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Examples Of Moral Ambiguity In Frankenstein

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In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creature, both display a sense of moral ambiguity. Each character has committed both good and evil alike, and neither knew the consequences of what they had done. However, Victor Frankenstein is generally the morally ambiguous character by his treatment of his creation and his own imperious personality. He wanted to be able to help science by recreating life or bringing it back, but at the same time, he did not want to consider the consequences of doing so. Victor tries to prove himself as a good moral character in the relationship between his creation and himself. However, this proved horrific because, as a parent, Victor implied his “child” is a wretch which no parent should do, despite their flaws. This can be shown after Victor breathes life into his creature and the text states, “...His jaws opened and he muttered.. one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs” (Shelly 58). In darkness of Victor’s actions against his creation, Victor immediately had …show more content…

In this, Victor brought up things that no mortal should know about, such as: cloning, stem cell research, and IVFs. Examples of these were shown when the author states, “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn… my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical… the physical secrets of the world” (43). Victor is knowingly tampering with knowledge that is essentially too great for man. He is also essentially trying to be like God, which is the original sin, and as a result, he is put in eternal despair. This can be confirm when he claims himself to be the “Adam of your labors” where Adam, was a creation of God who took from the Tree of Knowledge which was forbidden of him to do so, and as a result, punishment occured for his treachery against

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