Frankenstein
Would a loving family really have prevented tragedy? When a baby is born, he or she comes into the world innocent. With no reason, no experience and no emotion but love, the baby knows nothing. He or she does not know right from wrong or simple knowledge. In order to grow and learn, babies must take after their surroundings. In many cases, a good family means a good child. This is not always the case, though, considering many criminals have come from good families. The creature in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein can also be perceived as a newborn baby. Made out of random body parts from different graveyards, the creature is closely related to a new born baby. The creature was neglected by Victor, causing the creature to miss out on any sort of nurture or care from another life source. Did this cause his outrage, or was it his own fault?
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His ugly features made it hard for people to see him as anything more than a creature. This fueled his outrage and motivated him to destroy all who posed a threat. This shows that the creature was at fault, since he chose to act like this. Although Victor set him up for failure, the creature had the ability to turn the failure into success. With a family, bad or good, the creature would have responded the same way. He allowed other people to influence his decisons and later motivate him to destroy all who were acquianted with his creator,
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
Victor is not able to see past the metaphorical clouds that seem to shroud his mind from seeing the truth. Furthermore, Victor is not able to let go of his hatred for the creature. In contrast, the creature admits, “But it is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless” (275). The creature is able to recognize that he has made mistakes and as a result, he loathes himself.
The article “Moral Ignorance and Blameworthiness” states “There are less easily explained cases of ignorant wrongdoers: apparently ordinary people who knowingly cause suffering in pursuit of power or profit” (Mason). No one in their right mind would ever think that it is socially acceptable to create this creature, neglect it to the point where it runs away, and then not take responsibility for the actions of the creature that he created. There is a complete disconnect between Victor and the society that he lives in. For example, the reason that Victor neglects his creature is the fact that it is physically ugly.
Frankenstein does not want anyone to think that he is anything less than perfect, so he decides the best action is to leave the creature completely; however, this has some negative effects, especially to the creature. Frankenstein leaving the creature makes the creature develop Abandoned Child Syndrome. According to the author of “Understanding the Physical and Psychological Impacts of Abandonment to a Child,” Abandoned Child Syndrome is “a type of psychological condition on children that stems from either an abusive household or loss (or absence) of one of both parents.” It can be said that Frankenstein is the father of the creature since he made the creature, so since one of the creature’s parents left, the creature had to learn the way that the world works on his own. Claudia Black, author of the article “Understanding the Pain of Abandonment,” says that children depend on their parents to provide a safe environment for children to grow, and that when the parents do not provide that environment for their children, the children can grow up believing that the world is an unsafe place, that people can not be trusted, and that they do not deserve approval and comfort. The creature exhibits all of these symptoms and emotions. After the creature saves a little girl from drowning, he is attacked by her father and wounded. “This was the reward for my benevolence! [...] Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind” (Shelley 135). After being betrayed multiple times by humanity and the people that he felt like he was close to, the creature is tired of being deserted and attacked for just being himself, so he decides not to trust humanity anymore and to do things that make him succeed, even if those actions hurt the people around him. The creature was never taught how to deal with these emotions or how to deal with
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
As a romantic, archetype and gothic novel, Victor is responsible for the monsters actions because Victor abandons his creation meaning the creature is dejected and ends up hideous and fiendish. It is unfair to create someone into this world and then just abandon it and not teach it how to survive. The quote from the creature “Why did you make such a hideous creature like me just to leave me in disgust” demonstrates how much agony the creature is in. He is neglected because of his creator. The monster says “The hateful day when I received life! I accurse my creator. Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?” Victor is wholly at fault for his actions, image and evil.
The fact the creature refers to a Biblical story teaches us that what Victor has done is not ethical or morally right as the bible connotes truth and wellbeing, the creature feels he is not treated as Adam because he is rejected like the fallen angel is from heaven; the philosophy is that one should absolve themselves of all sin, leaving the creature feeling like his is owed something from Victor. Furthermore during the romantic period it was said that ‘All man is born good’ however this contradicts the creatures life as he is sinned against, hated by Victor and feared by society from the day he was created although he did no wrong. The creature is given no chance in life like Adam was; he is simply a creation who is isolated fr...
Frankenstein, a play adaption done by Colony High School, was directed by Mr. Brian Mead, a language art, drama, journalism, and digital communications teacher. The genre of this play was more horror and romance than anything else. I attended with my friend and my father November 16, 2013. It all starts when Victor Frankenstein becomes fascinated with electricity and convinces himself that he can recreate life. He has two men gather a recently dead body to bring back to him. Along the way, it is revealed that Victor is to be married soon to his love, Elizabeth. Once the men have delivered the corpse to Victor, he wastes hardly any time. Victor brings Henry to his lab to assist him in bringing the dead back to life. After moments of waiting and preparations with electricity had been made, nothing happened. Victor gave up on his idea, with Henry’s convincing, and left. While he is gone, the corpse is stricken by lightning, making it come to life. When Victor comes back, he sees his creation and is more than excited. He examines the now breathing corpse carefully and talks with Henry, who gives caution to Victor from the side, about ideas and ways to experiment. The corpse lashes out once Henry brings light close to him and ends up falling out the window, never to be seen by Victor or Henry for many weeks after. The corpse, who I will now call Frankenstein, finds an old blind woman named Delacy. Since she is blind, she finds no terror or shock when she talks with him and instead treats him like he is a regular person. She gives him food and warmth from a blanket and even teaches him a few words. There is a small time skip and when it is brought back, Delacy has taught Frankenstein to read, talk, and understand more things than he did...
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 ...
...society rejected; some may argue it was simply the creature’s bad decisions. The argument is that the decision to kill William and to blame the murder on Justine is an idea that never came from Victor and was the entire creature’s idea. This argument is invalid because Victor created the creature in his perception of “beautiful” during a time when he had secluded himself from society (60). After the creature introduces himself to de Lacy, the creature is expelled from the house due to his scary countenance. The reason that he killed William was because the creature had claimed “war against the species” because Victor had put him into “insupportable misery” (122). The reason that the creature made the bad decisions is because the creature was created as an ugly creature by Victor and was subsequently therefore rejected by society.
The creature seeks revenge for the misdeeds committed against him, but also feels immense remorse for the things he has done. This revenge seems monstrous because it is committed by someone “hideous.” If it was committed by any other human in the book, it would be viewed differently. It is a very human thing to seek revenge for being wronged. Often, humans commit acts against their own kind for lesser reasons and with less provocation than the creature. In some instances, like the case of Victor’s brother, William, the creature did not mean to harm him, he did not know his own
In gothic novels tragic figures are symbols of pain to the characters. Victor Frankenstein brings misfortune to his loved ones, which concludes to his overall tragedy. Ironically the monster in this novel is Frankenstein the creator not the creature. He has seven victims including himself and his fall is due to his ambition to be superior.
Tragedy shows no discrimination and often strikes down on those undeserving of such turmoil. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature more repulsive than one can imagine is brought to life by a young scientist. Although this creature is horrifying in sight, he is gentle by nature. Unfortunately, the softer side of the creature is repeatedly overlooked and the so called “monster” is driven to a breaking point. Even though the Creature committed many crimes, Mary Shelley’s Creature was the tragic hero of this story because of his efforts rescue the life of a young girl and helping destitute cottagers.
A predominant theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is that of child-rearing and/or parenting techniques. Specifically, the novel presents a theory concerning the negative impact on children from the absence of nurturing and motherly love. To demonstrate this theory, Shelly focuses on Victor Frankenstein’s experimenting with nature, which results in the life of his creature, or “child”. Because Frankenstein is displeased with the appearance of his offspring, he abandons him and disclaims all of his “parental” responsibility. Frankenstein’s poor “mothering” and abandonment of his “child” leads to the creation’s inevitable evilness. Victor was not predestined to failure, nor was his creation innately depraved. Rather, it was Victor’s poor “parenting” of his progeny that lead to his creation’s thirst for vindication of his unjust life, in turn leading to the ruin of Victor’s life.
In conclusion, Victor Frankenstein is to blame for the actions of the creature, which was brought about by its rejection. Victor became obsessive in his work, but when his creation was complete he fully rejected it causing the creature to lead a life of solitude. The monster also attempts to seek acceptance from society and fails. The creature, also aware that it has been rejected by Victor, pursues a life of revenge killing those dear to him. Hence, if Victor would have never abandoned his creation the multiple deaths of the innocent could have been prevented.