Examples Of External Conflicts In Frankenstein

Frankenstein contains a few major external and internal conflicts. They are quite essential to the story and help drive the plot. They occur to both Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created. These conflicts can be classified as man versus self, man versus man, and man versus nature.

Victor Frankenstein is an intelligent man that is very interested in the sciences. He has a loving family and great home in Geneva, but that is just not enough for him. He is so intrigued by the idea of creating life that he “obsesses about it without thinking about consequences” (Ossa). This interest and curiosity causes him to leave home and go to the university in Ingolstadt. He considers this his priority and puts it in front of his own family. He neglects

to visit them or even write them letters. His social life deteriorates as well. He just gets too caught up in his studies. While in Ingolstadt, “he learns that his greatest ambitions are truly within his reach” (Miller). He completes many hours of extensive research and eventually creates a human life out of body parts. The novel suggests that he “scavenged butcheries and slaughter houses, that he's ravaged both the animal and the human in the service of his dream” (Miller). He goes against his own morals in order to achieve his greatest desire. The creation is tall, unproportional, and grotesque looking. After accomplishing his goal, Victor wakes up to the creature staring at him and runs away from it. At this moment, Frankenstein realizes the mistake he made. He created a foul monster that could be a danger to society. After this horrible experience, Victor becomes very ill and depressed. This man versus self conflict portrays the struggle Victor has with his own mind. A horrendous creature is the result of his obsessive thoughts and ideas.
Another prominent conflict portrayed in the novel deals with the monster himself.

He is hated by his own creator. Not only that, but other people who see him in public curse at him and run away after seeing his gruesome appearance. He is punished for doing absolutely nothing wrong. The Creature “realizes that no matter how he acts, people will always hate him because he looks like a monster” (“Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus”). One day, the monster sees a little girl drowning and chooses to rescue her. The man who witnesses this heroic act takes it the wrong way. He thinks the Creature is trying to kill the little girl and therefore curses and beats on him. This makes the Creature feel very sad and like an outcast. All he really wants is love and affection. This can be seen when he stumbles upon a family in a cottage. He steals their food at first but then feels guilty because he discovers “the causes of the uneasiness of this amiable family” (Shelley 99). He realizes they are poor. After spying on them for a little bit, he starts to look after them. At night while they are sleeping, he gathers firewood for them. The family is extremely grateful for what the monster does though they have no clue who is responsible for it. This family gives the monster hope. He learns what a family is and how great they are. He watches them from a distance and learns how to read and speak. They are nice, friendly, and love each other. He believes they may be able to look past his

ugliness. He also “longed to discover the motives and feelings of these lovely creatures” (Shelley 102). If this family cannot love him, then nobody can. So, he finally decides to make an appearance in the cottage. He goes into the house when only an elder blind man is there hoping that he will explain to the others that he means no harm. He explains himself and tells the blind man that he is an outcast. Then, the other family members show up and see the monster. Felix beats him and causes him to run away. This event is the last straw for the monster and brings hate into his life. He no longer has hope. Everyone who sees him only judges him for his looks. Nobody sees him for who he really is. This rejection causes the monster to turn from innocent to evil. He feels very angry and seeks revenge “by killing innocent humans to get back at his creator” (“Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus”).
Another conflict that arises in Frankenstein is man versus man, more specifically Victor versus the creature.

The Creature blames Victor for everything. It is his fault he is so ugly and horrendous. The monster goes out of his way to kill people that Victor loves in order to get revenge. The first victim of the creature’s aggressive acts is Victor’s youngest brother William. He strangles him with his bare hands after discovering that he is related to his creator. He even goes so far as to frame Justine, a close friend of Victor’s family. He takes the locket the boy was wearing and places it in Justine’s pocket. This results in her being executed for being proven guilty of murdering William. Victor is overwhelmed with grief. He knows the monster is responsible. Throughout the book, Victor is constantly faced with hardships regarding the monster he created. One day, Victor travels to the top of Montanvert. He believes the beauty of the mountain will bring him peace and happiness. While on this journey, the monster approaches him and asks for him to come inside a cave where they can talk. Victor is apprehensive to listen to what the monster has to say and tells him to go away. The Creature convinces him to listen to his story. He comes clean and admits to murdering William and framing Justine. He explains his encounter with the family in the cottage and his longing for love. He proposes that Victor makes another female creature for him to love and run away with. He promises to

leave Victor alone for the remainder of his life. He also states that there will be consequences if he refuses to comply. Victor agrees to give the monster what he wants. He begins putting together a female version of the monster but later realizes it could come back to hurt him or the society. They could cause destruction and perform evil acts together. After contemplating for a while, Victor decides to destroy the monster’s mate. This “kills the last chance for both Victor’s and the monster’s happiness” (“Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus”). This makes the Creature beyond angry. He tells Victor he will see him on his wedding night. Victor assumes that it will be him who is murdered on his wedding night. Another crime committed by the monster is the murder of Victor’s best friend, Henry Clerval. This death puts Victor at an all time low. The monster is responsible for yet another loss of a loved one. He kills Henry and ditches his body in the water. The townspeople find the dead body and retrieve it from the lake. The last person seen on the lake is Victor. Therefore he is framed for this gruesome act. The town magistrate shows him the body. He sees how distraught Victor is and decides to let him go. This incident “was one of the final acts that put Frankenstein in his deepest misery” (Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus”). Not only was he grieving the loss of his best friend, but he was also trying to defend himself from being deemed guilty of murder. He knows the monster is doing everything in his power to make his life miserable and unbearable. On Victor’s wedding night the monster does make an appearance as mentioned earlier. To his surprise, Elizabeth was killed. He never suspected that the monster would kill the love of his life. After all of these horrendous murders, Victor chases after the monster. He never quite finds him. Victor is brought onto a ship full of men and tells the captain his whole story. He becomes very ill and asks Walton to continue his search for the monster when he dies. This conflict between the Creature and Victor reveals how they are fighting with each other back and forth and will not stop until they get what they want. This conflict leads to the death of all of Victor’s loved ones and even himself.
A conflict between the Creature and nature also occurs throughout the novel. Victor brings him into the world and neglects to show him how to live. The monster “has to undergo his first days of life in solitude” (Ossa). He is just thrown out into the real world and forced to fend for himself. Being betrayed by his own creator leaves the monster feeling very lonely. Nonetheless, he “was an exceedingly curious individual who was not only open to, but craved new knowledge” (Bensmiller). He figures everything out on his own and faces many obstacles and hardships because of it. He learns how to “forcibly defend himself from the elements, such as sunlight, darkness, fire, rain, heat, and coldness” (Ossa). The monster learns what language is, how to speak, and read all on his own by eavesdropping on the family. He even “demonstrates the ability to contextualize information in a meaningful way” (Bensmiller). He finds a satchel containing some books. These books make him feel things and have different emotions that he never knew about. Instead of acting in a negative way at first, the Creature learns from his surroundings. He learns to provide for himself by gathering food and seeking shelter. He learns how to start a fire and keep himself warm during harsh winters. He teaches himself to survive and adapt to nature without the help of his creator. He even develops the sense of feelings and emotions like empathy, happiness, anger, and hate. This is shown when the Creature states “When they were unhappy, I felt depressed; when they rejoiced, I sympathized in their joys” (Shelley 100). This shows how the monster deals with the external conflict with nature that he is faced with. It also shows his ability to gain knowledge.
Major and minor conflicts are presented in the novel Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein creates a monster that he refuses to take responsibility for. If he would have showed the creature love and affection, some of these conflicts may have been avoided altogether. These conflicts add the effect of suspense and excitement to the story.