Throughout the well-known novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein is characterized as being a very selfish man. Contrary to this idea, Victor tells his father, “A thousand times would I have shed my own blood, drop by drop, to have saved their lives. . .” (184 Frankenstein). It is ironic that Victor makes this comment, as it is evident throughout the novel that he does not truly mean this. In other words, Victor did not sacrifice his life for his friends and family at any point over the course of the story. This statement of his is therefore invalid, as there are several examples throughout the novel that prove him wrong. To begin the novel, Victor explains his interests and inspiration for creating …show more content…
There is a long time between the killings of Victor’s friends and family, however; in the meantime Victor is confronted by his monster. This "being" then demands for the creation of a female monster to reduce his loneliness. It wasn't until Victor destroyed the semi-created female monster, that the monster himself grew especially angry with Victor. Because of his anger towards Victor, the monster killed Henry, Victor's closest friend. Throughout the novel thus far it is obvious who the monster is truly after, however; Victor does not see this. For example, the author writes, "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. I gasped for breath..." (Frankenstein 169). This quote represents the feelings Victor had towards the death of his dearest friend, Henry. Victor was in complete and utter shock by his death, as he did not predict this coming. Lastly, the monster kills Victor's beloved Elizabeth. This was due to Victor's inability to take the monster seriously with any of his demands or threats. Prior to the murder of Elizabeth, the monster warned Victor that he would be with him on his wedding night. Victor assumed this meant the monster was after him, when in fact that was far from the truth. If Victor was not such a self centered person who only
In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creature, both display a sense of moral ambiguity. Each character has committed both good and evil alike, and neither knew the consequences of what they had done. However, Victor Frankenstein is generally the morally ambiguous character by his treatment of his creation and his own imperious personality. He wanted to be able to help science by recreating life or bringing it back, but at the same time, he did not want to consider the consequences of doing so. Victor tries to prove himself as a good moral character in the relationship between his creation and himself.
In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor is fascinated by the creation and decay of life and is relentless to create him one, but turns out to be a horrifying nightmare by bringing a monster into the world. One's desire can be so great that it blinds people from the things in life they truly care about, but would not know till it is gone. Victor Frankenstein goes from an arrogant man who only thinks about his only desires to a guilt ridden man who wants to protect others after his mistake killed innocent people. Victor Frankenstein is an arrogant man who only thinks about his only desires and does not care about what people says. Since he is spoiled by his family by giving him gifts like Elizabeth “as his- his to protect, love, and cherish” (30).
When he confronts the monster, it forces him to create a female for him so that it wouldn’t feel so lonely. Because Victor refused to finish the monster, the monster killed his best friend, his wife, and caused victor's father so much grief, he also died. So Victor goes on a quest to find and trap the monster.
Victor realizes that he has lost control of the monster’s actions and regrets not taking the proper precautions in seizing the monster when he has the opportunity. Ultimately, Victor is victimized. After the murder of Elizabeth, Victor reflects on the deaths of his loved ones and says, “The death of William, the execution of Justine, the murder of Clerval, and lastly of my wife; even at that moment I knew not that my only remaining friends were safe from the malignity of the fiend” (174). Victor suffers watching his loved ones die one by one, yet lacking the ability to save them. Overall, Victor’s victimization is due to his timorousness dealing with his initial
Victor defied the natural laws of life by creating a living person entirely by himself. He also used other people’s dead corpses without
Victor Frankenstein is selfish. The novel portrays Victor as a selfish character who is only concerned about his own well-being. Frankenstein wanted to manipulate the power of life. He abandons his creation because of the creature’s appearance and also withholds information or lies about his creation. Due to Victor 's selfishness, readers feel sorry for his creation.
Victor hated his creature. He never gave him love and attention. We don’t consider him in charge of murder because he didn’t directly kill the certain people. Although the monster did, it was not his fault. In any case, the monster had a bad beginning.
This is the second account of Victor 's creation being rejected by
And, oh! That I could, with the extinction of your miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so diabolically murdered! " From the small section of information, we can clearly see the harsh words such as,”vile insect,” and,”devil.” We can also see the selfishness associated with Victor, as he takes almost zero responsibility for his actions, and blames it all on the monster. This may have angered the monster, reinforcing the fact about how ugly he is and about how nobody wants to be friends with him.
Victor creates the Creature, but there are many situations throughout the novel where the Monster displays as the victim. He seeks love from different people, but everyone treats him bad. His anger towards his father drives him to kill Victor’s family. The Monster later feels devastated for the murders he commits. All the monster wants is love.
When Victor rejected The Creatures want for a girl companion he replied, “I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding night.” When this was said, Victor knew of the possible danger that Elizabeth was now in but refused to warn her of this danger and this lead to her death. The penalties that Victor faced due to keeping the existence of this creature a secret it what lead to the deaths of the people that he cared for, and the fact that he had the ability to save these lives but chose to not even try says a lot about
The monster tells Victor of his feelings when he states, “You can blast my other passions, but revenge remains…I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery.” (153) After months and months of the monster trying to connect with the world, he eventually realizes that the efforts are worthless and vows to do to his creator what his creator did to him. To make Victor isolated would give him the same curse the monster has suffered through for its entire new life. Later, the creature asks himself, “Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?” The creature easily could kill Victor if that was his desire but its real desire was to make Victor suffer as the monster did.
An eye for an eye or the law of retaliation is the principle most people live their lives by. For the characters in Frankenstein, this concept is apparent as the main character, Victor, creates a monster and instantly abandons him which sets off the chain of events revolving around revenge. However, as Gandhi once stated, “an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind” (Gandhi). Throughout the novel, the creature and Victor engage in a recurring cycle of vengeance, but these acts of revenge are bittersweet as in the end it destroys both of them. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley reveals how revenge consumes and destroys those who surrender to it.
In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein spends two whole years toiling to create a being which is comprised of the body parts of various dead corpses, for the purposes of science. Finally, he creates the “monster”, who commits a multitude of crimes, resulting in the deaths of many innocent people. These horrific murders raise many questions concerning who is to be held accountable. Victor walked away from the situation he created instead of facing his actions. If he had chosen to stay this could have prevented the heinous crimes committed by the monster as a result of Victor’s mental and emotional Neglect.
Victor seems to deny the monster what he has denied himself, a family. Since he never experienced courtship it can be seen that his anger towards the monster is actually anger towards himself as he has never truly experienced mutual love, and he is almost seen to be scared and never probes around the subject. He only experiences lust for Elizabeth and his work, and both break down due to the lack of love (which is a stronger bond than lust). As Victor declines into madness by the middle of the novel, his relationship with Elizabeth descends to nothing, and this nothingness will be mirrored in any relationships the monster has. Victor has no wife.