Frankenstein: Does this Story Reflect Modern Society?
This book is just that. A story. There has been no indication that an “inanimate” object can be given the power of human life. However, this novel by Mary Shelley is a very entertaining piece of work that painstakingly resembles modern day society. “From our expectations having been raised too high beforehand by injudicious praises; and it exhibits a strong tendency towards materialism.” (Anonymous, 1998) The first critique that was published in the Literary Panorama, and National Register strongly critiques that the development of the monster is entirely unrealistic and based upon the sense of greed that comes with materialism.
The whole basis of this novel is fantasy. Very little
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This was evidenced by Frankenstein rejecting the creature due to its physical appearance. He was also afraid that the creature resembled how he felt on the inside. Frankenstein tried to run from his emotions while the creature was discovering his. Mary Shelley described this encounter with the De Laceys after observing the family for a considerable time. “I felt sensations of a peculiar and overpowering nature: they were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never before experienced, either from hunger or cold, warmth or food.” I do not believe that Frankenstein was a bad person, but one that was irresponsible and afraid. He did want power like God and to have others be envious of him being able to have the power to create life. Frankenstein failed in the cliché of “with great power, comes great responsibility.” Things could have turned out differently if better decisions were made. Could he have saved the lives of Justine, William, and his friend Clerval? A big reflection of modern day society is the lack of taking ownership of ones decisions. Frankenstein could have saved Justine from execution by standing up and confessing about the creature he created, but was more worried about what people thought of him instead of doing the right thing. Is the creature entirely to blame for the murders or should society take some …show more content…
“For traditional Christians, the novel belongs typologically with tales of human presumption, in which the protagonist is duly punished for overstepping human boundaries laid down by God.” (Hetherington, 1997) Whether this statement is true is up for a never-ending debate. It is absurd to know without a doubt that the development of the monster is unrealistic and that the story was based upon greed. The first thought that comes to mind is our space program and hearing statements about whether a planet discovered can sustain life. What assumptions can we truly make on this topic? Does an unknown creature (the monster?) have to breath oxygen, drink water and need a certain atmospheric temperature to survive? There is nobody truly qualified to make this determination. The same would apply to the creature. As for Frankenstein, his motivation was based upon power and curiosity. He was deemed a “modern day” mad scientist. This statement is inaccurate as no evidence suggested that he had planned on using the beast for evil purposes. He had also tried to correct his mistake after discovering what an error he had made by not creating another monster in addition to his first one. However, did he make the right decision? Would the creature have changed his ways if he had a companion? These are details we will never know the answer
Biblical references can be found in many pieces of literature. Mary Shelley makes many references and allusions to the bible so as to explore themes and inject her viewpoint into her book, Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Shelley explores the danger of knowledge by creating a story with strong ties to the bible to display a negative attitude towards the pursuit of knowledge. Shelley creates a parallel between the story of Adam and Eve and Frankenstein and through this comparison portrays knowledge as dangerous and harmful. Before Frankenstein created the creature his life was wonderful.
Frankenstein The story of Frankenstein focuses on the scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who has the idea making life himself rather than let the natural process of life used, and thus arising the question of is god real and if he is real how come humans can make life out of old body parts then? One of the major questions that had arised, when he created the creature and it escaping from his laboratory. It was a question of his own sanity. When he would be in a situation where the odds that he be put to be blamed to the crime that was committed, or that the creature would be found out and him dubbed the maker of the creature thus making him the one who commits the crime by default as maker of the creature. When he discovered
Frankenstein should’ve taken responsibility for his actions and treat the create as a child, letting him learn the way people commerce and act, showing him the acceptable fashion of society. The creature experienced love and learn of it from the family in the cottage, the creature wanted it and even said he would give up on human’s, leaving for forever. Instead of allowing him companionship, Frankenstein took away hope for him at all, causing the rage to become worse and worse within his creation. Though he created it and had the vast amount of knowledge, Frankenstein lacked the compassion and sympathy it took to allow the creature a chance in the wide world that he had been thrown
Frankenstein's actions were not only horribly monstrous but also showed a lack of conscience. To him, creating life was an art, and by bringing a creature to life from nothing, he was attempting the impossible. In doing so, he was imitating God, who created life from nothing. Victor Frankenstein's urge to bring something from nothing drove him to work for years on his experiment without fail. Unfortunately, when he eventually accomplished it, he was filled with regret due to the outcome of his creation.
Nature definitely was an important part which makes up Frankenstein’s thought process and what he enjoyed. Your view on Frankenstein’s selfish nature is a downfall of our scientist who doesn’t consider what would happen after he creates the monster. He has no consideration for the monster’s feelings and should of made an effort to connect with his friends and colleagues on what his intentions were for the experiment and the outcome he expected once it came to life. The human monster may not have even turned out so ugly if he would of consulted with others during the process of his experiment.
First, Frankenstein's unwillingness to think outside the box in every troubling decision he encounters with the monster becomes extremely frustrated. Being intelligent enough to create a living creature from awake from the dead, people can assume he is intelligent enough to work with the monster to solve both of their problems. Similarly, Knights Quarterly claims Shelley’s main character Frankenstein to “not [have] one flash of imagination, not one spark of passion”(Knights Quarterly). After his passion drives the creation of his monstrous creation, it would seem he loses all passion towards his friends and family. Not only does he let all of his family die, but he lets them all die in the same way, by the monster.
Previous to the existence of the monster, readers are introduced to an ambitious, benevolent Victor Frankenstein. He exuded an excitement and passion about learning, though only for very specific subjects. “My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature they were turned not towards childish pursuits but to an eager desire to learn.” (Shelley 19) Though his studies on creating life artificially had eventually grown tiresome—“My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had
Frankenstein did not take into account the feelings of the creature. Frankenstein wanted to be the first to create the life, but did not think ahead. His initial ambition is to help the people, and perhaps his creation will benefit the humankind, however, he lets his ambition take over, and does not think of what the creature will act like or do. He creates the creature but only to suffer and in return he suffers as well. Frankenstein’s actions to not take care of the creature causes the death of those around him.
The moment Victor Frankenstein successfully infuses life into his creation he is overcome with horror and disgust. Without further examination he is certain to have created a monster, not a human being (Shelley 35-36). However, despite his grotesque appearance, Frankenstein’s creature was not born malicious. During the first stages of his existence, unbeknownst to Frankenstein himself, his acts are motivated by innocence and virtue, which even earns him the title “good spirit” (79). Frankenstein did not create a monster.
Frankenstein even admit to his refusal of support simply because of the appearance the creature has. Not only is it Frankenstein’s fault that the creature has the appearance of a “monster”, he is also guilty of leaving the creature to its own devices without any guidance. Without the guidance of a creator, it is quite possible to end up misguided and
Victor Frankenstein’s main goal in creating the monster was to be one of the “benefactors of our species” (37) even though “M. Krempe was not equally docile… [and] almost insupportable sensitiveness” (44). When Dr. Frankenstein’s professor and friend told him that his actions were absurd and completely unsupportable, Dr. Frankenstein still created his creature of fortune. Also, Victor Frankenstein is compulsive with creating the monster that he eventually shut himself out from his friends, family, and even fiancé. In Victor Frankenstein’s aim at being the “benefactor of our species” (37), after the monster was created he came to the abrupt and urgent conclusion that “It was dreary…
Have you ever been held responsible for the tragedies caused to others? For most the answer is no, however, for some, their actions have led to the misfortune of guiltless lives. In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, because of the absence of attention and teaching, the reanimated creation Frankenstein is unstable; Victor Frankenstein is who to blame. Two events that he should be accountable for are not training his creation to know right from wrong and abounding the monster which led to the murder of innocent people. Firstly, Shelley uses conflict of “human” versus nature to demonstrate the major idea that Victor Frankenstein is responsible for the loss of innocent lives.
This much is true for Victor’s failure to take responsibility for not only teaching his creation about life but also failure to take responsibility for the actions of his creation. “Frankenstein! You belong then to my enemy… you shall be my first victim” (153). Victor’s knows that he is responsible for the death of William because he abandoned his creation and made the monster learn the hard way that he would not be accepted into society. But he has no choice but to let Justine take the fall for the death of his brother because he fears being seen as a madman.
However, upon realizing had created an abomination as he finished, he flees, “…now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 35). After a long and grueling process, Frankenstein regarded the creature as horrid, malicious, heartless, inhuman, and uncouth – simply, a monster. He wanted to create life so bad that it became an obsession for him as he would go to any extreme to reach his goal.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Critical Analysis About the author Naomi Hetherington is a member of the University of Sheffield, the department of lifelong learning. She is an early researcher in sexuality, religious culture, the 19th-century literature, and gender. She holds a BA in Theology and religious studies, an MA and a Ph.D. in Victorian Literature. She currently teaches four-year pathway literature degree at Sheffield University for students who have already attained foundation degrees. Among the books, she has written the critique of Frankenstein.