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Society and the individual in Frankenstein
Incidents of rejection in frankenstein
Society and the individual in Frankenstein
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To begin with, in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, the creature is the most important character in the story. This is true because he plays the role of the main antagonist towards Victor Frankenstein, the creator who rejected him as soon as he came to life. His whole life story revolves around trying to be accepted by humans but ultimately seeks revenge towards them. Overall, the cat and mouse game between the monster and Victor shows how crucial the monster is to the plot development.
The creature essentially changes the mood of the story once he was brought to life by Victor Frankenstein.. The suspense that was building up from Victor dedicating 2 years of his life to create a monster disappeared as soon as he made eye contact. He described his feelings
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The monsters vowed “ everlasting war against the species, and more than all against [Victor] who had formed me and sent me forth to this insupportable misery” (Shelly 163). The monster has realized that he is tired of trying to to fit into society, so he has decided to find Victor and get revenge on him. After that, he burned down the Delacey’s house and because Victor “mentioned Geneva as the name of [his] native town, [...][the monster] resolved to proceed [there]”(Shelly 166). Finally, the monster encounters Victor’s little brother when he was wandering through Geneva and proclaimed “ you belong then to my enemy - to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim” ( Shelly 171). This goes to show that the monster is heavily affected by Victor’s decision to reject him and refusing to help him adapt into society. All of the actions that the monster does is to be expected since his childhood was horrendous. The whole book revolves around Victor and the monster and how they react to what one
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.
We are shown that this ‘monster’ is a ‘creature’ and more of a human than we think. It is in the complex structure of the novel that Mary Shelley creates sympathy. We shift from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to the monster and finally back to Walton. With each shift of perspective, the reader gains new information about both the facts of the story and the reliability of the narrator. Each perspective adds pieces of information that only they knows: Walton explains the circumstances of Victor’s last days, Victor explains his creation of the monster, the monster explains his turn to evil.
Victor’s lack of compassion and sympathy towards the monster causes him to become angry instead of guilty. His cruelness to his creation made the monster kill and hurt the people he did but “when [he] reflected on [the monster’s] crimes and malice, [Victor’s] hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation,”(Shelley 325). Without compassion Victor thinks that the only way to stop the monster is to get revenge on him, instead of just giving him the empathy and kindness that monster craved. Victor realizes that "if he were vanquished, [he] should be a free man...balanced by those horrors of remorse and guilt which would pursue [him] until death. ”(Shelley 731).
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
Frankenstein Over Time Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is impressive, entertaining, and fascinating, so it is no surprise there have been so many films and artworks influenced by her novel. Many of which have put their own spin to the horror novel, especially the character of the creature that remains one of the most recognized icons in horror fiction. However, there have been critics who argue modern versions and variations have lost the horror and passion that is an essential to the creature. The start of the Creature is bound to be one book. However, public impression of the Creature has changed severely since the publication of the original novel, leading to diverse styles and plot lines in its diverse film adaptations.
We are introduced to Victor who is found by Robert Walton, now when Victor begins to retell his tragic story he gives us a general view of who he is, where he was born, and what has happened in his life. We then progress through the story and arrive at the rising action which is when Victor returns back to school after his mother’s death and sisters recovery of scarlet fever. Victor sets out to create a living thing upon his return and this is when it all goes down hill, he successfully creates the monster but he is horrified at the site of the creature he then runs like fearful gazelle leaving the creature/monster to wander (very smart Victor). Skipping ahead the monsters causes quite a bit of trouble and strangles a lot of people, and this is all caused by him not being provided with a connection with anyone. Now before he really starts his strangulation spree he spies on a family (the Delacy’s) that teaches him unknowingly how to speak, read, and of general human connection and relationships. This moment of distant watching and learning has left him wanting things even more, he then reveals himself the Father who is blind and he is kind to the monster when the children arrive they terrified and reject the monster. Throughout the tale of the monster is reminded of his indifference by others resulting in him
Since its publication in 1818, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has grown to become a name associated with horror and science fiction. To fully understand the importance and origin of this novel, we must look at both the tragedies of Mary Shelley's background and her own origins. Only then can we begin to examine what the icon "Frankenstein" has become in today's society.
In gothic novels tragic figures are symbols of pain to the characters. Victor Frankenstein brings misfortune to his loved ones, which concludes to his overall tragedy. Ironically the monster in this novel is Frankenstein the creator not the creature. He has seven victims including himself and his fall is due to his ambition to be superior.
The monster of the novel is often misattributed with the name, “Frankenstein.” However, Victor Frankenstein can ultimately be considered the true monster of this tale. His obsession would lead to the corruption of his soul and the creation of two monsters—one himself, and the other, the creature. In attempting to take on the role of God, nature would become a monster to Victor and destroy his life. These elements of monstrosity in Frankenstein drive the meaning of its story.
After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster's solitude, the monster is overcome with suffering and sadness. These feelings affected his state of mind and caused him to do wrong things. He did not deserve to see his one and only mate be destroyed.
When Victor abandons the monster he runs away and tries to forget about his failed creation. It was extremely dangerous for Victor to flee his experiment because the monster soon becomes aggressive with hate and is curious to know why Victor left him; furthermore, the monster becomes obsessed with self-learning and knowledge.
...but what Victor doesn’t realize is the monster has always felt what Victor is feeling because Victor abandoned him. The cold wasteland in which Victor pursues the monster is a strong reminder of his hatred of his creation. The only thing that Victor wants out of life anymore is revenge, he is obsessed with finding the monster and killing it.
He had asked Victor to create him another monster as a companion and if he doesn’t keep his promise, then he will be miserable. When Victor goes to England with the intention of creating this promised monster, his friend Henry follows him. After several months, Victor destroys the half created creature and this upsets the monster very much so because he wants this companion. When he kills Henry, the monster distinctly planned it so that Victor would be blamed for the murder. Through all this confusion on who killed Henry, Victor knew all along that the monster did it. At this point, Victor knew that he must return to Geneva to protect his family whom he loved very much (Shelley 181). Since this monster killed Henry, Victor knew that his family was now is in danger. The monster is very happy that Victor is having to suffer because, Victor is now feeling the loneliness that he feels all the time. Though the monster’s character is not evil, the pain he feels is what he wants his creator to feel. His revenge only increases throughout the book because he is only longing for a fellow companion that Victor can only give him, but yet he is choosing not to create it. The anger that is within the monster is only growing and this is increasing the possibilities of him hurting more
Victor has a lack of respect for the natural world that leads him on the path to becoming a monster. In creating the monster Victor is trying to change the natural world. He is trying to play the role of god by creating life.
Victor is left alone since the monster had killed many of his loved ones, and instead of committing suicide, he decides to stay alive only to do something he should have done when he first gave life to his creature, kill him. He says “But revenge kept