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Would a mother be responsible for his adult son’s misdeeds? In Mary Shelley 's book, “Frankenstein” Victor creates a creature who then kills numerous amount of people. Some may speculate that Victor is responsible for the murders, but the creature is the one to blame. Victor Frankenstein is not responsible for the actions of the Creature. The Creature has 100 percent control over his actions and has logical decision making. The one who does the crime, should also be the one who takes the responsibility of the crime. The Creature has full responsibility of his actions. Victor has created the Creature therefore causings the crimes, but does not mean Victor is responsible. Victor is technically the birthgiver or father of the Creature; a parent …show more content…
The Creature is essentially a super human having the capabilities of a genius level iq. When the Creature is hiding from the De Lacy’s, “My days were spent in close attention, that I might more speedily master the language; and I may boast that I improved more rapidly than the Arabian, who understood very little and conversed in broken accents, whilst I comprehended and could imitate almost every word that was spoken” (Shelley 121). The Creature learns an entire language language in short time span and only with very little resources. The average person would not be capable of learning a language as the Creature. The intelligence of the Creature would explain that most of his murders were intentional and well thought out. In addition, the Creature has the brain of a developed adult. When Victor was creating the Creature he said, “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath” (Shelley 58). It would be illogical for Victor to insert a brain of a child into a behemoth sized body. It would not be proportional, so Victor would have to put in a adult brain. The fully developed adult brain, unlike a child’s brain the developed brain has proper decision making and basic thought. Memory would disappear, as it is not a physical thing, but the human brain keeps the decision making, consciousness, and thinking. That is what separates humans and
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.
If the clone is not declared a person, does this mean that as property, Frankenstein has the legal right to damage the clone and dispose of it accordingly?
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.
Victor Frankenstein creates a creature that he considers to be treacherous. Since the creature was created it obtains no knowledge of what it is or what is happening. Victor abandons the creature and the creature becomes filled with hate as it is constantly rejected by humans. The creature uses nature to survive. The creature also self teaches himself and becomes aware that he is a monster. He then swears to get revenge on Victor for leaving him alone. He gets his revenge by killing Victor's family. Victor then swears to get revenge on the creature, and decides that the best way to do so is by bringing the creature as far away from human civilization as possible. Thesis?!
Despite the rash actions that Victor takes, he ultimately does assume complete responsibility for the creature that he brought into being. After the monster murders William, Justine is then tried for the murder. Victor accepts that it was his fault even though he was not the one that actually murdered him: "But I, the true murderer, felt the never-dying worm alive in my bosom, which allowed of no hope or consolation" (74). Victor felt as if he had actually murdered both children because he had created the murderer. Even though in the end Justine took the official blame, Victor seized the responsibility so he took steps towards catching the monster and stopping him from killing anyone else. If he was not concerned with it being his fault one way or another he would not have continued to try to put the monster to rest. Later on, while Victor is creating a companion for the monster, he realizes the implications of a second creation: "Had I right, for my own benefit, t...
How do people change in times of crisis and tragedy? In the novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, Victor learns a lesson in thinking before acting. Before creating the monster, he only cares about his studies and is relatively happy. After his creation, his studies become his phobia and his creation (which, while constructing him, used to be his love) became his tormentor. In the end, he learns his lesson and stops himself before committing the same mistake again. In creating life, one learns to live life a little wiser.
Ever since the earliest scientists, including the likes of Aristotle and Plato, the question of the morality of man's meddling in nature has been a prevalent issue. While science can provide boundless amounts of invaluable contributions to mankind, ultimately some scientific endeavors should never have been pursued. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelly explores the ethics involved in this query through the creation of a wonder of science, and its inevitable consequences.
I believe that Victor and the creature are both right about what they want and yet monstrous in their reactions. Victor is right about what he wants; one reason is because he is very committed to his work and in creating life for his creature. On the other hand he is evil because he abandoned the creature and left him on his own: "I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited" (Shelley 57). Shelley shows Victor's monstrous reaction to the creature in the way that he abandoned the creature to his own luck and he shows no responsibility for him.
Mary Shelley's book, Frankenstein, deals with the major dilemma of the creation of man. Rousseau deals with the topic of abandonment in Emile, which stemmed the thoughts of creation for Shelley in 1816 upon reading Rousseau's opinions. Rousseau blames the problems that children inhibit solely upon the parents shoulders (Mellor). Mary Shelley is able to relate to this statement on a personal level due to the parenting (or lack of) within her life. This in turn leads to a broader question concerning Shelley's Frankenstein; is the monster really the sole person to blame for his murderous actions? According to Rousseau's theory, the monster is not the sole problem. Victor Frankenstein is his creator or "father" figure thus giving him the responsibility of his monster.
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.
As a romantic novel Victor is responsible, because he abandoned his creation. As an archetype novel, Victor is the villain, because he was trying to play god. Finally, Victor as a Gothic novel, Victor is at fault, because, he and the creature are two different parts of the same person. If Frankenstein is looked at as a romantic novel, Victor, not the creature, is truly the villain. When Victor created the creature, he didn't take responsibility for it. He abandoned it, and left it to fend for itself. It is unfair to bring something into the world, and then not teach it how to survive. The creature was miserable, and just wanted a friend or someone to talk to. On page 115, the creature said, "Hateful day when I received life! Accursed the creator. Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust." This line shows the agony the monster was in, because of how he looked when he was created which led to even Victor running away from him. If Victor didn't run, he could have taught the monster and made his life happy. After the creature scared the cottagers away he said, "I continued for the remainder of the day in my hovel in a state of utter ...
Every artist draws inspiration from somewhere, and the inspiration shows in their work. When looking deeper into the life of Mary Shelley, it is easy to say that the inspiration she drew to create her novel Frankenstein, came from her own personal experiences. Frankenstein is riddled parallels to Marry Shelley’s own life. It was not just by mere coincidences either, Mary Shelley makes various references to family members (specifically by name), places she visited, and situations she faced, herself, all of these experiences are documented in her novel Frankenstein.
...e all the evil things they have done. When he goes to Victor's coffin, the creature does the opposite of what a evil being would do. He grieves over Victor despite all the horrible things the creature has done to Victor. The creature even feels guilt over the innocent people he has killed and the torment he put his creator through. Despite Victor's actions leading the creature to commit evil deeds, the creature finds in himself to feel regret in the end.
Victor never even fathomed the actual existence of the creature, somewhat resembling an unplanned pregnancy that was never emotionally and rationally dealt with even after the actual birth of the child. He certainly did not adequately prepare himself for parenthood.
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.