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The Flaw of the Justice System
In Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus written by Mary Shelley, the justice system demonstrates its fundamental flaws and biases. These flaws lead to deleterious consequences for women and those without power. For example, Justine, an innocent woman, finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, goes to trial for the murder of William. She attempts to prove her innocence by giving an explanation for that night, and tries to prove her character, but the jury and the public both have a preconceived notion of her guilt and her attempts fail. Justine, proved culpable, goes to jail. While there, her confessor consistently berates her and orders her to admit her false guilt. In contrast, when Victor falls
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After hearing about her confession, Victor and Elizabeth visit her in jail. They find her “sitting on some straw at the further end; her hands were manacles, and her head rested on her knees” (57). Victor and Elizabeth question Justine, wondering why she would admit to something she did not do. She responds by confessing, “ever since I was condemned, my confessor has besieged me; he threatened and menaced, until I almost began to think that I was the monster that he said I was. He threatened excommunication and hell fire in my last moments, if I continued obdurate” (58). Justine’s confessor, a religious figure, spreads toxic messages into her mind, and berates, insults, and menaces her, calling her a monster. Justine has no power in this situation because her confessor is a man with religious power, and she is a poor, uneducated young woman. Additionally, this demonstrates the horrendous and disturbing conditions that Justine has to spend her time in while her confessor abuses her. In these moments, Justine feels alone. She immediately regrets her confession, proven when she reflects that she “confessed, that [she] might obtain absolution; but now that falsehood lies heavier at [her] heart than all other sins” (58). Even with her confessor promising heaven after her death, she knows she did the wrong thing. She recalls in anguish, “All looked on me as a wretch doomed to ignominy and perdition. What could I do? In an …show more content…
Victor works to escalate the dehumanization of women by executing an experiment that leads to a creature of the male gender, and none of the female gender (361). While the possibility that Victor consciously attempts to see everything through a strictly masculine lens has no proof anywhere in the novel, Mellor’s point that Victor’s refusal to create a woman creature escalates the dehumanization of women has some validity. When Victor starts to create a female creature, he reconsiders the possibility that “she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness” (Shelly 118). Victor reconsiders his decision to create a female being. He worries that a female creature would be more vicious and evil than the original creature. She may murder more people and do more harm. This demonstrates how Victor, and more people of the time think that women inherently have evil and murderous characteristics. Victor does not give a female creature a chance, similar to how the justice system didn’t give Justine a chance because of her femininity and lack of power. Victor and the juries should keep a more open mind when considering the characteristics of
He wasn't always this angry. He did so some good or tried to, but people didn't look at it that way. They just thought he was a monster by the way he looked. The creature states "I look upon crime as a distance of evil, benevolence and generosity were ever present before me. (101)" he really wanted to be good. When he burned that families house down it was out of anger. He seen the way they interacted with each other and wanted the same. He wanted a family, so he can he happy like everyone else. So, when he told Victor to create female creature for him. I think that was a good idea. He would have someone to love and to care for him. He wouldn't have felt as much as an outsider and he wouldn't be so lonely. Then they probably would have had kids, so they would have had the family he wanted from the beginning. When Victor killed the female creature, I think he was wrong because there could have been a way better way he could have dealt with that situation. I feel as if Victor's actions were different then the creature's actions would have been different the creature's actions would have been
In the novel ‘Frankenstein’ the creature is presented through many narrative voices, it is through Victor's narrative that we see the Creature as a 'wretch', 'daemon' and a 'fiend'. Mary Shelley chooses to present the creature as a ‘fiend’ due to circumstance beyond the creature’s control
Justine, too, is an ‘idealised figure’, described during the trial as having a countenance which, ‘always engaging, was rendered, by the solemnity of her feelings, exquisitely beautiful.’ She is the archetypal innocent, being beautiful, weak and entirely accepting of her fate to the point of martyrdom.
but Victor thought to himself and says “I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, torn to pieces the thing on which I was engaged.” (Shelley 124 )Victor making the decision to not make another made the creature furious but Victor had his reasons like what if the creatures create more what if he doesn’t leave him alone just what ifs. He worries about making another creature because he wonders if the female would be as bad as the creature he first created. Victor does not make the second creature and tore it apart. Abandoning the creature caused him to learn for himself.
Since the fall of Adam, humanity has always been keenly aware of the existence of good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice. Any person who has been betrayed or abused has felt the weight of injustice. Anyone who has been mistreated has experienced the desire for vengeance. However, opinions begin to differ when defining the boundaries of justified revenge. Varying perceptions prevents humans from viewing and validating the motives of others. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, the two main characters were driven to madness by their desire for revenge against each other. In the book, Victor Frankenstein and his creature both relayed the same story; however their individual perspectives drastically shift the roles of the perpetrator and the victim. Mary Shelly’s brilliant juxtaposition between the Creature and his Creator demonstrated the relativity of justified revenge.
Victor is so engulfed by his work that he is unaware of what is going on around him. He “bore onwards [with his work], like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success” and he wants to “pour a torrent of light into our dark world" (Shelley 55). Blinded by his yearning for making new discoveries, Victor thinks that his knowledge of the sciences will be enough for him to be successful. However, he does not understand that in order to create an auspicious relationship between him and his creation, he needs to have knowledge of society as well. Once his creation is animated, Victor is unable to see that all the creature wants is to be loved and accepted. The creature craves the maternal love that Victor denies him. From the beginning, Victor is unable to realize the significance of his creation. He describes how the creature’s “yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath... [and] his hair was of a lustrous black... [and] his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips” (Shelley 58). He immediately focuses on the negative features of his creation, and does not even attempt to learn the positive qualities. If Victor uses more social skills, rather than his knowledge of the sciences to manage his creation, all of the destruction the creation causes could have been
This novel supports Shelley’s thought about society’s attitude toward female authors and how they were considered inferior. She demonstrates how female authors are shunned by society, just like the creature is shunned. The creature embodies the feminist ideals Shelley weaves into the novel and highlights societies unfair treatment of women. In some ways Shelley identifies with Victor because both of their creations were not what they expected them to be and were worried about the criticism they would receive for it. They both hid their creations for a while, Shelley did not immediately claim the novel and Frankenstein did not claim his experiment
One of the most tragic events in the novel is when William is murdered, this is a key point in the novel as it is where Frankenstein falls way out of his depth, before this point Frankenstein could put things right but now he can only improve the already very tragic situation. From whichever way you look at it Frankenstein has a responsibility to be honest with his family. Yet Shelley chooses to make the character more to blame and in some ways more interesting by him holding the truth away from his family. He has a personal and social responsibility to admit at least some fault in Williams's death, consequently saving Justine... ...
The novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is a work of fiction that breaks the ethics of science. Ethics is defined as rules of conduct or moral principles which are ignored in the story. The story is about a person named Victor Frankenstein who creates an artificial being. Victor abandons the being out of fear and the being is left to discover the outside world on his own and be rejected by people making the monster go on a violent rampage. Victor’s decision would affect him later on by the monster killing his loved ones causing Victor to suffer. Then Victor chooses to seek revenge on the monster and this choice will bring him to his death. In novel Frankenstein one might say that the main character, Victor, breaks the ethics of science when he plays God by creating his own being.
This demonstrates the creatures moral ambiguity because he first saves an innocent girls life, but then he kills an innocent boy just for vengeance. In addition, he threatens to kill Elizabeth if Victor doesn't create female monster for him. This event also shows the creatures moral ambiguity because he wants to a female companion as hideous as he is, so that he won't feel alone if the world but Victor did not create the female companion he became enraged and killed Elizabeth whom was going to be Victors
Victor’s cruel and hostile actions toward his creature demonstrate his monstrous characteristics. One example of Victor’s inhumane cruelty is when he decides to abandon his creature. When Victor realizes what he has created, he is appalled, and abandons his creature because he is “unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] had created” (42). This wretched action would be similar to a mother abandoning her own child. Victor’s ambition for renown only fuels his depravity; he brings new life into the world, only to abandon it. This act of abandonment accurately depicts Victor’s cruelty because it shows his disgust toward his own creation, as well as his lack of respect for life. An example of a hostile action is when Victor destroys the creature’s
The creature framed Justine for the murder of William, but it did not take much effort on his part. Other than the “several strange facts” (54) that were not in favor of Justine’s innocence, the court truly had no indication to mark Justine guilty. Victor states “The public indignation was turned with renewed violence, charging her with the blackest ingratitude.” (56) According to Victor, Justine was prosecuted because the community was restless and had a sense of violence, which they turned onto innocent Justine. Also, Justine was not of the higher class, but simply the servant of the Frankenstein’s. Thus, in the trial of Justine, Mary Shelley displays the defects of society’s judicial system and the discrimination against the lower
In the book, Frankenstein, there are many justice and injustice problems. Justice is the opposite of injustice, the way that injustice is unfairness or undeserved outcomes. I believe that the greatest injustice in the book is the creation of the monster. I believe the human kind should not have the right to even try to create life, they are not God. in someway, victor is taking away a major role in a woman's life, in how women are the only one the can “give life”, in the giving birth to a human being.
Victor Frankenstein is innocent. There is no doubt in my mind that Victor Frankenstein is innocent for the murder of Justine, Elizabeth, and William. They were in fact killed by a man named, “The Creature.” He in fact killed the two of them to get revenge on the man who created him. The Creature was angry that everyone thought that he was ugly, and hated to be around him. It all started when Dr. Henry Clerval told Victor Frankenstein not to make the Creature because he would be one that destroys everything. Victor then got Dr. Clerval’s Journal after he had died, and he started to make the Creature. Once the Creature was all assembles and born he was brought to life by Frankenstein. Frankenstein was then afraid of his own creation and fled the lab. The creature then got out and found some clothes and made his way to the country side where he then found his way to the little house in the woods where the De Lacey family lived.
In Mary Shelley’s novel there is a defined contrast between the characteristics and behaviors of Justine and Victor. For example, Justine’s actions during her unfair trial undoubtedly represent the quiet, menacing strength of women and highlights the insufficient masculinity of Victor. Justine, the wrongfully accused murderer of William Frankenstein,possesses unwavering courage which is illustrated when Shelley writes, “ The appearance of Justine was calm and she appeared confident in innocence and did not tremble”(64). This statement refutes the absurd interpretation of Shelley’s women characters as being feeble and weak. It superbly demon...