More handpicked essays just for you.
Frankenstein guilty or innocent
Essays on victor frankenstein being the villain
Essays on victor frankenstein being the villain
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Frankenstein guilty or innocent
If you were to do something bad, would you rather be punished yourself or your parents be punished for your actions? In Frankenstein we see that Victor Frankenstein creates a monster out of dead bodies. He is a very intelligent man and he is intrigued by the thought of being able to create life out of raw material, or dead body parts. When Victor Frankenstein's monster comes to life, Victor abandons it and neglects it. His monster feels man and unloved so he plans out how to kill Victor's younger brother. The monster stalks him and his family and finds the perfect time to kill William. After William is killed, Justine is accused of killing young William. Victor Frankenstein knows that this isn't true and he keeps quiet about the monster because he does not know the consequences of what might happen to him if people find out that the murderess monster was created by him. Some people may believe that Frankenstein is fully responsible for creating the monster, while others might believe that the monster was fully responsible for actually committing the murder himself; however, I be...
When a crime is committed, the blame is usually placed on the criminal. This is because a crime cannot take place without a criminal. However, a lawbreaker generally has reasons for his misdeed. For a crime to occur, a criminal must have incentive. Consequently, the causes of a wrongdoer’s motivation are also responsible for the offence. In addition, crimes can be avoided if the proper precautionary measures are taken. Therefore, anyone who could have stopped a crime from happening is partially accountable for it. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature created by Victor Frankenstein kills several of Victor’s loved ones. These murders could be blamed on the creature, but he is not solely responsible for them. The root cause of the murders is Victor’s secrecy. His concealment causes his obsession, a lack of preventative measures against the creature, and his fear of appearing to be mad.
He knows that he is responsible for it’s existence from the line, “a being whom [himself] had formed, and endued with life” (Shelley 60) but does not consider himself a factor when it comes to the deaths of William and Justine. At this point of the story Frankenstein mostly talks about how much he hates the monster instead of the possible danger his family is now put in, while he cannot help but feel guilty because the creature that he created has already killed two people he held dearly he still does not acknowledge his responsibility for the monster’s actions.
Social and Individual Responsibility in Frankenstein Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in a time of wonder. The main wonder was whether you could put life back into the dead. Close to the topic of bringing life back into the dead was whether you could create your own being, like selective breeding, but a bit more powerful. Close to where Mary lived, there was a man named Vultair who was experimenting with putting electricity through frogs to see if they could come back to life. With that going on close to her, as well as the fear of a revolution and the pressure on her to think of a ghost story, it is not surprising she thought of a horror story that would still be popular in the 21st Century.
Victor considers himself to be responsible for the murder of both William and Justine. On the night Victor returns to Geneva, he saw the frightening monster around where William had been murdered (50). Victor concluded that it was all his fault because if he hadn't of created the monster, his brother wouldn't of been killed. The monster framed Justine of murdering William by putting his picture of his mother in Justine's pocket (56). This made Justine look guilty and the court sentenced her to death because of it (60). At the end of chapter 8, Victor Frankenstein bestows the responsibilities of the deaths by directly saying this, "I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts" (60).
Dr. Frankenstein never thinks of the consequences of his acts while he creates the creature, so he is selfish and irresponsible. Before Dr. Frankenstein creates the creature, he admits he may not fully succeed, but he hopes to provide foundations of future success (43). It seems Dr. Frankenstein is a great scientist since he is willing to devote his failure to other people’s success. However, this is not the truth. This is only an excuse to continue his experiment. He actually tries to grasp every chance to become “god” which can be validated from his comments, “A new species who would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me” (43). In short, it is selfish that Dr. Frankenstein only thinks
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.
The story begins with and is enveloped by Walton’s letters to his sister. His sister is very close to him; as can be seen by the affection terms used for her and the comfort level that Walton has with her; terms such as “dear sister” and “my sister”. This relationship that Walton has with his sister is placed on the reader through his expressions and use of language.
The main plotline of Frankenstein involves the lives of two major characters, Victor Frankenstein and the Monster. Their relationship is a tumultuous one, mainly due to the fact that Frankenstein created the Monster out of a wish to be some sort of god and be able to play with the balance of life and death. Afterwards, he comes to deeply regret his action and abandons the Monster by throwing him out into the world without any education or guidance. Because of this, throughout the book, the Monster harbors resentment towards Frankenstein and dedicates his life to make Frankenstein’s a living hell. Out of the many horrible things that the Monster did to achieve this goal, the main evil action I will be focusing on is the murder of William, Frankenstein’s younger brother and the framing of his nanny for the murder.
He made the choice to create life without considering the possible outcome of the experiment. As soon as Victor’s finished, he says: “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”(Shelley 58). Frankenstein did not seek responsibility for the monster; instead he ran away from his responsibilities and neglected his own creature. Abandoned by his creator the monster learns how to survive on his own for a few months. One day, the monster comes upon little kids at recess, and sees a boy he thinks would be willing to be his companion. As the monster grabs for the boy, the boy shrieks with disgust and disappoints the monster. In this moment the monster finds out the boy happens to be a Frankenstein, William Frankenstein, and anger rages inside of the monster. The monster takes his hurt feelings of being neglected by Victor Frankenstein out on William. The monster strangles William to death. The monster’s actions of strangling William were due to Victor Frankenstein’s failure to take care of the monster. In result of Williams death, Justine Mortez, a loyal family friend of the Frankenstein’s, was convicted
From theft too murder, the monster was the cause of many horrible things. Although all the monsters actions can be led back to Victor Frankenstein, he was not the only one who felt to blame. The monsters first murder victim was William, as the monster rested in the woods he was approached by a young boy. “Hideous monster! Let me go. My papa is a syndic—he is M. Frankenstein—he will punish you.” (Chapter 16). The monster learns the boy is related to Victor Frankenstein, and kills William. William’s death affected two people Elizabeth and Victor. Elizabeth took responsibility for Williams’s death because she gave him the locket that was presumed to be the murders motive. Taking responsibility affected her so greatly she became physically ill. Victor took responsibility for William’s death because on his way back to Geneva, Victor saw the monster in the woods and realized the monster killed William. Victor took responsibility because he created the monster and abandoned him. Victor also became physically ill from taking responsibility for Williams’s death. Williams’s death was the cause of executions of Justine. Justine was executed for a crime the monster committed, Victor also took responsibility for this death because it to was caused by the monster he created. The monsters next murder victims were Henry and Elizabeth. Similar to the other murders Victor also took responsibility for
What are ethics? Ethics are the moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity, otherwise known as the branch that deals with moral principles. The book Frankenstein is relevant within today's ethics by the advancement of medical science. As cited from the book, Principles of Biomedical Ethics, there are four main principles of medical ethics, which are,”Respect for Autonomy, Beneficence, and Nonmaleficence and Justice”. These three of these principles are tested in Frankenstein in the way Victor obtains his materials for the creation of his monster, along with Victor not having the best interest for the creation of his monster, and lastly, no consideration good or bad that could come from this creation.
The readers’ sympathy is evoked towards Victor when The Monster murders a member of Victor’s family. The Monster murdered Victor’s youngest brother William, right before The Monster committed this act of injustice he said, “Frankenstein! You belong then to my enemy to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim.’ “The child struggled and loaded me with epithets which carried despair to my heart; I grasped his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet” (16). The monster murdering Victor’s younger brother William. This is an example of injustice because William is just an innocent child who has committed no offence towards the monster. This act of injustice causes readers’ have sympathy for Victor because his own creation killed his brother, this causes Victor to blame himself for his brother’s death. Additionally, Frankenstein is unjust towards Justine when he says, “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 to in convict her. My tale was not one to announce publicly; its astounding horror would be looked upon as madness by the vulgar” (7). Victor Frankenstein knows that Justine is not the person who killed William, yet he does not say this at the trial. This is an act of injustice towards Justine because Victor new the true killer but because he did not want to be thought of as a madman he did not speak at the trial, which resulted in Justine being convicted and executed. Victor must now deal with the anguish of believing that he is responsible for the death of both William and Justine. This causes readers to sympathise with Victor because he feel as though he is responsible for injustice towards Justine and William when The Monster is truly
The theme in a piece of literature is the main idea or insight on characters. Most pieces of literature do not limit itself to one but many other themes all collected into one. This is just like in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This horrifying story was produced in 1818 and has several themes that she portrays throughout. The theme of dangerous knowledge is unmistakably seen theme in Frankenstein. In Frankenstein we see this theme through three of the main characters, Victor Frankenstein, Robert Walton and the creature. We can see how their desire for knowledge can take them places and show them eventually what they are looking for. Sooner or later it will take them to dangerous and unwanted places. The desire for knowledge can eventually lead one to its grave. Victor Frankenstein’s scientific endeavor, Robert Walton’s search for the North Pole, and the creature’s kind heart but scary features creates this theme of dangerous knowledge.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley portrays an individual in a unique situation trying to overcome daily interactions while being faced with inconceivable misfortunes. Created by Victor Frankenstein, who set out on a journey to bring life to scrapped pieces of waste, he was then abandoned and left to fend for himself in a world he was abruptly brought into. After being abandoned by his creator for his less than appealing looks, this then sparked his inevitable desire for revenge. Eventually leading to the destruction of those associated with his creator. Knowing that he will never fit in, the monster began to act out in hopes of getting back at his creator for what he did. His vulnerability due to missing guidance and parental figures in his beginning stages of life contributed to his behavior. The books and article Family Crisis and Children’s Therapy Groups written by Gianetti, Audoin, and Uzé, Victim Of Romance: The Life And Death Of Fanny Godwin by Maurice Hindle, and Social Behavior and Personality by Lubomir Lamy, Jacques Fishcher-Lokou, and Nicolas Gueguen support why the monster acts the way he does. The monster’s behavior stems from Victor’s actions at the beginning of his life and therefore is not to blame. The creature in Frankenstein is deserving of sympathy even though he committed those murders because the lack of parental guidance, lack of family, and lack of someone to love led him to that. All in all his actions were not malicious, but only retaliation for what he had been put through.
Mary Shelley in her book Frankenstein addresses numerous themes relevant to the current trends in society during that period. However, the novel has received criticism from numerous authors. This paper discusses Walter Scott’s critical analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in his Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Review of Frankenstein (1818).