Similarities Between Victor and the Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein and the monster that he creates are very similar. For example, Victor creates the monster to be like himself. Another similarity is that the anger of both Victor and the monster is brought about by society. One more parallel between Victor and the monster is that they both became recluses. These traits that Victor and the monster possess show that they are very similar. One way that Victor and the monster are alike is that Victor creates the monster like himself. Victor does not plan to create the monster like himself, but the monster becomes very much like Victor. “God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance” (93). The monster does not resemble Victor physically; instead, they share the same personalities. For example, Victor and the monster are both loving beings. Both of them want to help others and want what is best for others. Victor and the monster try to help the people that surround them. Victor tries to console his family at their losses, and the monster assists the people living in the cottage by performing helpful tasks. However, Victor and the monster do not reflect loving people. The evil that evolves in Victor’s heart is also present in the monster. The evil that is present in Victor and the monster is another example of similarity between the characters. This evil in both characters is caused, although not directly with Victor, by society. The monster tries to be accepted by society. He shows kindness toward society and he tries to help people. However, he is immediately rejected by society because of his ugly physical appearance. The evil and the anger present in the monster comes when the monster presents himself as a friend to a family that he has secretly helped. Instead of accepting the monster as one of their own, the family immediately sees the ugly form of the monster and rejects him. “There was none from the myriads of men who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No: from that moment I declared ever-lasting war against the species, and, more than all, against him who had formed me, and sent me forth to this insupportable misery” (97).
Throughout the history of literature, instances will always occur where themes repeat themselves constantly. One of these instances appears in the classic novel Frankenstein, where two characters, whom one would originally classify as opposites, truly possess many similarities to one another. Victor and the Creature share and oddly large amount of similarities between them. One of which being their drive to obtain knowledge, no matter the topic. With Victor, he typically is driven to discover things no one else has. The Creature however, constantly tries to find out how the world works and to find his place in society. Another similarity found in the novel would be the two characters isolation throughout the novel, self-inflicted or forced. For Victor, he always kept to himself,
Victor is the main person who deals with family, and isolation. Victor was close to his family and would talk to his father and Elizabeth. His mother died, so it caused him to create his monster to see if he could create life from nothing.
The vivid similarities between the two tragic characters are driven by their isolation from the secluded world, which refuses to accept those who are different into society, by hatred, and most importantly by the absence of motherly figures in both Victor’s and the Creature’s lives. As Victor had stated, “I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.” (Shelley 40) as he described that he lost all touch with the world due to his work. Both figures seem to strongly despise one another yet strangely enough, they both also despise themselves for their wrong and disastrous actions. Family ties and vengefulness are truly one of the most significant aspects affecting the resemblance of both Victor and the Creature. At a young age, Victor was left without his mother after her death and as a result, he never got to experience the true feelings of a mother’s warm touch and love. “She died calmly...it is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she whom we saw every day and whose every existence appeared a part of our own can have departed forever and the sound of a voice so familiar and dear to the ear can be hushed, never more to be heard.” (Shelley, 29) Just like Victor, in his own time, the Creature never got to experience not only the love of a mother but the love of a father as well. These driven characters thrive for the same goals, feed of similar pain, and feel the same
Victor’s childhood is similar to the upbringing of the creature; the Monster doesn’t receive enough nurturing attention from Victor and becomes a barbarous and brutal creature, out of control just as Victor had been while he created the creature. Although the two part immediately, and live separate lives, they think of one another constantly. In addition to the similarities between the two characters’ lives, their emotions mirror one another 's as well. Both the creature and Frankenstein long for sympathy as they continuously reiterate that no one understands them. The Monster tells Frankenstein about his experiences, “I am an unfortunate and deserted creature, I look around and have no relation or friend upon earth… I am full of fears, for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever (Shelley 95).
In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the Creature's only need is for a female companion, which he asks Victor Frankenstein his maker to create. Shelley shows the argument between the creature and Frankenstein. The creature says: "I demand a creature of another sex, but as hideous as myself " (Shelley 139). Shelley shows what the creature wants from Frankenstein and what his needs are. Shelley gives us an idea of the sympathy that Frankenstein might feel for the creature even though he neglects him. The creature confronts Victor demanding his attention and expressing his needs. I feel a lot of sympathy for the creature based on him being able to forgive Victor for abandoning him and being able to communicate with him.
While Victor and the monster are divergent physically and socially, they have many identical characteristics. Even as they become increasingly similar, their relationship only exacerbates. They are similar in their desires for knowledge, relationships with nature, and with desires for family. These defining characteristics are what shape these characters, their actions, and ultimately the plot of the novel.
In Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, one could believe that Shelley purposely made Victor and the creature very similar to show that just because of how a person looks does not mean they are different than a beautiful human being. Victor and the creature are not alike in their physical appearance but their personalities are nearly parallel. They both have an appreciation for nature, as well as a desire to be part of a loving family.
... result, when the monster murders his companion, Victor becomes miserable and more isolated. Although the monster had no choice but to live alone, he observed a nearby neighbor, the Delacey’s, and desired to receive affection from that family. By the end of the novel, Victor and the monster were no indistinguishable from each other, both comparable to Satan from Paradise Lost.
Both stories share a central theme, that the acquirement too much knowledge is dangerous. Throughout Frankenstein, the reader is left with the feeling that Victor's obsessive desire to defeat nature, through the creation of another life, directly led to the many tragedies that befell him, "Learn from me, if not by my precept, at least by my example, how dangerous is the ac...
Victor has a lack of respect for the natural world that leads him on the path to becoming a monster. In creating the monster Victor is trying to change the natural world. He is trying to play the role of god by creating life.
All middle school students are at different developmental stages--some students have matured significantly, while others still have a long way to go. Hunt, Wiseman, and Bowden conclude that, in looking at attitudes and behaviors, some middle schoolers are “childlike,” while others are “deeply involved in the complex lifestyle characteristics of teenagers (1998, p. 57). They also establish that middle school students are in a time of “significant transition,” a time that some struggle with, while others thrive on this change. (Hunt, Wiseman, & Bowden, 1998, p. 60-61). The middle school age group is typically distinguished as children and teens ages 10 to 14. This age range was not distinguished until the 1980s (Hunt, Wiseman, & Bowden, 1998, p. 58), which coincides with further development in the middle school (in comparison to junior high school). These students are in a stage coined by Donald Eichhorn called “transesence” (Manning & Bucher, 2012, p. 5).
As most can see from the above statements Victor and the creature have many similarities. Both of them are the protagonist in the novel. Victor and the creature have always wanted a family to love. They both have a need to obtain knowledge. They also both want to murder each other out of revenge. Their love for nature always comforted them and made them happy. Last but not least both creatures will always be outcasts and be excluded from society because of their odd differences.
When deciding who the true monster in Frankenstein is, one can point to the obvious and determine that it is Victor Frankenstein’s morbid creation (who commits murders), but when looking at the situation from both perspectives, the reader can deduce that the real monster is Victor. Despite the aforementioned murders, the creature was Victor’s responsibility, and the brilliant scientist decided to abandon him. This denial of affection greatly impacted Frankenstein’s creation because he had to forgo the trials of being an outcast of society ever since he was brought into the realm of the living. Victor Frankenstein is the true monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein because he heartlessly leaves his creation to suffer the strife of human discrimination.
Kryger, Meir. "Night Terrors in Children". Online Posting. 10 Sept 1998. 12 Sept 2001. http://www.standford.edu/terrors.html
Victor and the monster are very different characters, yet they share many similar characteristics – perhaps this was the intention of Mary Shelly, to provoke one to think of the notion that the monster is a reflection of Victor Frankenstein. This can potentially be reason why the popular misconception in media is that the monster is named Frankenstein.