Victor Frankenstein suffers decision paralysis in any time of crisis. While valiant in his struggles to create life, he immediately becomes the coward, assuming his creation to be a menace and running from it in terror: “one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs” (Shelley 51). It’s hard to trust Victor to be a reliable narrator, when he claims helplessness with such vigor, for example, in the second encounter with his monster, he recounts, “I thought of pursuing the devil, but it would have been in vain” (70). When the creature kills little William and frames Justine, Victor does nothing to save her from her unjust execution: “a declaration would have been considered as the ravings of a madman and …show more content…
First, we can identify a literary element: if Victor stops the monster before he commits murders, the book would not be interesting. But it is more—perhaps it is because we are so quick to trust and empathize with Victor, as he is the narrator throughout the tale, that we must come to see, through his indifference, he is actually more evil than his creation. When I first read the book, I pegged Frankenstein as good. Even though he admits to being the murderer several times, such as this lamentation: “I, not in deed, but in effect, was the true murderer” (88), to me, he is only crying for help, like Justine’s coerced confession (81-82). However, through the above analysis, we find that Frankenstein is apt to be an unreliable narrator, biased to support his inaction. His warning of the monster: “he is eloquent and persuasive; and once his words had even power over my heart: but trust him not” (216), may better describe himself. As in legal tort, he has a “duty to rescue” his family from his now malevolent creation, yet he continually ignores it; his best idea is repeatedly shouting “wretched devil!” and “abhorred monster!” (95), followed by promising to create a woman, only to “[tear it] to pieces” (170). For the monster, this is sadistic torment, but the doctor excuses himself again, claiming it to be preferable to “[inflicting] this curse upon everlasting generations” (170). In the words of Edmund Burke, “no passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear,” and I see that Frankenstein is crippled by fear, wavering on any decision. Shelley has written a subtle allegory between the lines: do not believe narration immediately, as even if it appears trustworthy, it is always written in the interests of the narrator. Frankenstein tells us many times that his fate is sealed: “destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction” (33), but he really is a
In comparisons to the three other sources in my annotated bibliography, this source is the least useful as the details are not in much depth, but the details that are provided cover the whole premise of the gothic novel. As the author of this particular academic journal is Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, the journal is not biased towards any specific detail or character, giving a clear explanation of the novel. Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature provides a great explanation of the novel as a whole, and through the hours of research that is visible through their journal on Frankenstein, their information is very reliable. The goal of this particular source is to give the reader the foundation for the gothic novel Frankenstein, and to begin to explore that Victor’s horrible decisions are a major cause of tragic events in the book, and Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature does a great job of getting their goal across to the
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
Frankenstein fears for his sanity. He exhorts us more than once to "remember that he is not recounting the visions of a madman (37)." Yet he fears so much that he will be thought mad that he doesn't reveal that his creature killed William, even though it means the death of Justine, who was wrongly convicted of the murder. Frankenstein protests his own sanity so strenuously throughout the book that one begins to wonder if he is, in fact sane.
When Victor Frankenstein breaks his promise to the monster, it threatens him by saying that he’ll return on Victors wedding. Victor assumes that it’s his life that’s being threatened but the night of the marriage, Victor finds his Elizabeth. “She was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down, and… running with the swiftness of lightning, plunged into the lake.” (Chapter 23) This quote conveys that the monster didn’t feel bad for killing Victor’s bride, he believed that it was a justified murder because he was repaying the heartache that he felt for his lost mate. This act of cruelty helped develop the monsters sense of right and wrong. The monster was born innocent but after being treated so cruelly for so long, his moral compass was corrupted. He felt as if it was his right to do this to this to Victor.
He created a life, and then spontaneously he quickly decided to run away from his creation. Victor’s actions after creating what he created were really irresponsible, and did not correctly took care of the circumstance’s he put himself in. The creation was never actually evil, but he felt abandoned by what could had been called his father. Frankenstein, the monster, was only a seeker for companionship. He strongly desired to feel loved, rather than abandoned. Society’s evil behavior toward the monster is what altered the monster’s conduct and followed to how he acted.
Dr. Frankenstein’s responsibility originated from the creation of a creature, who he was supposed to nurture and care for it. Instead, he ran from it because “breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart,” (Shelley 59). This original retreat, a result of Victor’s abhorrence of his creation, was only augmented after the unsupervised creature started to kill Victor’s family and friends. Now, Victor chooses to run away from his creation because “...the strange nature of the animal would elude all pursuit, even if [he] were so far credited as to persuade my relatives to commence it. And then of what use would be pursuit?” (Shelley 85). As one can observe, Frankenstein is at first avoiding his responsibility for a more selfish reason. Once his mistake starts to be involved in crime, he avoids the responsibility of telling the police, or really anything, about the creature so that nobody will get in the creature’s destructive path. In a way, Victor grows much more concerned with others than himself, as he does not want people to waste their resources on fighting something that is so hard to take down. He would rather take
A very prideful man, Victor spent his time preparing to essentially play God and create life from death. Seeing the hideousness of his creation, Victor quickly flees the scene and abandons the creation. Allison Green goes to say, “Victor Frankenstein is fixated on the boundaries between life and death, and death and life,” (Green). Upon hearing the monster’s story, Frankenstein is immediately compelled to strike down the monster and undo his work. “Begone vile beast!” (85). Despite his actions, Victor’s heart is in the right place when he plans to destroy his hideous creation. Anna Clark states, “Victor is a singular character inwardly focused on his own flaws.” (Clark). Perhaps it is this inward focus that prevents him from taking decisive
As a romantic novel Victor is responsible, because he abandoned his creation. As an archetype novel, Victor is the villain, because he was trying to play god. Finally, Victor as a Gothic novel, Victor is at fault, because, he and the creature are two different parts of the same person. If Frankenstein is looked at as a romantic novel, Victor, not the creature, is truly the villain. When Victor created the creature, he didn't take responsibility for it. He abandoned it, and left it to fend for itself. It is unfair to bring something into the world, and then not teach it how to survive. The creature was miserable, and just wanted a friend or someone to talk to. On page 115, the creature said, "Hateful day when I received life! Accursed the creator. Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust." This line shows the agony the monster was in, because of how he looked when he was created which led to even Victor running away from him. If Victor didn't run, he could have taught the monster and made his life happy. After the creature scared the cottagers away he said, "I continued for the remainder of the day in my hovel in a state of utter ...
In the Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein, Dr. Victor Frankenstein brings a creature to life somehow that the book does not tell the reader. But when the creature is brought to life, Victor is disgusted by his creation and abandons it. Later in the book, the monster is treated as if he was evil, so he begins to act like he is evil. He starts seeking revenge by killing everyone close to Victor like his son and Elizabeth. The story ends when the monster strangles Elizabeth, and Victor begins to pursuit the monster in order to kill it. Some people might say that the monster was wrong because he killed many of Victor’s love ones. Revenge is never justified. Others might say that Victor was wrong for not loving the monster or at least giving it a
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 ...
This is shown through the murders he commits. Upon meeting William, he ignored the boy’s taunts until he blurts out how his father is Alphonse Frankenstein. This enraged the creature and he, “...grasped his throat to silence him.” (136). The reason for this is because of the creatures’ deep hatred for Victor which he takes out on the entire Frankenstein family. It could be said that this specific murder was more emotional than rational and intentional as it is suggested when the creature says, “Frankenstein! You belong then to my enemy.” (136). This quote changed the view point of the monster because it shows us how he personally sees Victor as his enemy and shows how he harms anyone related to his enemy. After Victor retreats from his promise to make the second creature and instead destroys it, the creature takes his pain out on those close to Victor: Henry and Elizabeth. When Victor, who is being accused of murder of Henry Clerval, he thrusts himself on the corpse and says “Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry of life?” (169). Here is seems as if Mary Shelley is saying that Victor is becoming wary of how the creature he made is ruining his life by depriving his loved ones of life. The biggest change in the creature’s attitude was when he killed Elizabeth. After the murder Victor says that, “A grin was on the face of the monster; he seemed to
Although some critics say that the monster Victor has created is to blame for the destruction and violence that follow the experiment, it is Victor who is the responsible party. First, Victor, being the scientist, should have known how to do research on the subject a lot more than he had done. He obviously has not thought of the consequences that may result from it such as the monster going crazy, how the monster reacts to people and things, and especially the time it will take him to turn the monster into the perfect normal human being. This is obviously something that would take a really long time and a lot of patience which Victor lacks. All Victor really wants is to be the first to bring life to a dead person and therefore be famous. The greed got to his head and that is all he could think about, while isolating himself from his friends and family. In the play of Frankenstein, when Victor comes home and sets up his lab in the house, he is very paranoid about people coming in there and finding out what he is doing. At the end of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor says:
Everything that Victor did was for his self-satisfaction. He was the one that created the monster and the reason he did it was all for himself. “is a well-intentioned man who strives to recreate human life in order to alleviate his own loneliness.’(Murray)This basically shows Frankenstein's Selfishness was driven by his motivation and ambition. Victor was the farthest from a hero in his acts of selfishness, he was fully aware that he was doing could end in disaster, but he did it anyway. He wanted to create a monster that he knew could be good or the worst creation ever made, he was fully aware of the consciousness, but although his want for self-power was too strong. Frankenstein wanted something he never should've had. Frankenstein wanted to know and understand how to bring life back so we wouldn’t have to live in
After Frankenstein discovered the source of human life, he became wholly absorbed in his experimental creation of a human being. Victor's unlimited ambition, his desire to succeed in his efforts to create life, led him to find devastation and misery. "...now that I have finished, the beauty of the dream had vanished..." (Shelley 51). Victor's ambition blinded him to see the real dangers of his project. This is because ambition is like a madness, which blinds one self to see the dangers of his actions. The monster after realizing what a horror he was demanded that victor create him a partner. "I now also began to collect the materials necessary for my new creation, and this was like torture..." (Shelley 169). Victor's raw ambition, his search for glory, has left him. His eyes have been opened to see his horrible actions, and what have and could become of his creations. As a result, Victor has realized that he is creating a monster, which could lead to the downfall of mankind. His choice is simple, save his own life or save man.
In Frankenstein, Shelley creates two very complex characters. They embody the moral dilemmas that arise from the corruption and disturbance of the natural order of the world. When Victor Frankenstein is attending school, he becomes infatuated with creating a living being and starts stealing body parts from morgues around the university. After many months of hard work, he finishes one stormy night bringing his creation to life. However, “now that [Victor] had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Chambers). Right after Victor realizes what he has done, he falls into deep depression and must be nursed back to health by his friend. Victor spends the rest of the story facing consequences and moral problems from creating unnatural life. When he realizes that the ‘monster’ has killed his brother, even though no one believes him, he feels responsible for his brother’s murder because he was responsible for the existence of the ‘monster’. Also feeling responsible, Victor...