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Critical analysis of frankenstein monster
An essay on the creature from frankenstein
An essay on the creature from frankenstein
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Many readers often think of the creature from Frankenstein as a revolting villain. Readers do not seem to understand the severity of what Victor Frankenstein took from him. His own father, Frankenstein, left the creature for dead. Frankenstein abandoned and victimized his own child; he deserted his child to be forever in solitude. He had to learn to survive, learn that humans will fear him, and learn how to love completely on his own. Victor refused to help him by creating a new monster for him to love. Only a child, he felt alone and desperate for compassion.
Victor, afraid of the creature’s power after he created life, abandoned his son. After Victor neglected his creation, he felt terribly alone, “’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’” (Shelly 72). The creature could not have been evil upon creation because he knew nothing! Essentially an infant, he did not know good or evil. Feeling desolate and lonely, he had no one to care for him. “…the monster faces rejection and fear from his creator” (Monster). Victor’s fear blinded him from the creature’s true identity. If Victor had stayed with the monster he could have seen the love the being could hold. The creature never would have hurt anyone if Victor cared for him from the beginning.
Victor not only took the creature’s only chance for love, he rid him of his childhood. After he wept, the creature ran toward the sun into the forest. Taught nothing, he began to learn how to survive on his own, “’…I began to distinguish my sensations from each other. I gradually saw plainly the clear stream that supplied me with drink, and the trees and shaded me with their foliage… One d...
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...itude. He never truly had love reciprocated to him. He had to teach himself how to live in this wretched world, how to feel compassion, and to fear humans. He never got to have a family because of Victor. From birth to death, the creature had to live on his own. Victor caused the trauma that the creature endured for a lifetime.
Works Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Columbus, Ohio: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, Print.
"Frankenstein: Analysis of Major Characters." SparkNotes. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
"Frankenstein: Characters." LitCharts. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
"The Monster." CliffNotes. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Columbus, Ohio: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, Print.
Victor animated the creature from dead body parts, effecting his creature’s appearance when he came alive. He couldn’t even look at his creation, and thought that it was malodorous, without thinking how unwanted and helpless the creature feels. With little hope for the creature because of his unappealing appearance, Victor does not bothering to wait and see if he has a good interior or not. As a result of Victor not taking responsibility, the monster decides to take revenge. The monster is repeatedly denied love and deals with the loneliness the only way that he can, revenge, killing Victor’s loved ones making him lonely just like
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.
power. This being a new idea and quite big news at the time, this must
...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.
The fact the creature refers to a Biblical story teaches us that what Victor has done is not ethical or morally right as the bible connotes truth and wellbeing, the creature feels he is not treated as Adam because he is rejected like the fallen angel is from heaven; the philosophy is that one should absolve themselves of all sin, leaving the creature feeling like his is owed something from Victor. Furthermore during the romantic period it was said that ‘All man is born good’ however this contradicts the creatures life as he is sinned against, hated by Victor and feared by society from the day he was created although he did no wrong. The creature is given no chance in life like Adam was; he is simply a creation who is isolated fr...
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...
Although the Creature later went on to commit crimes, he was not instinctively bad. Victor’s Creature was brought into this world with a child-like innocence. He was abandoned at birth and left to learn about life on his own. After first seeing his creation, Victor “escaped and rushed downstairs.” (Frankenstein, 59) A Creator has the duty to teach his Creature about life, as well as to love and nurture him. However, Victor did not do any of these; he did not take responsibility for his creature. One of the first things that the creature speaks of is that he was a “poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, (he) sat ...
Victor, at first sight of the Creature, abandons and leaves him to survive on his own. This is insignificant to the creature at the time, but later causes the Creature to have bitter feelings towards Victor. After the Creature discovers Victor’s notes, he becomes enraged, and incriminates Victor for the victimization that he faces; hence accusing him as a perpetrator of cruelty. Through the accusation of Victor one can see that the Creature believes that Victor should be held responsible, and owes the Creature a favor. Additionally, Victor double-crosses the Creature after obliging to create a mate for the Creature. These actions of betrayal demonstrate how Victor is a perpetrator of cruelty and how the Creature is his victim. Victor’s unintentional cruelty reveals how he only wanted what was best for himself and human kind. Victor’s betrayal is seen as an action of cruelty by the Creature, and consequently delivers the final blow that instigates the retaliation of the
...ntion he longed for, both of their lives would have turned out better than they did. The monster looked at Victor as his father, and Victor left him desolate, only causing the monster suffering (Nardo 32). He exposed the creature to cruelty (Nardo 33). Victor gave the monster only a pinch of happiness by agreeing to make him a female companion, but that happy moment faded once Victor discarded the parts of the second creation. This only made the poor wretch’s life more despondent than it already previously was (Britton 8). The depravity of love and affection caused by Victor caused the monster’s life to be dreadful.
An idea becomes a vision, the vision develops a plan, and this plan becomes an ambition. Unfortunately for Victor Frankenstein, his ambitions and accomplishments drowned him in sorrow from the result of many unfortunate events. These events caused Victors family and his creation to suffer. Rejection and isolation are two of the most vital themes in which many dreadful consequences derive from. Victor isolates himself from his family, friends, and meant-to-be wife. His ambitions are what isolate him and brought to life a creature whose suffering was unfairly conveyed into his life. The creature is isolated by everyone including his creator. He had no choice, unlike Victor. Finally, as the story starts to change, the creature begins to take control of the situation. It is now Victor being isolated by the creature as a form of revenge. All the events and misfortunes encountered in Frankenstein have been linked to one another as a chain of actions and reactions. Of course the first action and link in the chain is started by Victor Frankenstein.
He toils endlessly in alchemy, spending years alone, tinkering. However, once the Creature is brought to life, Frankenstein is no longer proud of his creation. In fact, he’s appalled by what he’s made and as a result, Frankenstein lives in a perpetual state of unease as the Creature kills those that he loves and terrorizes him. Victor has realized the consequences of playing god. There is irony in Frankenstein’s development, as realized in Victor’s desire to destroy his creation. Frankenstein had spent so much effort to be above human, but his efforts caused him immediate regret and a lifetime of suffering. Victor, if he had known the consequences of what he’s done, would have likely not been driven by his desire to become better than
In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein secretly creates a monster without considering the consequences. After the creation of the monster and throughout Victor’s life he and the monster suffer constantly. Because Victor keeps his monster a secret from his family, friends and society, he is alone and miserable. The monster is also alone and miserable because he is shunned by society due to his grotesque appearance.
Parenting can be a tough job and not everyone is fit for the position which can result in abusing the child emotionally and sometimes even physically. As for Victor Frankenstein, his initial response to his child was out of the ordinary. His screams of horror terrified the creature instantly as he was confused what he was born into. Normally, children are welcomed into the world with tears of joy and happiness because the parents are glad to continue onto their life with a small human being. Whereas Victor neglected his creation and wanting nothing to do with the creature. His response to the creature was not to care for it with joy but rather abandoned the apartment along with the creature. The creature even goes out of his way, struggling to walk like a one year old child seeking for his parent. When he stumbles upon him, Victor makes it clear he does not want to see the creature ever again in his life. Due to this, the creature becomes evil resulted from the constant neglect that Victor imposed on him, emotionally abusing him during his first years of life on this universe. Victims of those who spent their childhood being neglected by their parents causes “long-term difficulties with behaviour and mental health development,” which was definitely seen in his change of behavior and resorting to horrendous acts (Odhayani). Since Victor
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.
I believe that Victor and the creature are both right about what they want and yet monstrous in their reactions. Victor is right about what he wants; one reason is because he is very committed to his work and in creating life for his creature. On the other hand he is evil because he abandoned the creature and left him on his own: "I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited" (Shelley 57). Shelley shows Victor's monstrous reaction to the creature in the way that he abandoned the creature to his own luck and he shows no responsibility for him.