Who Is Victor's Abandonment In Frankenstein

The novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, takes place during the 18th century and captures the life of Victor Frankenstein who spends his life engulfed in creating an artificial being that is capable of human emotion. After leaving his family in Geneva and spending years studying and perfecting the development of his creation, he finally is able to animate an organism made up of body parts he dug up from a grave yard. Victor becomes frightened of the creature as it comes to life and abandons it. The monster’s abandonment leads him to kill members of Victor’s family but he still does not tells anyone of the threat, leaving the rest of his family vulnerable. Throughout the novel, Victor has chance after chance to save his family and give the

monster a content life but Victor does not take those chances. As a result, Victor’s life becomes filled with misery and death. Victor causes his own suffering through his lack of sympathy and responsibility towards the monster and his family.
Even though Victor knows his obligations to the monster, he abandons and neglects the monster. The monster came into the world with the knowledge of a new born baby but never is taught right from wrong and morality.

Victor knows that it his duty to teach the monster but is so delusional that he thinks that he does everything he could to take care of the monster when all he did was abandon his creation. While reflecting on the choices he made in his relationship to the monster, he tells Walton that he, “created a rational creature and was bound towards him to assure, as far as was in my power, his happiness and well-being” (191). Victor feels no sympathy for the monster believing that the monster deserved no care or guidance. Victor is so completely self-absorbed that he does not put any effort in aiding the monster. Victor acts like he does not know the monster is suffering because of him, even though the monster tells Victor his miseries every time they encounter each other. Victor and his creation meet in the mountains and the monster tells his story about what he did after Victor deserts the monster. The monster explains the feeling he has after being abandoned: “I was alone. I remembered Adam's supplication to his Creator. But where was mine? He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed

him” (117). Frankenstein has no one to guide and teach him like how god looked after Adam. Without anyone to look up to the monster becomes depressed and angry and has no way to express his pain to anyone because of his appearance frightens anyone he tries to communicate. As result of Victor creating the monster with no companions or direction from himself he falls into a state of revenge. The monster tells Victor about his feelings of isolation, but still Victor does nothing to assist the monster: “I am an unfortunate and deserted creature, I look around and I have no relation or friend upon earth. These amiable people to whom I go have never seen me and know little of me. I am full of fears, for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever” (119). Victor does not help the monster live in peace with society and as a result he feels like a pariah to society. The monster no longer feels his life is valued and devotes his life to making Victor feel the pain he made him feel. ¬¬Victor is the source of his creation’s suffrage and pushes the monster to cause his own.
Victor has many chances to protect his family but he abandons them because of his fear of the monster.

Victor’s most fatal decision was not telling anyone about the monster. As a result of his carelessness, none of the monsters victims are prepared for his attack. Victor’s narcissism brings him to not tell anyone out of fear that people will see his mistake. However, Victor’s silence causes his loved ones to be venerable to attacks from the monster. After Victor hides from the monster and leaves the monster he meets his friend Henry Clerval. Victor tells Clerval nothing, even though it puts many people in danger: “I dreaded to behold this monster, but I feared still more that Henry should see him” (54). Victor’s decisions is incredibly irresponsible and puts people’s lives in danger. The monster feels alone and betrayed by his creator and out of anger he kills those that are close to Victor. To fill the void in the monster’s life, he offers the chance to create female companion which would end the loneliness the monster feels and protect his family from anymore danger from the monster. Instead he decides not to create the monster just because of his fear of the monster: “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” (148). Victor is so close to ending his suffering and

protect his family but loses hope and destroys the female monster. Frankenstein decision caused the death of Elizabeth on his wedding night. Victor choice to not protect his family from his mistakes causes his devotion to finding the monster no matter how much suffering he goes through.
As a result of Victor’s lack of responsibility towards his family and his abandonment of the monster, his life loses all meaning and his only purpose is revenge. Victor constantly expresses his misery to those around him but tells no one the truth about why he is so miserable. He acts like his misfortunes are not his fault but he is the true source of his misery. After giving up on the creation of the female monster, Victor decides to dump the remains of the female monster in the water. He then proceeds to fall asleep and wake finding himself in Ireland accused of murder. After finding out that Henry Clerval was murdered, Frankenstein tells Mr. Kirwin, that he, “by a course of strange events, become the most miserable of mortals” (159). Frankenstein’s attitude shows a lack of sympathy towards anyone other than himself. He does not consider the intense suffering the monster feels and the misery his father and Elizabeth feel after so many people have died. Even though Victor has caused the monster so much pain, he believes that the monster is at fault for all of his misery. Victor decides to follows the monster the monster which causes him to have to suffer through the harsh conditions. He creates the monster even though he knows that the monster will take over his life and cause his suffering. While telling Walton about his decision to get revenge on the monster, Victor says, “I knew that I was preparing for myself a deadly torture, but I was the slave, not the master, of an impulse which I detested yet could not disobey” (194). All of Victor’s back decisions finally build up and he gives up on his life, only focusing on getting revenge for the problems he caused. Victor choices causes him to lose everything that matters to him.
Victor is the source of his own suffering through the careless decisions he made that could have protected his loved ones and the absence of understanding he feels for the monster. Victor spends years creating and perfecting the monster yet when he is finally finished he completely abandons it even though it does nothing to hurt him. The monster than has to survive with no knowledge and no one to guide him. Frankenstein tries to forget his creating and cover up the monster’s existence. He feels no sympathy for the monster who had been neglected just because of his appearance. As a result of leaving his family and his friend Clerval, in the dark, he puts them in danger and allows the monster to get revenge for his abandonment. The monster then makes Victor a deal where he would be happy and have a companion and Victor would be able to protect his family. Instead, Victor feels disgusted creating another ugly monster which would protect the people he loves. The monster than proceeds to kill Elizabeth and Victor devotes his life to finding and killing the monster no matter how much suffering he goes through. Victor careless decisions created a vengeful and lonely creature and caused him to suffer through the loss of his family and best friend. Mary Shelley’s novel shows the importance of responsibility in all relationships. When obligation are not fulfilled, the power of responsibility can take over your life.