Throughout Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein pursues, with a passion lacking in other aspects of his life, his individual quest for knowledge and glory. He accepts the friendships and affections given him without reciprocating. The "creature," on the other hand, seems willing to return affections, bringing wood and clearing snow for the DeLaceys and desiring the love of others, but is unable to form human attachments. Neither the creature nor Victor fully understands the complex relationships between people and the expectations and responsibilities that accompany any relationship. The two "monsters" in this book, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, are the only characters without strong family ties; the creature because Frankenstein runs from him, and Victor because he runs from his family. In Elizabeth’s letter to Victor in Volume 3, Chapter 5, she makes it clear that she really feels a genuine love for Victor, but feels that he does not return that love. She confesses to Victor that: "I love you and that in my airy dreams of futurity you have been my constant friend and companion" (130). She is the only character in the novel who actually states that she loves another person. For all of the other characters there is only affection and friendship. In this letter, Elizabeth becomes the only person to transcend the bounds of familial affection. The theme of familial affection is an important one throughout Frankenstein, for apart from the master/slave dynamic, it is the relationship that most of the characters are involved in. This affection rarely transcends the boundary into love, however, that passion is reserved for science and the pursuit of knowledge. The only times Victor Frankenstein speaks... ... middle of paper ... ...hat he harbors no resentment against him who condemned him to a life of misery. This a far cry from Victor’s dying plea for Walton to carry out the death of the creature. The fact that Frankenstein’s creation turns on him and murders innocent people is never overlooked; it has been the subject of virtually every popularization of the novel. What is not often acknowledged is the fact that Frankenstein himself embodies some of the worst traits of humankind. He is self-centered, with little real love for those who care about him; he is prejudiced, inflexible and cannot forgive, even in death. While some of these traits could be forgivable, to own and flaunt them all should be enough to remind a careful reader that there are two "monsters" in Frankenstein. Works Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Ed. Paul J. Hunter. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1996.
bell hooks’s essay, "Keeping Close to Home", uses three important components of argument (ethos, pathos, and logos) to support her claim. hooks develops her essay by establishing credibility with her audience, appealing to the reader’s logic, and stirring their emotions. She questions the role a university should play in the life of a nation, claiming that higher education should not tear a student away from his roots, but help him to build an education upon his background.
Bell Hooks is of the point that the young people in the society need to be taught about the
The intended audience of the article is high school teachers and other influential school leaders, including superintendents. Francine Prose wants to make an impact on the lives of high schoolers by inspiring high school employees to better the reading lists for English classes. Prose is also targeting the readers of Harper’s magazine, where this article was originally published. In targeting both of these groups, Prose’s message can be effectively relayed. The main topic of this essay is written so that teachers and students will benefit from reading it, and can also be inspired to change their novel choices and attitudes toward English classes. Since students usually have no problem expressing their minds on certain issues, targeting them
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.
The target audience is two sections of the Advanced Placement English Class. There are approximately 24 students in each class. These students are in their final year of high school at St. Pius X Catholic High School. The classes are coed, ranging in ages between 17-18 years old. The...
An idea becomes a vision, the vision develops a plan, and this plan becomes an ambition. Unfortunately for Victor Frankenstein, his ambitions and accomplishments drowned him in sorrow from the result of many unfortunate events. These events caused Victors family and his creation to suffer. Rejection and isolation are two of the most vital themes in which many dreadful consequences derive from. Victor isolates himself from his family, friends, and meant-to-be wife. His ambitions are what isolate him and brought to life a creature whose suffering was unfairly conveyed into his life. The creature is isolated by everyone including his creator. He had no choice, unlike Victor. Finally, as the story starts to change, the creature begins to take control of the situation. It is now Victor being isolated by the creature as a form of revenge. All the events and misfortunes encountered in Frankenstein have been linked to one another as a chain of actions and reactions. Of course the first action and link in the chain is started by Victor Frankenstein.
Victor Frankenstein: The Real Monster. & nbsp; Science is a broad field that covers many aspects of everyday life and existence. Some areas of science include the study of the universe, the environment, dinosaurs, animals, and insects. Another popular science is the study of people and how they function. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Victor Frankenstein is an inspiring scientist who studies the dead. He wants to be the first person to give life to a dead human being. He spends all of his Frankenstein is to blame for the tragedy, not the monster he has created, because he is the mastermind behind the whole operation, and he is supposed to have everything under control, working properly as a good scientist should. & nbsp; Although some critics say that the monster Victor has created is to blame for the destruction and violence that followed 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.  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 & nbsp; I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. (156) & nbsp; Victor is saying that he has isolated himself for two years and in the end, he is not at all happy because of the bad outcome. He also adds, "Winter, spring and summer passed.so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation" (156). By spending most of his time inside on his experiment, never going out, but mostly worrying about his success, he has got himself crazier. This has made him lose sight of his surroundings and judgment & nbsp; Moreover, the monster should not be held responsible for killing Victor's family members and friends as shown in the book and movie, because it is Victor who has brought a dead creature back to life. He expects the monster to know everything when he wakes up cool, calm, and collected. But when the monster is awakened, he does not know anything. He sees a world different from what he is used to, which makes him get nervous and scared, so he&nb has removed him from dead. With the dawning of life, the monster has to learn about his new environment. In the play of Frankenstein, the monster starts to gradually get used to things. The problems he encounters are with Victor's assistant, Peter Krempe, Victor's friend, Henry, and other family members, including Elizabeth, and these are reactions to how these people treat him. These reactions are clearly shown in the movie of Young Frankenstein, where Victor tries to teach the monster how to live like to show off the monster to an audience in a dance routine of sorts. But then people start to scream, panic and throw things at the monster, so he reacts by attacking them to defend himself. In this case, it is clear that Victor tries to push the monster too hard because he wants to be famous.
Monsters can come in various physical forms, but all monsters share the same evil mentality. A Monster is a being that harms and puts fear within people. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of how appearance does not determine whether a creature is a monster or not. In the story, Victor Frankenstein tries to change nature by creating a super human being. The being appears to be a monster. Victor becomes so obsessed with his creation and then rejects it. Victor is the real monster because of his desire for power, lack of respect for nature, and his stubbornness.
Victor Frankenstein, one of the novel?s round characters, may be described as a creative, knowledgeable, and reserved man in his middle ages. The novel is unique in that Victor Frankenstein is both the protagonist and antagonist, consequentially creating a conflict of man versus himself. W...
...most readers tend to sympathize with Frankenstein because of the way in which he is mentally and physically harmed by his creation. However, one must also realize that while Frankenstein is a victim in the novel, he also exhibits features that make him a monster. These monstrous qualities, however, stem from his passion for science and his desire to create life. Not only does the reader criticize and pity Frankenstein, but the reader also empathizes with Frankenstein’s creation. He was unjustly shunned by society because of his physical appearance. On the other hand, the reader realizes that like Frankenstein, the creation can not be sympathized with entirely. He too exhibits traits that make him appear villainous. It is the duality of these two characters that make Frankenstein and his creation two of the most appealing characters of the nineteenth century.
Victor himself is the most biased out of the three narrators based on the pure hatred he holds for the monster. Constantly, he is describing the monster in vivid detail of its grotesque nature, drawing light to its indescribable obscene features. One can only question whether or not he is exaggerating the atrocity of the monster with his own extreme disdain for the creature. “He approached; his countenance bespoke bitter anguish, combined with disdain and malignity, while its une...
In many novels the hero and the villain are very easy to identify, but in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley these two identities are not so clear and is left up to the audience to decide. Could it be possible to argue since Victor Frankenstein has be the creator of a murderer of so many people, that he is the “bad guy” of the story. But what readers must consider is what made this creation turn into a monster. The Creature did not turn violent until his creator left him to face the world alone with no guidance, knowledge, or anything at all. Frankenstein wanted to play God so bad he ignored any possibility that things could go incredibly wrong. After
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press, 1999.
Personality wise, most people would say I’m annoying, loud, and rude. Strangers would describe me as quiet and shy.
Values can be defined as “a belief about what ought to be, what ought not to be, what is right, or what is wrong” (Chelladurai, 2006). I believe that values ground people and provide the framework for all decisions they make. I have four core values that I use to carry me through life every day and they are faith, family, honesty and passion. Faith is my number one value because I choose to walk by faith every day. To me that means staying strong in my relationship with God and making sure that all decisions I make are pleasing in his eyes. My second value is family. This is not limited to just my immediate or blood-related family. In every decision I make, I ask myself before or after whether it will or whether it did have a negative or positive impact on my family. With my immediate family I ask myself, “Would I be okay with telling Mom this?” I considered my volleyball teammates as family, so every decision I made in college I would consider the impact that it could have on my team as a whole. My third value is honesty. I always want to be honest with myself, honest with those around me and I expect the same from others. I believe that with honesty it is easier to build trust, loyalty and respect all around. The final core value in my life is passion. Without passion for the things one does, they will be just that “things.” I wa...