The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley adds a very different viewpoint on the nature of human betrayal. Throughout the novel, it seems as if the Monster is the only face of betrayal due to the fact that he is a monster on the surface, but not truly one on the inside. As the reader delves deeper into the book, they can see that many events contribute to the Monster’s feelings. By the end of the book, it is figured out that the Monster is not the only face of betrayal in the book. I argue that Victor Frankenstein is the character behind the most betrayal in the book.
Although most people assume that in Frankenstein, the creature was the murderer, the truth is the exact opposite. Victor was the real murderer. He is the murderer when the novel is viewed on three different symbolic levels, as a Romantic novel, Archetype novel, or a Gothic novel. On the romantic level, Victor is the monster because he abandoned the creature and left him to fend for himself. The creature was miserable and simply wanted a companion, but because of the poor behavior and attitude of Frankenstein, it was impossible.
Frankenstein is a novel that is defined by its distortion of humanity. Mary Shelley’s objective is to expose how horrible humans can be to each other. In her eyes the monster represented the cruelty of mankind. Not all humans in the novel were cruel, but Victor was the creator and the monster was part of him. The parable of Frankenstein is that in seeking to represent himself, he created a monster which is a depiction of how he truly feels about humanity.
This he... ... middle of paper ... ...tradictory ways to them, the monster certainly is deserved of his title as "monster". An increasingly popular way of thinking in today’s society is to evaluate the upbringing of someone in order to condone or at least understand their behavior. Along the same lines, one popular view of the creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is to be sympathetic towards the creature due to his poor upbringing and lack of a friends or a traditional father figure. Regardless of these unfortunate circumstances, however, the fact remains that the creature is still a cold-hearted wretch bent on ruining the life of Victor, through being the master of Victor’s life and existence, almost in a slave and master sense, who feels remorse yet kills anyway and is therefore deserving of the title "monster". Works Cited Shelley, Mary.
Jesus Rey Hinojosa Mr. Hernandez AP Literature and Composition October 30, 2017 Frankenstein unit essay Literature often works as depicted act of betrayal. Many people, friends, and family may portray a protagonist, but they will likewise be guilty of treachery or betrayal to their own values. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there is acts of betrayal between Victor Frankenstein and the monster. In the Novel Victor Frankenstein is a betrayal of life itself because it should be given naturally and not created by a scientist man. The monster is actually the one who is majorly betrayed, he may look like a hideous dangerous monster on the outside but, not one within himself.
After being continually rejected by not only his creator, but countless other humans based only on his gruesome appearance, the Monster decides to exact revenge on humankind and especially on Frankenstein for giving life to such a horrible creature as himself. Upon deciding this, the Monster decides to go to his hometown and l... ... middle of paper ... ... her beauty but knew that she would reject him as everyone else did, so he went on to frame her anyways. This shows that it was not lack of reflection that caused the Monster to commit this evil act, but the reflection process only served to help him justify why he should go through with the crimes. As he committed the acts, his heart no longer rebelled as it once did and he was overcome with “exultation and hellish triumph” (Shelley, pg. 378).
“Frankenstein” highlights this theme due to the amount of neglect, loneliness, and discrimination the monster faces throughout the book, which ultimately leads to the monster’s killing rampage. The monster desires to not remain an outsider in society. Since the monster remains isolated; he goes on a killing
At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called "A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. He can be viewed as the antagonist, the element Victor must overcome to restore balance and tranquility to the world." But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor.
In this way, the novels still have social significance. The atmosphere of each novel plays a significant role in setting the scene for the ensuing horror to evolve. The atmosphere in each novel is different; the horror in each novel is different The fact that Frankenstein’s monster kills out of revenge and anger is a form evil but one can understand and to a certain extent sympathise with his inability to reason right from wrong. Many examples of this inability are shown, for example, the creature strangles Frankenstein’s innocent young brother because he cannot under... ... middle of paper ... ... although his downfall comes because he has limitations, such as, “his power ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day.”… “Then there are things which so afflict him that he has no power, as the garlic that we know of, and as for things sacred, my crucifix…” These reassure one that there is a means to destroy Dracula. ‘Frankenstein’ did not frighten me at all, I merely found it a very tragic story demonstrating both the corruption of an innocent being by an immoral society and the dangers of playing God with science.
When Victor abandons the monster he runs away and tries to forget about his failed creation. It was extremely dangerous for Victor to flee his experiment because the monster soon becomes aggressive with hate and is curious to know why Victor left him; furthermore, the monster becomes obsessed with self-learning and knowledge. Mary Shelly explains in her novel Frankenstein the cause of Victors abandonment was the rage of the monster that he created. The monster’s reaction to his creator is “Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, yet so vicious and base? (119) The monster’s curiosity was similar to his creator’s strive for knowledge.