Garen Linco Ms. Piccard Science Fiction 10, May 2023 The chances of being able to run away from being accused of murder are forty percent. However, the reasoning behind whether libel or innocent depends all on the evidence. Some may think in the novel Frankenstein Victor is liable for murder, while others think he is perfectly innocent. But realistically Victor created what killed his whole family leading him to be liable. Victor Frankenstein should be liable for murder because he’s the reason for Justine's and William’s early death. During Justine’s trial Victor had an opportunity to step in and confront the true killer of William but is feared that he’ll be declared insane. Victor is with his family and thinks to himself, “My tale …show more content…
During the night of Victor’s creation, he had horrible visions about the creature. He realized how nasty and horrific the creature he made was, and out of fear abandoned his creation and went to the streets out of fear without even confronting it. Victor runs off from the monster and says, “I passed the night wretchedly. Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly that I felt the palpitation of every artery; at others, I nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.” Shelley, 43. This quote explains how Victor ditched his creation without even acknowledging its mind, only his looks. This would eventually lead the creature to do his own adventure and eventually learn all about Victor leading to all the murders. If Victor just took accountability and confronted the monster during the creation process the murders would not have occurred. Some may say that the monster release was good in the situation because of how big and scary he was. But Victor shouldn’t be afraid to confront the creation he made. He knew what it would look like and how it would approach him when he were to live, but Victor still ran in fear without even attempting to stop it. Victor could have stopped the monster at the beginning and could have stopped all the possibilities of
“I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had not hesitated to buy its own peace at the price, perhaps, of the existence of the whole human race” (186). Victor sacrificed the peace he wanted for himself and accepted the lifelong torment of the creature, a consequence of his broken promise. Victor did this for the greater good of humanity, recognizing the power of his choice to create or not to create, as well as the power of the creature. Victor had to discover the hard way, how powerful the creature became when reading letters like this one from his father, “About five in the morning, I discovered my lovely boy, whom the night before I had seen blooming and in active health, stretched on the grass livid and motionless; the print of the murder’s finger was on his neck” (72). What Victor thought he was doing to save his family and friends, ended up being the thing that killed them.
Victor attempts to maintain this autonomy, but it begins to collapse when the murder of William occurs. After William’s murder the responsibility of the monster is revived and now Victor not only faces responsibility for the monster but also the death of William and soon to follow Justine. While Victor is fully aware of the responsibility he holds, describing himself as “the true murder” (Shelley, 109). Victor tries to remedy this responsibility in the same form as he did the first time with the monster, by simpling failing to outwardly acknowledge its presence. He does this at Justine’s trial, in which he would have had the opportunity to speak up in favor of her innocence he instead chooses to “rush out of the court in agony” (Shelley, 106).
In particular, Justine, an innocent girl that was taken in by the Frankenstein family, was charged with the crime of murdering William. Victor knew that Justine was not the killer because he saw the creature in the woods when traveling to the funeral and trial. However, when Justine is being convicted, Victor decides to keep the creature’s existence a secret instead of proving Justine’s innocence and acquitting her of the crime. Victor narrates his decision, “I was firmly convinced in my own mind that Justine, and indeed every human being, was guiltless of this murder. I had no fear, therefore, that any circumstantial evidence could be brought forward strong enough to convict her.
Victor goes on to say, “I dreaded to behold this monster; but I feared still more that Henry should see him” (Shelley 38). Victor never even thinks for one moment that someone else might encounter the monster and is only woken out of this oblivion when Henry
Generally, when people think of a monster, the first thing that comes to mind is a hideous, gruesome, inhuman creature - not a seemingly innocent person. In Frankenstein, a gothic graphic novel written by Gris Grimly, the narrator - Victor Frankenstein - faces conflict that makes his innocence questionable. This graphic novel proves that a monster does not necessarily equate to a hideous, unwanted creature. Some people suspect that the creature is a monster due to its violent behavior and cruel actions. The truth, contrastingly, is that the true monster of this novel is Victor, not the creature, because he chose to create the creature yet neglected it and failed to apologize or acknowledge his wrongdoing.
The monster proclaims that he will make Victor’s life miserable by taking the people he loves from him. Emotionally, the reader gains sympathy for Victor because he has and will lose loved ones, but they also know that VIctor has brought this fate upon himself. This shows that Victor is not the killer because the monster has openly declared that he has made Victor’s life horrible. Finally, Victor could not be the killer because he holds too much love for his family. Especially for Elizabeth Victor
One reason Victor is the monster is, he created life not knowing the discipline or the risks he could be taking. When someone wants to create life, they are literally making life. A thing that needs to be cared for and parented. Victor felt that when he created life, he could just let it be and go on with his life. When the monster came to life Victor ran and hid, he didn’t even take the time to inspect it, or instruct it.
He was selfish as a person. If you bring something into this world you are expected to care for it and put everything before it. Victor failed to do this, he abandoned the monster and let it live alone for many years without the monster having knowledge as how to fend for itself. The monster felt as if no one appreciated it and felt as if the world was against him. I know this because on page 84 it states “You, my creator, abhor me; your fellow-creatures spurn and hate me.
Victor first begins creating the monster, working tirelessly for selfish reasons. His body suffers tremendously and he drags himself along treating his body like a slave. He states: “My cheeks have grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement.” (Shelly 33)
Victor Frankenstein is the monster because of his selfishness. He allowed Justine to die innocently when he could have said something and saved her. " A thousand times rather would I confessed myself guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine but such ravings would accuse me of being a madman”. This speaks of not just selfishness, but the egocentrism of this character. He rather let someone close die than be called a madman.
Nonetheless,Victor is overwhelmed and instead of caring for the monster, he seeks an easy way out which ultimately leads to the betrayal and abandonment of the creature. Now, the monster is left without care and is filled with anger and sadness as Victor did not take responsibility to look after him. Therefore the monster goes out of rage and kills people that are closest to victor's life. Evidently, all the monster wanted was for Victor to take pride in his work and both care and accept him for the monster that he was. In addition, the monster tried to get near people with hopes of gaining trust and bonds.
After realizing what Victor had done, he ran away not taking responsibility for what he had made. “The porter opened the gates of the court, which had that night been my asylum, and I issued into the streets, pacing them with quick steps, as if I sought to avoid the wretch whom I feared every turning of the street would present to my view. I did not dare return to the apartment which I inhabited, but felt impelled to hurry on, although drenched by the rain which poured from a black and comfortless sky” (161) Victor saw what huge mistake he made and ignored his problem(s) rather than taking accountability that he has created a monster hideous to the human eye. He didn't even return to the apartment. He just fled hoping that abandoning his creation would solve the problem.
(Shelley 56). This is the reason that Victor did not realize he had gone too far until it was too late. Once victor brings the creature to life, he immediately realizes the hideousness of what he has done: “Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley 56). Furthermore, Victor struggles to cope with his creation throughout the novel.
If readers thought that Victor was the monster after hearing the creature’s story then they would now think of him being a naive human who tried to do good for his family. On the other hand, the creature has lost his patience and reason. In Chapter 17, the creature acted with reason and gave purpose to his request: “I intended to reason. This passion is detrimental to me, for you do not reflect that you are the cause of its excess.” The creature responds to Victor’s initial refusal of the request with calmness and explains why Victor should do such a thing for him.
Simultaneously, Victor failing to take responsibility for his own creation leads the creature down a path of destruction that manufactures his status as a societal outcast. The creature's dissolution from society, his search for someone to share his life with, the familiarity with intense anguish, his thirst for retribution, each of these traits coincide with Victor as he is depicted throughout the novel. Victor unknowingly induces his own undoing through his rejection of the creature. Shelley foreshadows his downfall by stating that “the monster still protested his innate goodness, blaming Victor’s rejection and man’s unkindness as the source of his evil” (Shelley 62) The creature essentially places Victor at fault for the creature becoming an outcast of society, by expressing this Shelley constructs a very austere portrayal of man’s contact with outsiders.