Victor Makes Himself Up For Failure In Frankenstein

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In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein begins to work on an animate creature because of his newly profound interest in discovering the secret of life. Victor becomes obsessed with his task at hands and begins to ignore his family and friends. He barely goes outside and has become lonely and obsessed with his work. Eventually his long, hard, work pays off and the animate creature comes to life. Victor is startled by what he has created, so he tries to ignore it. This is setting up the story of a tragedy. Victor Frankenstein sets himself up for failure by trying to play god in order to study the secret of life.
“Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me.” (36 Shelley) This quote develops the idea that Victor believes that he is godlike. When he states that “A new species would bless me as its creator..” this leads to believe that Victor enjoys the idea of being able to have full control and ownership over something, much like a godlike figure. This is what sets him up for failure. Victor wanted to know so badly how to create life because it …show more content…

This is where Victor is set up for failure. He was messing with something that was never supposed to be messed with. Although there are many different religious and ethical stand points revolving around god and creation of man, in a general aspect, the creation of life should not be messed with. Victor took dead bodies in order to help create his creature. He was trying to find out the secret of life. This idea has been trying to be solved by many scholars including scientists, philosophers. Yet it has still not been solved. Victor tried too hard to solve something that just was not meant to

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