Victor Frankenstein Defies Human Nature

In Frankenstein, Victor was interested with the science of life. In his quest to understand death, Victor creates life, using his brilliant mind to bring a corpses to life. He is satisfied with his success, but is then disgusted by the creature, abandoning him as a baby without a mother or father to show him the way of the world or to protect him. The abandonment that occurred in the monster's early life had a huge effect on his whole life. As a result of this abandonment, Frankenstein and society ultimately pay a very high price. Telgan says, "Frankenstein's moral failure in his heedless pursuit to know all he might about life without taking responsibility for his acts. His "sin" was not in creating the monster, but in abandoning him to orphanage at birth" (page 194). "Childlike in his innocence, the monster wants only to be loved, but gets it from neither his "father" nor from any other in the community" (page 195). The monster searches for love and friendship, and he fails at finding it.

Victor isolates himself from the rest of society because of his obsession to create life. During the time he was isolated, Victor became very ill. For Victor, isolation has a very negative effect. The Monster is isolated for two reasons. First, Victor abandons him, which creates an isolation from the Monster's "father". Second, because of the way the monster looks, he is naturally isolated from society.

Wright 2

Although Victor claims his intent is to better humanity, his motivation is for power, and in doing so, he violates morality and manipulates human nature. Victor expresses his personality through creating the monster. Victor broke the boundaries of life and death by creating the monster. Victor changed nature and the idea...

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...drive take over him and his life. Victor's motivation was for his own pride and power. We realize that Victor is actually the monster himself. Victor breaks boundaries on life, violates morality, manipulates human nature, and he changes history.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003.

"The Story." Galileo. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Literature, Sept. 2013. Web. 31 March 2014

Clerval, Walton H. "Literary Intelligence." Romantic Circles. RC, March 1998. Web. 31. 2014.

Stevenson, Pope. World Literature Criticism: Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley, Gale Research Inc., 1992. Print.

Telgen, Diane. Novels for students Vol. 1: George v. Griffith. Gale Research, Detroit, 1997. Print.

Bloom, Harold. Bloom's Major Literary Characters: Frankenstein: Self- Division and Projection, Chelsea House Publishers, 1974. Print.