The story of a Monster and his creation
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you today an unfortunate case. One in which is based on the development of a monster. Now, what defines someone being a monster? Is it a gigantic stocky being whose appearance is offensive to the eye? The answer to this question is, no it is not. This judgment based off appearance, is a prejudice assumption and should not be taken into consideration in the case of Victor Frankenstein and his ‘creature’. What truly defines someone as a monster, is the character of his or her being. The truth about the creature in this case, is that he did make mistakes. However, it is imperative to understand the circumstances of which lead to such tragedies. I’d like to take
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From the beginning of Creature’s creation, he was doomed to a life of agony, depression, persecution, and loneliness. His appearance alone gave way to challenges that no human should ever have to endure. Creature’s very creator, Victor, called him horrid, a monster, a demon as well as many other cruel names. Victor’s harassing nature is an incredibly important aspect of this case; therefore it should be taken into consideration when evaluating who the true monster of this story is. Upon the Creature’s first moments of life, Victor stated that his heart was filled with a “breathless horror and disgust” (Shelley 45). What chance did this poor creature have if his own creator, or father if you will, could not even accept or love him. Moreover, Victor’s carelessness upon this creation was of his own purely selfish desires. There was little thought put into the life that the creature would have to live, thus providing us proof, that he did not care that this was a person he was creating. There is no defense for this, especially since Victor himself stated that he …show more content…
This deprived creature was not taught, nor was he provided with the basic tools that would be necessary for his survival. His first memories where him wandering around alone “cold [and] half frightened” (Shelley 73). In contrast Victor has lived a leisurely life of privilege, was provided with all the essentials to life that a growing boy could ask for. Victor is not a victim and has no reason other than that of his own making to be thought of as such. The creature however, despite circumstance as well as having the odds against him, still retains his respect for life. He states that after all that he has been through, that “Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me and I will defend it”. (Shelley 72). This statement distinguishes him from Victor greatly. Where the creature respects life, Victor manipulates it, and is apathetic to both life, death and the laws of nature. The distinction of victim and monster does not end
At first, Victor believes himself superior to nature, and he builds a creature to prove his dominance. After gathering the information and materials needed to create life, Victor begins to fantasize about what he is about to do. He sees “life and death [as] ideal bounds, which [he] should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into [their] dark world. A new species would bless [him] as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to [him]” (Shelley 55). Life and death are natural things, but Victor thinks that he can “break through” them and create life. He alone would be the person to “pour a torrent of light into their dark world,” as if he was God, ruling over all of the world. This shows Victor’s lack of respect towards life and how he intends to overcome the boundaries set by nature. Unlike the Romantic who revered and honored nature, Victor wants to use it for his own gain. He expects “happy” and “excellent natures” to obey him, and he doesn’t dwell upon the consequences of his actions. His outlook changes after the Creature comes to life. As Victor stares into the watery, lifeless eyes of his creature, he finally realizes his mistake in trying to disrupt the natural order of the world. Scared by the outcome of his actions, Victor attempts to run away and find comfort in nature. He travels to the Arve Ravine, where “the
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main theme revolves around the internal and external consequences of being isolated from others. Being isolated from the world could result in a character losing his/her mental state and eventually causing harm to themselves or others. Because both Victor Frankenstein and the creature are isolated from family and society, they experienced depression, prejudice, and revenge.
...or was not thinking of others in his actions, but only of himself. He did not consider the tumult the abnormally large creature could cause in the world, nor what the feelings of the monster would be towards him if he abandoned him. Victor also did not contemplate the safety of his friends, as he had the chance to stop the creature’s misdoings but failed to do so, risking the life of his friends. Therefore, Victor was a selfish being, who only concerned himself with his wishes and never evaluated the situation of his loved ones, ultimately causing their demise. The misfortunate events that occurred through Victor’s life could have been prevented, and also discontinued when Victor had the chance. However, Victor’s irresponsibility overcame these opportunities and he in turn, caused misfortunes for himself as well as his loved ones.
First, Before the monster is created Victor says that he hopes this creation would bless him as his creator, and that the creature would be excellent nature and would be beautiful. After the creature is created Shelley creates sympathy for him by Victor’s description of him in a unique yet horrific way, “he’s ‘gigantic,” “deformed,” “yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath” this makes the creature abhorrent to typical humans. When thinking of the descriptions together, Shelley has created a vivid, unnatural image of the monster in the mind’s eyes. The language Shelley uses is powerful and emotive “shall I create another like yourself, whose joints wickedness
Many positions can be taken on who is right and wrong or what should or should not be done in regards to many hard, life decisions. The position that I stand for deeply is the fact that Victor Frankenstein should not create a new monster for Adam to take comfort in. There are many reasons as to why it would be a bad idea but the top four I have come up with are the following: The new creature may not like Adam, Adam was never showed love so he will not know how to give his companion any, both of the creatures will live for human interaction so no matter what promise they make they will not be able to stay away from people, and last but most importantly Adam is the person that killed Victor's brother.
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...
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 ...
What someone doesn’t know won’t hurt them, in this case this statement is wrong. Victor Frankenstein, the creator of what should be a harmless monster, has a secret to keep from those he loves, from the world. His secret has hurt those close to him though, thus making his grieving worse, leading into a depression where he cannot be fixed. He knew that the creature he created has caused all of the trouble throughout his family in chapters seven through nine. Victor states, “…Its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belong to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy daemon to whom I had given life. What did he there? Could he be (I shuddered at the conception) the murder of my brother?”
I am on the defenders side because when William was murdered, the monster puts a photograph that William was carrying in Justine’s pocket. She also confesses falsely to the crime out of fear of going to hell. Other witnesses / characters don’t believe she did kill William Frankenstein.
Many people know that Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, was part of a family of famed Romantic era writers. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was one of the first leaders of the feminist movement, her father, William Godwin, was a famous social philosopher, and her husband, Percy Shelley, was one of the leading Romantic poets of the time ("Frankenstein: Mary Shelley Biography."). What most people do not know, however, is that Mary Shelley dealt with issues of abandonment her whole life and fear of giving birth (Duncan, Greg. "Frankenstein: The Historical Context."). When she wrote Frankenstein, she revealed her hidden fears and desires through the story of Victor Frankenstein’s creation, putting him symbolically in her place (Murfin, Ross. "Psychoanalytic Criticism and Frankenstein.”). Her purpose, though possibly unconsciously, in writing the novel was to resolve both her feelings of abandonment by her parents, and fears of her own childbirth.
What do you know about Frankenfood? Some people don’t know what Frankenfood is or even care. Frankenfood is genetically modified foods. What’s the difference between Frankenfood and Frankenstein? Genetically modified food is everywhere in America’s supermarkets and restaurants. Since it’s not labeled, most of us have no idea how much of it we’re eating or how much it’s affecting our health.
In the novel, Victor is raised up by two happy parents in caring and indulgence. He receives a sister, an education, affection, and a wife from his family. However, unlike Victor, the Monster does not have any maternal or paternal figure to care and teach him values. When the Monster first escapes from Victor’s apartment and enters into the forest, he lives like an animal. He eats berries, drinks water from the streams when he gets thirsty, and sleeps in anywhere. These actions illustrate the Monster’s natural impulse for needs of food and shelters.
The creature went through a lot of obstacles such as coping with his ugliness, and getting lack of affection from everyone especially its’ creator. He knew he was a pariah, but endeavored to make people see the good in him and every time, he frightened people and cause them to lash out at him. He was attacked, insulted, and shot at, enduring the pain; but there was only so much he could handle. "But soon, he cried with sad and solemn enthusiasm, I shall die, and what I now feel to be no longer felt" (Shelley, 1818, pg. 198). When he saw that Victor had died, he decided that he didn't want to live anymore, not only because of Victor but because he couldn't handle torture of never being accepted into society and thought the people in Geneva and Ingolstadt were better off without
As such, the problem society has with evaluating character stems from allowing emotion or pure analysis to guide an impression instead of combining the two (Bissonette, 109-110). In order to fix this problem, a conscious effort must be taken in evaluating characters. As with the example of Frankenstein, the beast is initially brought to this life without his consent and then left to die on his own by his creator (Shelley, 51). Considering ethics, it is unethical what Victor Frankenstein did. He defied nature and brought to life an abomination without considering the consequences of his actions. However, this does not mean the creature deserves to be considered an abomination because of its frightful origin. Those who use solely analysis to view character need to stop and evaluate the situation from an ethical and emotional standpoint. The creature could not control his bring of existence into this life, his looks, or his abandonment. As such, he is like a deformed child brought into this world that is immediately abandoned. The child has committed no wrong and deserves no mistreatment as such. It is the parents who were not ready to take care of the child that preformed an unethical act. Yet, those who view the monster using on the analytical approach place all of Victor’s unethical actions upon the monster as he was the
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.