It is his act of blasphemy leads to the creation of The Wretch, as he commonly refers to him, a beast abandoned to live by itself alone and cold in an unknown world. As if creating life was not a horrible act in of itself, Frankenstein inadvertently creates a life of pain and solitude of which nothing should ever be forced to suffer in. The Wretch explains his story and in a fit of rage he howls at Frankenstein asking him “Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?” (pg. 133). One has to remember, The Wretch never asked to be made, and he knows just how much of an abomination he is.
The Relationship Between the Creature and the Creator Rough Draft Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley goes in depth to the theme of the relationship between the Creature and the Creator. Categorized as a gothic novel. Victor Frankenstein develops an interest in science after reading about the "wild fancies" of several noted alchemists who live hundreds of years before him. He maintains driven by ambition and scientific curiosity. His quest for absolute knowledge and power will eventually end his own ruin.
An eye for an eye or the law of retaliation is the principle most people live their lives by. For the characters in Frankenstein, this concept is apparent as the main character, Victor, creates a monster and instantly abandons him which sets off the chain of events revolving around revenge. However, as Gandhi once stated, “an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind” (Gandhi). Throughout the novel, the creature and Victor engage in a recurring cycle of vengeance, but these acts of revenge are bittersweet as in the end it destroys both of them. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley reveals how revenge consumes and destroys those who surrender to it.
And who is it who in fact enjoyed his solitude and seclusion from society? That would be none other than Victor Frankenstein himself. The disturbing reality that Victor is part god and part wild beast for his cruel actions towards his creation displays the evil that comes from a man when he removes himself from society. The Monster partially experiences these effects as well from his unwelcome seclusion from society when he is also slowly pulled back and forth between good and evil. Mary Shelley made no mistake in making this clear through her writing, however.
The creature later is so filled with prideful rage at Frankenstein to the point where he did not even consider the consequences of his revenge. “I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery. Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful” (182). The abomination succeeded in ruining Victor’s live, but in doing so committed multiple accounts of murder. His only thought was getting what he deserved and he did not see his wrongdoing, or feel remorse, until the very end of the novel when he still had nothing even after all his vengeance.
This is prevalent due to the fact that the moment the monster is created, Victor calls it a catastrophe and is horrified by what he has created. He explained, “The beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 51). When Victor uses words such as “dream vanished”, “breathless horror” and “disgust” he is showing his emotions for the
However, upon realizing had created an abomination as he finished, he flees, “…now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 35). After a long and grueling process, Frankenstein regarded the creature as horrid, malicious, heartless, inhuman, and uncouth – simply, a monster. He wanted to create life so bad that it became an obsession for him as he would go to any extreme to reach his goal.
Shelley addresses this question with the character Victor Frankenstein. One of the first things Victor is at fault for is his creation of Frankenstein in the first place. The monster would constantly cry, “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?
Although he comes with friendly intentions, the Monster is treated violently and with contempt, essentially being forced into his alienation to survive and becoming the “monster” he is already thought of as a result. The Monster’s actions are a response to the treatment he has received from others, everyday villagers and Victor alike. With little known about his origins and no way to explain himself, there is no hope for the Monster to assimilate himself. This is present in other characters of the novel as well, for example, Richard Walton, who has self-alienated in order to gain distinction and knowledge. The Monsters origins and appearance develop these themes of alienation throughout the novel, themes that are further developed by other characters and play an important role in delivering the message of
When making the decision to destroy his half-finished female form, Victor recalls that he had already “created a fiend of unparalleled barbarity” in his first monster, and that this new creation might even be “ten thousand times more malignant than her mate” (138). In the wake of the trauma the monster has caused both to himself and his family (via his post-partum depressive state and the deaths of Justine and William respectively), Frankenstein is now overwhelmingly conscious of the horrible consequences that birth can entail. In contrast to his previous aspirations, he characterizes his creation with words of negative connotation such as “barbarous” and “fiend,” and suggests that a future creation could even be exponentially more evil. Victor’s initial dreams of fatherhood have been grotesquely morphed into terror of future creation, which would be made possible by creating a female monster. He speculates that one of the first results of creating a mate for his monster would be a “race of devils…propagated upon the earth” who would make the “very existence of man…full of terror” (138).