Ego In Frankenstein

The ambition for knowledge is a dangerous thing, especially if that knowledge is kept a secret. The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, follows Walton who, while searching for new land, helps Victor Frankenstein and listens to his story. Victor Frankenstein is a wise character, but his passion for knowledge, his ambition, and his decision to keep his past a secret drives him and others around him to a short life.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein brings his creation to life and has to endure the repercussions of his actions. While Victor is in fact human, the question of whether the creature or Victor is more human still stands. Humanity is demonstrated as compassionate in the book and monstrosity is the opposite. The creature is more human because of his developed personality and desire to be human. Victor, although born into a humane family, evolved into everything bad about humanity; he developed obsession, resentment, and manipulated life to conform to his idealities. Therefore, Victor is the real monster.

In the novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, the main character Victor Frankenstein is portrayed as a pathological narcissist throughout the entire story, he has this personality trait because of a traumatizing event that occurred in his youth changing his ideology to pursue a way to be better than death itself and play as a god.

Victor Frankenstein is selfish. The novel portrays Victor as a selfish character who is only concerned about his own well-being. Frankenstein wanted to manipulate the power of life. He abandons his creation because of the creature’s appearance and also withholds information or lies about his creation. Due to Victor 's selfishness, readers feel sorry for his creation.

In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, self deception eclipses Victor Frankenstein and clouds his judgment. Victor’s passion in breaking the bounds of nature guides him in making the creation, but when Victor regrets giving life to the hideous creature, he deserts it. The abandonment is just the first step Victor takes to introduce the creation to malevolence followed with Victor’s assumptions of evil and lost responsibility in the results of his own zeal. Victor Frankenstein’s self deception not only forges evil into the creation, but also incriminates him for the consequences of Victor’s ambitions.

In Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Monster Culture (Seven Thesis), Cohen analyzes the psychology behind monsters and how, rather than being a monstrous beast for the protagonist of the story to play against, “the monster signifies something other than itself”. Cohen makes the claim that by analyzing monsters in mythology and stories, you can learn much about the culture that gave rise to them. In Thesis 1 of Monster Culture, Cohen proposes that “the monster’s body literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety, and fantasy”, specifically the fear, desire and anxiety of the cultures that gave rise to it;; fFor example, vVampires, undead, represent a fear of death. Monsters are born of an intense fear, desire, or internal conflict, “at this metaphorical

The gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley centralizes on humanity and the qualifications that make someone human. The content of the novel Frankenstein depicts a monster displaying human traits that his creator Victor does not possess: empathy, a need for companionship, and a will to learn and fit in.

“At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification”(Shelley 80). The Creation of Frankenstein woke up in a world of hate. Since he looked different, the Monster never fit in with normal people. He would become isolated and feared because of his looks. Because the Monster was a hideous creation from Frankenstein, he was isolated and hated by his looks and behaved in an ethical manner when he began his path of vengeance.

In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s Monster experiences a sense of self-actualization after coming to terms with his “monster” identity. In chapter 13, after Frankenstein’s Monster learns about human history and social norms, he conducted a self-analysis of his current self. He stated, “I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome”. Moreover, when he “looked around, he saw and heard of none like [himself]. Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned” (138). Through the knowledge he acquired from spying in on the Felix family, he gained the understanding that his grotesque look doomed him to be marginalized within human society; therefore, his understanding of human history destined himself to be a monster. Although, this self-realization of a monster identity plays a huge role in the general plot and character development of Frankenstein’s Monster, it hints at a subtler interpretation of the nature of knowledge.

When he sees his reflection, he sees the difference in appearance between himself and everyone else around him. He watches a family for a period of time, and tries to communicate with them. They, too, are scared away by his appearance. He becomes angry with humans and further isolates himself (Shelley 91-110). Even though the creature had committed murder, he didn’t know that he was doing wrong. Victor’s creation is described as a “monster” in the story of Frankenstein. He is immediately considered to be evil because he has committed murder, even though he meant no harm. He wrongfully forges his identity according to how others see him; as an evil monster.

Victor’s complete control over how Walton views his life indicates that Shelley supports the claim that people “put on a mask of benevolence” (Rousseau 29). To persuade Walton to continue his ambition of revenge on the monster, Victor tactfully proposes the reality of his circumstances and the role of the monster. As Rousseau claims, Victor acts to serve his own interests and must employ the help of another person to help him achieve his ambition. Further, when requesting Walton fulfill his ambition, he acknowledges that it is selfish to ask, yet as he dies he claims to be motivated by virtue. Though this could be read as an honest request of a dying man to do the virtuous thing for humanity, I see it as a manipulative tactic to achieve one’s goal by using the service others to get security for one’s self. His reliance on Walton exemplifies how his passions can only be fulfilled with the help of others, however, unlike Rousseau’s claim, Victor is not manipulative to surpass others. Rather it is his “real want” to kill the monster, not just a desire determined by civilization (Rousseau 29). Shelley does support Rousseau's claim in this instance, however, she is not arguing that all ambitions are selfish rather that people use others by appearing

The novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley depicts certain ideas that can not be described or written within novels. For example, the telling of the story between three different narrators can teach the reader about putting together “pieces of a puzzle” in order to understand the plot of the story. The three narrators in Frankenstein are Victor, Walton, and the Creature, all with very distinct personalities and character traits. Of these storytellers, Victor could possibly be debated as the most extraordinary. The qualities that make Victor pictured as this unique character, that the fact that he is a dynamic character, and that he is an unreliable narrator. His personality and traits are different and similar to some of the other narrators such as the creature.

From the moment he was brought to life the only thing he knew about himself was that he was seen as a monster, "I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster whom I had created," (Shelley, 59), which gave him the reasoning to act upon what he was labeled as. Except the monster was not a monster in the slightest. He was kind and was able to understand emotions. After stealing the families necessities he began to interpret the problems the family he was encountering when, "I discovered one of the causes of the uneasiness of the amiable family: it was poverty…I had been accustomed, during the night, to steal a part of their store for my own consumption; but when I found that I doing this I inflicted pain on that cottagers, I abstained," (Shelley, 114), however since society had already labeled this creature based on the outward appearance they were unable to look past it. Whereas the real monster throughout the story is no other than Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein displays many of the characteristics any monster would have. He was cruel and manipulative in order to become and valued like God. However, the odds were not in his favor after rejecting the monster the minute he came to life, "A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly

A writer named Nikita Gill once said “When you see a monster next, always remember this. Do not fear the thing before you. Fear the thing that created it instead.” This quote can be related to the novel Frankenstein where instead of the actual creature being perceived as the monster, the person who created it deserves to be called one. Using the archetypal lens, Victor can be seen as the real monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein from his cruel characteristics, continuous patterns of monstrosity, as well as symbols and themes involving nature.

Frankenstein. A name that is known around the world. Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, wrote this classic in 1818 when she was 19 years old. Mary Shelley did not anticipate that her book would grow to be this well known. Though she did plan how the book’s motifs and themes would be significant, including internal conflict. The internal conflict in Frankenstein creates interest because it evokes emotion from the reader, causes character motivation, and displays dynamic characters.