Kevin Ruano
Ms. Landau
Period 2 English 12 H
7 January 2015
Victor
Victor's ambition in the field of science led him to the terrorizing secret of life which put him in an agonizing position of life and death. Victor's struggle throughout the book, to maintain his sanity and his health, is clearly highlighted by Shelley in various scenarios were Victor confronts the creature. This puts Victor as the true protagonist in the story because the audience can see what he wants and they become involved deeply in his character. Although it was ultimately Victor's fault for the savage destruction the creature brought towards Victor's life, he is the true protagonist in the story because it was not his intention to create such a horrific creature, he
…show more content…
is a victim of his own creation, and even though it took him some time, he devoted his life to destroying the horrific monster he created. The monster may have been innocent because he did not ask for any of this, but he is responsible for five deaths including Victor making him a serial killer and a murderer. In spite of Victor's curiosity towards the gift of life, he did not intend to set a monster so horrid into the world.
"After so much time spent in painful labour, to arrive at the summit of my desires ... that all the steps by which I had been progressively led to it were obliterated, and i beheld only the result" (Shelley 31). Victor, caught up in the mindset of being the first to give the gift of life, blindly worked on his experiment without realizing what he was going to truly create. "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with suck infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form?" (Shelley 35). When Victor's creation came to life, Victor trembled in disgust towards the monster he had given life to. Victor unintentionally gave life to a being so wretched, for Victor himself could not stand the monstrosity he had …show more content…
created. The affliction to mankind brought by the creature's existence was ultimately Victor's fault, but Victor was a victim of his own creation.
" ... because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred. Have a care: I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth" (Shelley 104-105). The creature plans nothing but complete annihilation of not only Victor's human body, but of his heart and everything he loves. It is the creature's goal to hurt Victor in ways unthinkable by the human heart. "How can I describe my sensations of beholding it? I feel yet parched with horror, nor can I reflect on that terrible moment without shuddering and agony. The examination, the presence of the magistrate and witnesses, passed like a dream from my memory, when I saw the lifeless form of Henry Clerval stretched before me" (Shelley 129). The creature committed the murders of the people Victor cherished the most. This broke Victor and this is how the creature planned out Victor's torment, putting the creature as the antagonist of the
story. Victor devoted his life to destroying this horrific creature. At first he was terribly ill, and even surpassed thoughts of suicide before he vowed for the creature's destruction from his own hands even if it took him the rest of his life. "Scoffing devil! Again do I vow vengeance; again do I devote thee, miserable fiend, to torture and death. Never will I give up my search, until he or I perish; and then with what ecstasy shall I join my Elizabeth and my departed friends, who even now prepare for me the reward of my tedious toil and horrible pilgrimage!" (Shelley 152). Not only does Victor passionately hates the torment the creature has brought to his life, but he is also passionate about ending the monster's reign, even if it means death for Victor. " As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged" (Shelley 121). Fallen under the creature's encouraging and a surprisingly deceiving language, Victor set out to create another like the monster to end the creature's torment. In the process, Victor sees the creature spying on him and at the sight of the creature, he realized the mistake he was making, and from that moment on, he knew that it was his duty end this nightmare. Victor could have taken the easy way out and ended his life when he had the chance, but instead he gave the creature a chance only to realize the only way he can truly put a stop the monstrosity he had created, was to end the life Victor gave him. Victor is indeed culpable for the monster's destruction, but Victor remains standing as the true protagonist because he had good intentions in being the first to discover how to give the gift of life, the creature brought more terror to Victor more than anyone, and Victor succeeded in a way in putting a stop to the creature's reign. Victor set out to follow his dreams by studying the sciences of life. There would be no story if Victor could not succeed in making the creature. Victor becomes a victim of the creature. Victor did not show him right from wrong, and he was not there to teach the creature the ways of life as he should have, but the creature still committed murder, and not once, but 5 times including Victor's death. After seeing the destruction, the creature caused, Victor devotes his life to putting an end to the creature's life even if it meant a battle to the death.
Victor's gradual descent towards the dark side of the human psyche is clearly portrayed through Shelley's writing. As stated in previous discussions, Victor's original motivation in pursuing a career in the science field was purely out of love for the world of science and a true passion for acquiring knowledge. However, as the novel continues, we witness his motives go from authentic to impure. As such, we delve into the dark side. His pursuit of knowledge and his creation of the monster are all on the purer or perhaps lighter side of the psyche. It isn't until he abandons him that we begin to see him cross over. His choices to abandon the creature, to let someone else to die for its crimes, to create it a companion only to kill her, to allow the ones he loved to die at its hand, and to still refuse to claim it in the end are all acts
Shelley characterizes Victor in a way that he acts on his impulses and not with rationality. As a result, Victor does not take the time to teach or talk to his creation. This action leads to his downfall as his loved one’s are killed by the Creature taking revenge on Victor for leaving him to fend for himself. Victor’s actions have consequences, hence why all his loved one’s are murdered because of his instinct to leave out of fear and safety. Shelley proves that our id demands immediate gratification of needs and thus, is in control of our actions.
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.
So it is only fitting that his first relief from this spell of paralyzing fear is an encounter with the beauty of nature. Directly after Victor 's creation of the monster Shelley perfectly encapsulates the acute horror, and painful realization that brings about his illness in the following quote. Shelley writes, "I passed the night wretchedly. Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly that I felt the palpitation of every artery; at others, I nearly sink to the ground through languor and extreme weakness. Mingled with this horror I felt the bitterness of disappointment; dreams that have been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now become a hell to me; and the change was so rapid, the overthrow so complete!" (Shelley, 16). Shelley illustrates just how heavily the consequences of what Victor did weigh down on his conscience. She does this by combining the description of Victors physical symptoms of panic like his racing pulse, and faintness, with a description of his mental anguish to express a deeper message from a ever more true to life Frankenstein that the reader can empathize with as he realizes the gravity of what he has done to unbalance the natural
Upon first discovering how to make life, Victor is overwhelmed with excitement and pride, feeling as though he has unlocked the greatest power on earth. His imagination is “too much exalted” by this newfound ability, and thus determines there is no “animal as complex and wonderful as man” for him to attempt as his first creation (Shelley 43). Frankenstein does not contemplate how he will react to or interact with the human he gives life to, or that he has created an extremely twisted parent-child relationship by creating a human from dead bodies. His general lack of concern regarding the consequences of his remarkable yet dangerous power is the root of the rest of the conflict between him and his monster throughout the rest of the novel, and it exemplifies Shelley’s underlying theme that science should not be pushed past morally and psychologically safe boundaries.
Victor’s enormous ego causes pain and destruction in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Victor creates a being that he thinks will make him a genius forever, however ends up causing more pain to him and others. The creature starts to endure more pain than the others as Victor abandons him, leaving him feeling unwanted. Because Victor did not care for his creation, the Monster sets out to destroy him, and ends up destroying Victor and everything or anyone that was considered close to Victor. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor’s ego leads to the destruction to the ones around him and himself.
If Victor had nurtured the creature, the creature would have been gentle and kind. The creature’s environment, experiences, as well as actions changed his personality. Mary Shelley does a great job of showing what the creature endured, and how everything he went through led him to his
Through the theme of birth and creation, Shelley criticises Victor not only for creating the new being, but also for abandoning it when it comes to life. Victor first wishes to create the being because he thinks:
In Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit to discover “the cause of generation and life”, he creates something that becomes the victim of his self-absorption and irrational manner (Segal). Following some insight on the creation of life, scientist Victor Frankenstein decides to take science into his own hands and create a creature out of human cadavers. It is not until the creature comes to life that Victor ponders the perplexing appearance of the creature that is before him. As Victor looks upon the creature he has created, he wonders “Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence” (Shelley 138). With the recognition that the creature truly looks like a monster, Victor abandons the creature and leaves him to the harsh assumptions of society. Although the creature employs a genuinely empathetic and compassionate manner, society refuses to acknowledge him because of his beastly appearance making him the victim of Victor’s persistent curiosity.
After everything Victor has been through now he has to be alone in this world. He has lost everyone in his family and now all he has left is the monster. He faces a lot of regret because he was the one who created the monster who killed his family. He blames himself for all their deaths. Victor stated, “ They all died by my hands” (Shelley 175). Now he is faced with living without all of them because of his creation. He realizes that the creation took over his life and that he was now the slave and the monster was the master (Shelley 210). Victor toward the end of his book accepts the grief in his dying by saying, “My spirit will sleep in peace, or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell” (Shelley 213). The only bad thing about him waiting till death to accept his wrong doings is that he never got to stand up for his family until the end when they were all already gone (Schmid). This marks the end of Victors struggles because now that his is dead he no longer struggles with science or the
Victor was just released from his imprisonment on suspension of the mysterious murder of Henry Clerval, but Victor recognizes him to be the second victim of the creature he created. In his dream Victor feels the creature’s ‘grasp in [his] neck, and could not free [himself] from it’ (Shelly, 163). Shelly creates this dream not only to represent Victor’s fear of the creature, but his desire for it to kill him and end his suffering. Victor says his life is full of ‘various misfortunes’ but even after taking double the dosage of his sleeping medication he is unable to escape his ‘thoughts and misery’ (Shelly, 163). At this point in the novel Victor is now responsible for the deaths of, at least, three people because of his creation and longs for peace but not even sleep can give him that. Victor’s dream of being murdered by his own creation is Shelly’s way to represent his want of release from life so no longer has to remember the mistakes of his
Because of Victor’s need for fame and desire for power leads to Victor becoming a monster. Victor begins his quest to bring life to a dead person because he does not want anyone to feel the pain of a loved ones death. At first he is not obsessed with his project. As he moves along in the project he thinks about what will happen to him. "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." (Shelley 39) He realizes that he will become famous if he accomplishes the task of bringing a person back to life. The realization that he will become famous turns him into an obsessive monster. He wanted to be admired, and praised as a species creator. He isolates himself from his family and works on the creature. “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I deprived myself of rest and health. 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 156) By spending most of his time inside on his experiment, he has no time to write or contact his family. He puts fear within his family because they fear for him.
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.
Although he may have lustfully pursued an act taboo to society, the end result was equivalent; utter disgust. Victor had worked long, “. . . for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body (Shelley 35).” Victor abandoned family and friends to work on this project. At the moment of finishing his creation, “. . . horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room. . .(Shelley 35).” Victor quickly developed a societal attitude upon sight of his creation, soon abandoning it. This abandonment is the first instance of Victor’s failure to nurture his creation, and initialized his cycle of neglect upon the
Soon after Victor creates the monster and it kills William, Victor laments the creation of the creature, referring to it as “my own spirit let loose from the grave” (Shelley 51). Though Frankenstein may be referring to the creature as a spirit because of the fact that it is essentially a reanimated corpse, he also could be referring to the creature as a realization of his unconscious desires. The creature, in cursing his creator, refers to his “‘form [as being] a filthy type of your’s’” (Shelley 91). The creature here talks about himself as if he is almost the same as Victor – something similar but yet more loathsome. This is exactly what the creature is if he represents those desires of Victor that cannot be revealed, even to himself. In murdering many people in Victor’s family as well as Clerval, the creature is acting out Victor’s unconscious desire to be free of his family; when Victor is creating the monster, he isolates himself from other human beings and stops responding to his family’s letters (Shelley 36). Up until the creation of the creature, Victor desperately wanted the “glory that would attend the discovery, if [he] could banish disease from the human frame, and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death!” (23). From these intense feelings of wanting to make a mark upon the world by making a huge discovery, springs forth