Victor Frankenstein Emotions

Throughout the majority of the novel, Victor’s immediate response within any situation is to act upon his emotions; whether it be sadness, anger, disgust, or fear. These emotions that Victor feels so strongly come to be a defining part of his personality as they seemingly seep out of him -- with or without notice, and consume the entirety of his headspace. This, in turn, spares no room for the concepts of logic and reasoning to take form in his life. The emotionally-guided actions that Victor takes draws him out to be quite a childish, immature, and impulsive character which, as a result, stunts his growth as an individual. It is not until Victor is able to overpower his emotions and let his logical side rise to the surface that he begins to

show signs of evolution within his line of thinking. Through highlighting Victor’s varying responses to misfortune, the novel is able to shine a light on the growth that he undergoes as a character and in turn reveal the ways in which these changes may come to alter one’s actions.
When sitting on feelings of remorse and fear, one is left in a state of constant paralysis where they feel too much yet lack the willpower to formulate a proper solution.

Time and time again, Victor Frankenstein becomes crippled by the emotions that cloud his head. Feelings such as regret, remorse, guilt, and fear, leave him “[wishing] that peace would revisit [his] mind” (Shelley 62) and urge him to seek out “relief from [the] intolerable sensations” (64) that have built up inside him. Yet, rather than facing his demons with a passionate resolve, he resorts to cowering away as “remorse [has already] extinguished every [ounce of] hope” (62) he may have ever had. He, in turn, is left with the fear that his previous actions may one day find their way back to him. Victor’s inability to confront his monsters face-to-face demonstrates how easily he can be inhibited by his emotions while also acting as a roadblock on his journey to

maturation.
The instant one’s eyes become glazed over by intense emotions, is the moment where all logic and reasoning is tossed aside.

Victor Frankenstein is shown to be an individual that is unable to hold himself back in the presence of his own “rage and hatred” (68) as these emotions tend to “overwhelm him” (68) in his entirety. When these sorts of intense emotions are brought to the surface, Victor is incapable of acting in any manner sort of a “furious detestation” (68) as he, in a sense, is controlled his instinctive passions. It is only after the release of his anger will Victor be able to come to a state where reasonable and coherent thoughts are able to be produced. However, this stage never came to be, seeing as these feelings were never able to fully subside. Victor allowed himself to become a slave to his own emotions as he continually sat in the passenger seat while his feelings lead him straight to his own personal hell. He had done nothing but sit aside and watch his emotions take possession of the wheel in which they would use to drive him down a continuous and inescapable path of anger and remorse. In the likelihood of Victor taking the wheel and steering himself away from his emotions will he begin to grow in terms of his

mentality.
With thought comes the ability to sort between right and wrong, in turn guiding an individual to taking a proper line of action. Victor Frankenstein prescribes himself to be a man of science, yet all evidence in relation to his character seemingly contradict this portrayal. Being that rather than allowing his senses of logic and reasoning be the driving force behind his actions, he instead bestows that power away to his emotions. During the years in which Victor spends collecting parts for his female monster is he, “for the first time” (121), able to hold back on his instinctive feelings just long enough to give his senses of logic and reasoning a chance to take form within his mind. During this time is Victor able to take note of the “wickedness of [his] promise” (121) and rethink whether or not he was truly willing to “inflict [a] curse upon everlasting generations” (121) solely “for [his] own benefit” (121). Through giving himself the chance to think clearly; without the interference of his emotions to skew his judgment, was Victor capable of coming to a proper decision in concerns to his line of action. Thus, reassigning power to its rightful owner. Which in turn not only aligns Victor with his character description but also shows signs of growth within his mindset.
Emotion is a concept that goes head-to-head with one’s ability to be able to think on the side of logic and reason. Being that the presence of intense emotions seemingly cast a shroud on one’s capability to differentiate between the notions of right and wrong. Victor Frankenstein was, for the most part, an emotionally based thinker as he constantly let his feelings guide him down paths of impulsive and irrational action; that could have easily been rerouted if he would have given himself the time to do so. In the case, that logic trumps emotion in the fight to determining one’s line of action does the individual grow in terms of their mentality. This, however, is easier said than done as when one is put in a position where intense emotions such as anger, fear, and/or sadness arise, it then becomes difficult to see anything else but the fiery passion that burns within them. This is an explanation to why many individuals find themselves in the same position as Victor Frankenstein; stunted within their growth. Taming the fire within to give way to the senses of logic and reasoning may be a strenuous job, however, once the task is done an individual will be rewarded with an evident self of personal growth.