In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, there are two monsters within the book. The creature kills off many people and causes ruin to both Victor and innocent bystanders, but Victor holds the responsibility for causing this rampage, as he created the creature. Both Victor and the creature are monsters in their own respects and share similarities while holding key differences, but Victor is clearly the bigger monster. Victor and the creature are alike in many ways, and go through similar experiences that help to shape their future personas. In the beginning, they both display immense optimism for the future. Victor says “From my infancy I was imbued with high hopes and a lofty ambition; but how am I sunk!” He is reflecting on himself after his failed …show more content…
However, it is Victor that is the bigger monster in the book. He shows unparalleled selfishness and hostility towards the creature, and is also the initiator of all the subsequent events that occur after he creates it. Even when he first creates the creature, Victor displays hostility towards the creature. He immediately abandons it after seeing its appearance, and judges it based solely on it’s looks. “But now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room,” (81) Victor’s first impression is based on the creature looks, and yet he was the one to create him out of his own passion. He can be seen as a monster because he disregards any responsibility and compassion he owes to the creature, instead forcing it to survive alone in the snowy, cold winter. He also indirectly kills many people by creating the monster, who went on to commit murders that are tied back to Victor. Victor also displays extreme selfishness when he withholds information about William’s murder, essentially sentencing Justine to death. Victor says of Justine that she was “a girl of merit, and possessed qualities which promised to render her life happy, now all was to be obliterated in an ignominious grave, and I the cause!” (129-131) Victor admits to himself that he is responsible for Justine’s death, and still holds back information about the true killer, his creature. In doing so, Victor shows his selfishness because he is more worried about the repercussions he would suffer if his creature were discovered than the fact that Justine is innocent, and does not take proper action to acquit Justine. He is the very reason that Justine, William, Henry Clerval, and many others
In particular, Justine, an innocent girl that was taken in by the Frankenstein family, was charged with the crime of murdering William. Victor knew that Justine was not the killer because he saw the creature in the woods when traveling to the funeral and trial. However, when Justine is being convicted, Victor decides to keep the creature’s existence a secret instead of proving Justine’s innocence and acquitting her of the crime. Victor narrates his decision, “I was firmly convinced in my own mind that Justine, and indeed every human being, was guiltless of this murder. I had no fear, therefore, that any circumstantial evidence could be brought forward strong enough to convict her.
Once Victor finally creates the creature, he becomes terrified of the monster. The monster is hideous, and if fulfilled with strength. The monster may have been created with so much strength to indicate that Victor wanted to symbolize the power of knowledge and science through his creation of the
One by one the creature killed everyone Victor loved. First of all The Creature killed Victor’s youngest brother William. The killing of William was the assurance for Victor or somewhat sign that his creation is ruining lives and that is when he should have been a man and took responsibility for his actions. However he did not take any responsibility and just ignored it. Then when the creature met victor and told him to create a female creature for him victor again ignored him and went to Europe with Henry.
Even though this was the truth, Justine is later hanged for her falsely accused crimes. Victor experienced her death only being able to contemplate if the creature had any involvement in the matter. He tracked down the creature and learned that his presumption was indeed true. Under the guise of fear of more death to be in his experience, Victor agrees to create a female companion for the creature. While working on the second creation, Victor changes his mind and destroys the body that would have been the second creature.
Frankenstein and his monster do seem to be very similar, like a father and a son. Technically, they could be considered as such since Frankenstein is his creator. Even without that reasoning, it is clear that they share similarities. I consider them to be alike because they are both dramatic with violent tempers, they are obsessive, and they can be unreasonable. I disagree that they share the exact same personality, though.
This starts off a chain of events, specifically a chain of death, that impacts Victor’s life, and shows the monster has no impulse control. When the monster finds Victor’s journals and realizes his true feelings towards him, that furthers the monsters anger and makes him want to lash out even more (91). Eventually, after Victor decides not to make a female monster, Henry is killed, and it is assumed that the monster had something to do with it (127). One of the final murders in the book is that of Elizabeth (141). This murder Victor knows for sure was the monster, and at this point it is Victor who is searching for revenge.
In Mary Shelley novel called Frankenstein, the character of the Monster is shown as a true monster. A real monster is someone who withholds information, lack of remorse, and avoid responsibility, lying and many more. Victor Frankenstein created the monster, but Victor is also a very complex character in the novel. Victor created the monster for scientific researched; he was studying the dead and wanted to be the first person that brought the dead back to life.
In contrast, during his childhood, Victor was governed by social rules and family expectations. Victor states, “No youth could have passed more happily than mine. My parents were indulgent, and my companions amiable … we always had an end placed in view”. There is a certain false myopic idealism present in the statement. In fact, most of Victor’s intents are impulsive and irrational without “an end placed in view”.
Perhaps the most spine-chilling threat the monster makes is when he says to Victor that he will “work at [Victor’s] destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth.” (Pg. 125). Victor has acknowledged his creation’s threats to his family, but despite the imminent danger they are in, he decides to act against the creature’s wishes. If Victor were acting honorably and responsibly, he would have listened to the monster’s demands for a female companion and, considering the creature’s threats against his family, complied with the demands. Victor, characteristically, chooses to act impulsively and recklessly, by destroying the female creature.
A strangled boy, an innocent executed girl, a sick boy, constant fears and several mysterious deaths... It is not a killer, who is guilty of all these terrible and strange events, but a young scientist whose name is Victor Frankenstein. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein we are told of a man Victor who creates a life. This creation, his creature, is perceived by society because of his physical appearance being so called a “monster” although his creator is in fault of his creatures actions. Frankenstein leaves us asking questions and raises some serious issues, one of which that comes up time and time again.
In Frankenstein, Shelley presents two characters who represent the different sides of the same character. The monster was a clear reflection of his creator because; they had the same development, same pain and suffering, and were recluses. Victor and the monster did not physically resemble each other, but they had the same personality and traits, therefore,
A writer named Nikita Gill once said “When you see a monster next, always remember this. Do not fear the thing before you. Fear the thing that created it instead.” This quote can be related to the novel Frankenstein where instead of the actual creature being perceived as the monster, the person who created it deserves to be called one. Using the archetypal lens, Victor can be seen as the real monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein from his cruel characteristics, continuous patterns of monstrosity, as well as symbols and themes involving nature.
In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein and the monster share many similarities and differences. The monster does not share the same physical stature as Victor, instead they share some of the same personality traits, and for example, they are both very loving and want to help people who need it. In the novel we see how Victor and the monster share differences, but as the novel goes on, we see how they become more alike. The characters both experience alienation; they both assume the role of a creator, and they both experience love and loss in the novel. Victor and the monster are similar through their experience with love and loss.
Victor’s relationship with his monster begins with similarities and differences which will lead to an indescribable relationship. In Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein, readers will identify several similarities. First, the both share a love of nature. Second, Victor and Frankenstein desire vengeance for each other. “Revenge kept me alive, I dare not die, and leave my adversary in being”
In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the main character Victor tends to show flickers of his own monster in his personality, leading the reader to believe they are one in the same. Victor may not outwardly portray his monster but his emotions and desires line up with that of the monsters actions. The anger Victor and the monster share brought about by society are traits of this deep emotional bond they have. A literary doppelganger best describes the two being, meaning a Victor's monster is another version of himself. The Creature is Victor's inner most emotions, those that are often hidden due to society's expectations; this madness is brought to the surface through the monster.