Does the Cause Justify the Action?
There have been many cases throughout history where the true villain is highly debated by the future generations whether the person(s) in question was the perpetrator of a crime, or simply retaliating from being the victim of a previous crime. However, while the hypothetical person in question is the true victim or not still does not dissuade the fact that they have also committed a crime. Thus creating a dilemma that can give even the most reasonable person pause when given the choice of assigning blame. The same perspective of ethical dilemma can be applied to the Creature in the popular horror novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, “Frankenstein”. Was the Creature truly the villain? Or was Victor Frankenstein
…show more content…
After observing how to read and speak english, along with social etiquette, the Creature befriended a blind old man for several moments, proving that he has no ill intentions toward any humans. Rather the Creature simply wanted to have friends and people that cared for him the way he wanted to care for others. However, that dream was cruelly ripped from his grasp as just moments after he befriended the blind old man, his son Felix, upon entering the cottage with his father and the Creature inside, “...darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung, in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick.”(Shelley 161). This scene only further supports the claim that the Creature was of a gentle nature and was only treated as a monster because of his unnatural size and hideous appearance. No matter where the Creature wandered he was met with the same disdain, fear, and hate whenever he encountered any humans. As such the Creature reciprocated those same emotions that had been so violently thrown at him causing him to resort to violence out of despair after he would realize that he would never be
In Volume 1 and 3 of Frankenstein, Victor’s reason for creating the “monster” changes drastically; however, ultimately leading to the same consequence of suffering and depression. Through this change in Victor, Shelley argues that all humans have an instinctive notation of right from wrong and learn from their mistakes. Victor left his friends and family to go to college; when there, he had no friends and social life. His top and only priority was his schoolwork; he read all he can about the sciences, especially chemistry and anatomy. When finished with his studies, Victor is ready to start his creation when he confirms his proceedings aloud, “Winter, spring, and summer, passed away during my labours; but I did not watch the blossom or the expanding leaves-sights which before always yielded me supreme delight, so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation. The leaves of that year had withered before my work drew near to a close; and now every day shewed me more plainly how well I had succeeded.
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.
Critic Northrop Frye says, “Tragic heroes tower as the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, the great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning”. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein greatly exhibits the theme of the consequence of knowledge and irresponsibility among others through its tragic hero, Victor Frankenstein. Northrop Frye’s quote is certainly true when looking at Frankenstein’s situation. Victor is a victim of his divine lightning, and ultimately causes much trouble for himself; however, Victor also serves as the tragic hero in the lives of the monster, his family, and his friends.
When a crime is committed, the blame is usually placed on the criminal. This is because a crime cannot take place without a criminal. However, a lawbreaker generally has reasons for his misdeed. For a crime to occur, a criminal must have incentive. Consequently, the causes of a wrongdoer’s motivation are also responsible for the offence. In addition, crimes can be avoided if the proper precautionary measures are taken. Therefore, anyone who could have stopped a crime from happening is partially accountable for it. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature created by Victor Frankenstein kills several of Victor’s loved ones. These murders could be blamed on the creature, but he is not solely responsible for them. The root cause of the murders is Victor’s secrecy. His concealment causes his obsession, a lack of preventative measures against the creature, and his fear of appearing to be mad.
When he first awakens with a smile towards his creator, the creature is abandoned and learns by himself about how the world works. Despite his rough start in his new life, the creature experiences nature with no harsh emotions. “[The creature]... could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain... Soon a gentle light and gave [the creature] a sensation of pleasure. [He] started and beheld a radiant form rise from among the trees. [He] gazed with a kind wonder” (Shelley 100). When the creature was a sobbing mess, he could have taken the chance to only let in anger and hate for the life he has been thrown into. But the creatures is distracted and in awe of the sunrise, a symbol of new hope and new start. Because of his hideous appearance, the creature receives negative reactions. “[The creature] entered... the children shrieked and... the women fainted. The whole village was roused: some fled, some attacked [him], until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons [the creature] escaped... [the creature]... miserable from the inclemency of the season, and still more from the barbarity of man” (Shelley 103). If the creature was a true monster, he would have fought back against the villagers. Because a true evil being would attack without hesitation. Because of his deformity, people automatical...
With the appearance of a monster and the mind of a sociopath, it could be perceived that the true villain of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is the creature that Victor Frankenstein created. However, despite the creature killing the family members that Frankenstein loved the most in revenge for his abandonment, Victor Frankenstein is the true monster of Frankenstein, mostly because of his narcissism, but also because he believes himself to be the only victim, he is continuously disgusted by and abandons his creation, and the way that Frankenstein treats his creature in the times after he meets the creature again is more evil than anything that the creature has done to Frankenstein. Frankenstein, obsessed with bringing the dead back to life, sets
Since the fall of Adam, humanity has always been keenly aware of the existence of good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice. Any person who has been betrayed or abused has felt the weight of injustice. Anyone who has been mistreated has experienced the desire for vengeance. However, opinions begin to differ when defining the boundaries of justified revenge. Varying perceptions prevents humans from viewing and validating the motives of others. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, the two main characters were driven to madness by their desire for revenge against each other. In the book, Victor Frankenstein and his creature both relayed the same story; however their individual perspectives drastically shift the roles of the perpetrator and the victim. Mary Shelly’s brilliant juxtaposition between the Creature and his Creator demonstrated the relativity of justified revenge.
Literature often depicts acts of betrayal. Many people, friends, and family may portray a protagonist, but they will likewise be guilty of treachery or betrayal to their own values. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there are acts of betrayal between Victor Frankenstein and the monster. In the Novel Victor Frankenstein is a betrayal of life because it should be given naturally and not created by a scientist. The monster is actually the one who is majorly betrayed, he may look like a hideous dangerous monster on the outside, but, not one within himself.
The creature never had an inclination to be murderous, and “becomes violent only after he is repeatedly rejected by society” (Nocks). Failing to win companionship by attempting to understand people and learning their language, he turns to his creator. The monster explains that he is just like the people who hate him, with the same desires and emotions. After developing all these ideas of society and emotions, he learns that there is no way for him to express them. Following his many attempts to fit into the world, he realizes that he will never be accepted by humans, and vows to destroy all of mankind. Society and its mistreatment of the monster causes it to become barbaric. He states, “My protectors had departed, and had broken the only link that held me to the world” (Shelley 134). The creature speaks of how his protectors had essentially cut him off from society, which would lead him to act out against all of mankind. The incorporation of the three books also develop the creature, and may have provided him with false perceptions about human interaction and the world in general. Lack of human interaction can greatly affect one’s decisions and can cause one to have a bad a reaction to their
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.
The novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is a work of fiction that breaks the ethics of science. Ethics is defined as rules of conduct or moral principles which are ignored in the story. The story is about a person named Victor Frankenstein who creates an artificial being. Victor abandons the being out of fear and the being is left to discover the outside world on his own and be rejected by people making the monster go on a violent rampage. Victor’s decision would affect him later on by the monster killing his loved ones causing Victor to suffer. Then Victor chooses to seek revenge on the monster and this choice will bring him to his death. In novel Frankenstein one might say that the main character, Victor, breaks the ethics of science when he plays God by creating his own being.
Many people know that Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, was part of a family of famed Romantic era writers. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was one of the first leaders of the feminist movement, her father, William Godwin, was a famous social philosopher, and her husband, Percy Shelley, was one of the leading Romantic poets of the time ("Frankenstein: Mary Shelley Biography."). What most people do not know, however, is that Mary Shelley dealt with issues of abandonment her whole life and fear of giving birth (Duncan, Greg. "Frankenstein: The Historical Context."). When she wrote Frankenstein, she revealed her hidden fears and desires through the story of Victor Frankenstein’s creation, putting him symbolically in her place (Murfin, Ross. "Psychoanalytic Criticism and Frankenstein.”). Her purpose, though possibly unconsciously, in writing the novel was to resolve both her feelings of abandonment by her parents, and fears of her own childbirth.
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.
What are ethics? Ethics are the moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity, otherwise known as the branch that deals with moral principles. The book Frankenstein is relevant within today's ethics by the advancement of medical science. As cited from the book, Principles of Biomedical Ethics, there are four main principles of medical ethics, which are,”Respect for Autonomy, Beneficence, and Nonmaleficence and Justice”. These three of these principles are tested in Frankenstein in the way Victor obtains his materials for the creation of his monster, along with Victor not having the best interest for the creation of his monster, and lastly, no consideration good or bad that could come from this creation.
Mary Shelley in her book Frankenstein addresses numerous themes relevant to the current trends in society during that period. However, the novel has received criticism from numerous authors. This paper discusses Walter Scott’s critical analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in his Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Review of Frankenstein (1818).