become coarse and one capable of murder. If Frankenstein had shown the creature love instead of abandoning it, the creature would have been the type of person it longed to be. If Frankenstein would have killed the creation rather than abandon it in it’s “blank slate” William, Henry, and Elizabeth all would have lived, and there would have been no harm by the creature to the
At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called "A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. He can be viewed as the antagonist, the element Victor must overcome to restore balance and tranquility to the world." But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor.
Victor Frankenstein is the creator of a "monster." Because of his thirst for knowledge, he goes too far and creates a huge monster, which he immediately shuns. This rejection plays a major part in the monster's hatred and disgust for humans. When any intelligent life form is born or created, it normally has no feeling of hate, fear, or prejudice. Feelings such as these are instilled throughout life and the experiences one encounters. The monster had an early traumatic experience of seeing his “father” also known as his creator, Dr. Frankenstein, run at the sight of him. "I did not dare return to the apartment which I inhabited, but felt impelled to hurry on, although drenched by the rain which poured from a black and comfortless sky"(44). The feeling this most likely caused was resentment towards humans and society. The feeling of being abandoned and viewed in disgust by the person who created you would be awful. He did not know what he could have done to his creator that would have shocked and petrified him to the point of horror and disgust with his very existence. However, the monster remained benevolent.
For Frankenstein created a monster who had no identity, and was willing to murder all of Frankenstein's loved ones if Frankenstein did not create another female creature. Victor Frankenstein refused to create another female monster to accompany his monster. Thus, the monster felt that he had no choice but to take away Frankenstein's family, just to show how Victor Frankenstein would feel being alone in the world. The murder of William Frankenstein (Victor's younger brother) caused Victor to believe that his own creature had murdered his younger brother because "nothing in human shape could have destroyed that fair child." (Frankenstein, pg.74) Frankenstein knew from then on that he had "turned loose into the world a depraved wretch, whose delight was in carnage and misery." (Frankenstein, pg.74) Frankenstein's monster caused "the death Frankenstein not only blamed the murders of his loved ones on his monster, he blamed himself for creating the monster. Throughout Frankenstein, the words "friend, monster, daemon, vile insect, enemy, and abhorred devil" were used by Frankenstein to describe the monster he had created.