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Frankenstein: ‘Good vs Evil’
Do we actually know the sole dividing line between good and evil? How do we define both forces? In today’s society or even past societies, it always seems like everyone has got it all figured out. Well, if we actually look at the concepts of accepted modern psychology studies, we will find that good and evil are obviously extremely arbitrary and subjective; as it turns out, people have set pre-determined points for themselves based on observations they get while developing said feelings towards what is good and what is bad. These strange dividing lines that everyone appears to inherently possess are called morals. These morals are the basis of the story between Victor Frankenstein and his Creature in Mary Shelley’s
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Victor begins his life as a relatively privileged child with very little experience of hardship which sets him up to be somewhat of an unrelatable character as most of what could have been detailed as a hardship was left out of the overall summary of his childhood, so either it was irrelevant or forgotten. When the reader is putting perspective on Victor’s encounters with the Creature, they usually use details from how the narrator (if first person like Frankenstein) reacted to form their own opinion about the situation. Victor, being as emotional as he is, makes this tough as there are possibilities for over dramatization, adding in the speculation that the situations that Victor encounters are maybe not as bad as they were made to be. This in essence, “sets up” Victor to be the “bad guy” of the story with his actions being comparable to that of an abusive parent and their child. The main relatable point to draw for the reader is not necessarily about Victor himself but rather the relationship between him and the Creature. This causes the reader to view all of Victor’s actions/feelings towards the Creature in this way when the relationship is clearly under different circumstances and therefore appears to dehumanize Victor as a result. This prevents Victor from being seen as normal to the reader so we view his actions different to those of a normal person in the same circumstance. This convinces the reader that Victor is more of just a pawn who fits in the role of driving the story forward and almost functioning as a “part-time
His mother's love was shown throughout the beginning of the book so much more than his fathers was. Together the two parents loved him so much it helped him grow and this is why his childhood was so phenomenal. When Victor was sent off to Ingolstadt, he had no real idea of what it was like to be an adult. He was taken care of so well by his mother that once she was away from her parents, her father being at home and his mother being dead, he was not sure what was right and wrong. Victor's curiosity for knowledge is what led him to be a man of science and this is why he came up with the idea to experiment and create a human being from death. Without thinking of the results that were to come, Victor's ambition to become godlike pushed him to finish his project. The end result terrified Victor so badly that even he left him alone. To start, he left him alone in his apartment and when he returned, the monster was gone. “I could hardly believe that that so great a good fortune could have befallen me, but when I became assured that my enemy had indeed fled, I clapped my hands for joy and ran down to Clerval.” (Shelley 61) This is the first time that Victor does not care for his monster properly. After all of the care that Victor received from his mother, readers would think that Victor would grow up to be just like his parents and be so kind and gentle. Victor is unable to take responsibility of the monster that he created. Victor is prejudiced by the appearance of the monster which leads him to run away from his
His actions after this point are those. of an evil being, one that is damned. The monsters crimes affect Victor's family and therefore punish Victor. This punishment haunts him through the rest of the novel. Victor is weak and it is only near the end of the novel that he attempts to face his creature and destroy it to restore nature.
If Victor had stayed around and showed the monster the real world, he might have not have went on to perform violent actions. This portrays Victor as a selfish character and gives more of an insight on his personal life. As a child, Victor is only interested in furthering his own knowledge and not worried about anyone else. He spent much of his time “drawing the picture of [his] early days... when [he] would account to [himself] for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled [his] destiny” (Shelley 34), or otherwise a magnificent creation that would change his future. When constructing the Monster, he put all of his relatives in the back of his mind, and only focused on his own success and victory. This further explains the theme of being selfless and only doing certain things that will benefit
A timeless question that continues to stump psychologists. Are humans born good? Do we learn evil traits or are they imprinted into mind as we come into the world. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, written in the early 1800’s, this same question comes into play. Shelley presents two completely different beings, one brought up with a family in a happy setting, the other in solitude hated by everyone. Both human in nature brought up completely different. Frankenstein and the Monster show traits of both good and evil, however, they are both born good.
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
The confrontation between the two demonstrates Victor 's weaknesses as an individual. Although Victor is the Creature 's creator, he refers to his creation as an "abhorred monster" (Shelley 68) and is willing to "extinguish the spark which he so negligently bestowed" (Shelley 68) upon him. This demonstrates Victor 's lack of responsibility. His goal was to create life, essentially to play God. Once the monster began to murder those dearest to Victor, he failed to take responsibility for the creature 's actions. Another weakness in Victor 's character is revealed through the dialogue exchanged between creator and creation. Instead of calmly trying to reason with the Creature, Victor lashes back at the Creature. He even suggests that the two "try their strength in a fight in which one must fall." (Shelley 69) The monster, however, maturely and eloquently urges Victor 's "compassion to be moved" (Shelley69). Because Victor is full of "rage and horror" he wants to destroy his own creation even though victor is playing god in recreation of humanity. They both are to blame due to the fact that Victor created the creature as well as the signs of irresponsibility between the two for the Creature killing people and for Victor trying to recreate
Furthermore, Victor had a vision to create life out of death but didn’t fully comprehend his outcome then when the results came in then it was too late to destroy the atrocity he has made, he ran away from his creation and hid under his blanket as a victim instead of the criminal. In fact, Victor should’ve made it his main duty to take the responsibility as the creator of a benevolent being, but he ostracized his own creation and ran away like he had done to many of his problems throughout the story. Instead, Victor claimed himself a victim and personified the creature as a manipulative, murderous monster that was in evil entity and had a soul black as the vast night. For example, Victor mentioned to Captain Walton near the end of the story that the monster needed to be stopped and his actions will cause chaos in the world of man if Walton were to step down from Victor’s request to eliminate the monster before he were to murder again. Yet, the monster was in a constant circle of injustice from his own creator, Victor Frankenstein, from being abandoned to being characterized as a villain without being given the voice and care he needed to in order to change his path of violence into the generosity of a cordial
Victor’s lack of compassion and sympathy towards the monster causes him to become angry instead of guilty. His cruelness to his creation made the monster kill and hurt the people he did but “when [he] reflected on [the monster’s] crimes and malice, [Victor’s] hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation,”(Shelley 325). Without compassion Victor thinks that the only way to stop the monster is to get revenge on him, instead of just giving him the empathy and kindness that monster craved. Victor realizes that "if he were vanquished, [he] should be a free man...balanced by those horrors of remorse and guilt which would pursue [him] until death. ”(Shelley 731).
Victor wants to be away from society and do his own thing, while the Creature wants to be accepted by society, but isn’t. While thinking about the cottagers the Creature is watching, the Creature states, “I asked, it is true, for greater treasures than a little food or rest; I required kindness and sympathy”(112). All of the Creature’s desires are the aspects of life which Victor takes for granted. Victor is egotistical, and is not thinking about the consequences of his actions. The Creature, on the other hand, wants to be kind, caring, and respectful, and has few needs other than being accepted by someone. Victor takes his “acceptance” in society for granted even though his actions aren’t acceptable for society. Another foil is the DeLacy family, who care about each other, live together, and suffer together and the Frankenstein family, who are spread out, not connected with each other, and all suffer individually. As summer turns to fall, the Creature observes that “[The DeLacy family] loved and sympathized with one another; and their joys, depending on each other, were not interrupted by the casualties that took place around them”(112). Even though the DeLacy family is poor, the story emphasizes their ability to stay happy in bad situations because they get through
Although the Creature later went on to commit crimes, he was not instinctively bad. Victor’s Creature was brought into this world with a child-like innocence. He was abandoned at birth and left to learn about life on his own. After first seeing his creation, Victor “escaped and rushed downstairs.” (Frankenstein, 59) A Creator has the duty to teach his Creature about life, as well as to love and nurture him. However, Victor did not do any of these; he did not take responsibility for his creature. One of the first things that the creature speaks of is that he was a “poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, (he) sat ...
Victor, at first sight of the Creature, abandons and leaves him to survive on his own. This is insignificant to the creature at the time, but later causes the Creature to have bitter feelings towards Victor. After the Creature discovers Victor’s notes, he becomes enraged, and incriminates Victor for the victimization that he faces; hence accusing him as a perpetrator of cruelty. Through the accusation of Victor one can see that the Creature believes that Victor should be held responsible, and owes the Creature a favor. Additionally, Victor double-crosses the Creature after obliging to create a mate for the Creature. These actions of betrayal demonstrate how Victor is a perpetrator of cruelty and how the Creature is his victim. Victor’s unintentional cruelty reveals how he only wanted what was best for himself and human kind. Victor’s betrayal is seen as an action of cruelty by the Creature, and consequently delivers the final blow that instigates the retaliation of the
The monster does not resemble Victor physically; instead, they share the same personalities. For example, Victor and the monster are both loving beings. Both of them want to help others and want what is best for others. Victor and the monster try to help the people that surround them. Victor tries to console his family at their losses, and the monster assists the people living in the cottage by performing helpful tasks. However, Victor and the monster do not reflect loving people. The evil that evolves in Victor’s heart is also present in the monster.
This presents Victor showing unfair judgement towards the creature that he made “There can be no community between you and me; we are enemies” (55). This is unfair to the creature because he was born against his will and already Victor claiming to the creature that he has no community; a home. This is also unjust because Victor shows his hatred towards his creation that they are enemies before even giving the creature a chance to show himself and show who he really is and can be. Victor and his poor character towards his family and close friends make him more monster than the creature he had created “I could cope with the sullen despair that overwhelmed me: but the whirlwind passions of my soul drove me to suddenly leave” (51). With his family having hardship during this time and Victor knowing that and knows he needs to be there decides to chase his passion and leave without giving much thought. Victor knowing that his family problems and hardship are happening because of him doesn’t tell them what’s going on or what's happening in his current situation leaving them with no answers. This makes Victor a bigger monster because of his poor character he has towards his family and his poor statements towards the creature, a being that he
Victor has a lack of respect for the natural world that leads him on the path to becoming a monster. In creating the monster Victor is trying to change the natural world. He is trying to play the role of god by creating life.
The lines that define good and evil are not written in black and white; these lines tend to blur allowing good and evil to intermingle with each another in a single human being.