In the 1818 novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley developed the creature to act as a foil for Victor Frankenstein, highlighting both redeemable and toxic qualities of the failed father figure: obsessed curiosity, ambition for greatness, and unfailing arrogance. Frankenstein’s failings reveal that his real ‘destiny’ was inevitable isolation and utter self destruction. He could have lived a good, long life with his family with all of these qualities at a normal, healthy level, but Frankenstein’s degree of these qualities were way past sustainable—way past endurable. Shelley related him to the creature, because his unsatisfied heart could only be
He thinks that he is apart of the human community and he is made from other humans, but the monster is entirely not human. His mind thinks that all “creatures” are alike. The monster’s appearance is out of the norm. It was impossible for him to not receive the treatment among man because the parts in which he was created by does not look human anymore. He is an abortion and an anomaly in society and his existence is extremely monstrous. It was very uncommon for the monster to exist in the world because no one would think Frankenstein's experiment was possible (“Mary”). Since the monster gained a personality and a sense of feeling, he expresses his feelings through actions and other influences. “Treat a person ill, and he will become wicked...divide him, a social being, from society, and you impose upon him the irresistible obligations- malevolence and selfishness” (“Mary” 27). If you treat someone badly, they will become the person you made them to be. The monster was bullied by the people just for the way he looks and later made him a bully to the humans. “The creature’s more heinous actions, for all intents and purposes, may make him a true monster, but it is important to note that he is not irretrievably so. He consistently displays the capacity and drive to be something
In Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, the story begins with a man named Robert Walton adventuring off on a expedition to the North Pole. While on his journey, Walton and his crew finds a weary man, who is close to death, Victor Frankenstein. From that point forward the story goes on to talk about Victor's life. Victor had a kind and loving family, as well as an innocent childhood. He had a passion for science, and was especially interested in electricity. His fascination becomes an obsession, he separated himself from society and isolated himself in his studies. Victor planned to create life, and was able to accomplish his dreams. His creation was ready to be revealed, but instead of the beautiful creature he imagined, the final
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.
The never-ending debate on nature versus nurture— in which living beings become who they are through genetics, or their upbringing— is commonly cited in trying to decipher why living beings do the things they do. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Shelley casts blame onto society for its refusal to accept, and nurture, a creature like that of the Monster. Despite the Monster’s actions— which show care and kindness towards others— he is continuously shunned and battered for his appearance, which is the utmost reason for his murderous conclusion.
In life there are many evils that will try to defeat a person but the key to living a happy, fulfilling life is learning to have empathy for others who are facing their own evils. Empathy is hard to have if a person has not endured any real struggles in their life. Being able to know firsthand how it feels to go through difficulties helps create a level of empathy that leads to compassion for one another. Victor Frankenstein is a prime example of someone who has faced evils in their own life but in the end did not find compassion for others, instead he found his own hell. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor’s lack of empathy opens the door into his world of selfishness, cruelty, and unhappiness.
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.
With more broadcasting of evil each day, the question; “what makes a monster” is often asked. Monstrosity is the state or fact of being monstrous. Monstrous by definition can mean having a frightening opinion, extremely large, or a person who is outrageously evil. Many artists and journalist have tried to tackle the question, though two authors in particular stand out. In Frankenstein Mary Shelley uses the hideous looks of the monster along with the average looks of Victor to show her readers that monstrosity comes from within. In The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde uses the beauty of Dorian to communicate appearance is meaningless when it comes to monstrosity.
Once the creature begins to go out on his own and learn about life and society, during his first interaction with other people he learns that he will be immediately judged based on how he looks. To start, when Frankenstein first sees the creature, he quickly runs away without any interaction and exclaims “no mortal could support the horror of that countenance” (Shelley 36). This interaction made the monster realize that even his creator could not avoid the habits of the society he lived in, and immediately ran away from him in fear because he didn’t believe he was attractive. Then after that, the creature still has enough hope to go into a village and meet other people, but he is immediately met with children that “shrieked” and one woman who “fainted” just at the sight of him (Shelley 74). In every situation where the creature attempts to interact with others, he is shunned immediately, before even being able to say a word. The village even drives him away with the threat of weapons. This immediate judgement threatened the creature’s life and taught him immediately that society is unkind to those who fall outside of their idea of attractive. Because this is one of the first and only things the creature learns from his little interaction with society, it suggests that it is not only important, but also very
Science covers numerous viewpoints of everyday life and reality. There are numerous studies that include the study of environment, universe, and animals. Another well known study of science is the study of people and life. In “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein is an inspiring scientist who researched the dead. Victor hopes to be the first person ever to accomplish the impossible by giving life to the dead. He is so invested in his work that he ignores his personal life. Although, when Victor finally succeeds at achieving his goal, it is not what it seems. Victor’s creation has lead to tragedy and destruction. Hence, Victor Frankenstein is responsible for the outcome of his fate because of his fixation with being god, his disregard to humankind, and his selfishness.
The creature, Victor Frankenstein’s creation, had to suffer and tolerate life without care, love, or identity. The creature was never given a name because Victor didn’t want his monster to become more human-like. It can reinforce that the creature is property, and not a human being that is loved and cared for. Names are important for everyone because it is the easiest way to have self-identity.
There is no other creature in existence that is as communal and gregarious as human beings, due to this, whenever one feels deserted or segregated by the rest of society, they tend to become cold and bitter. In Frankenstein, or, The Modern Day Prometheus, Mary Shelley portrays the monster, as well as its creator, as outcasts from society. Although, Victor has a family, and a wife while the creature does not, Victor feels he is emotionally detached from the rest of his loved ones. Due to his emotional confinement, Victor feels that he cannot trust even his wife with the knowledge of the horrible creature in which he has created. This sense of being an
All throughout Mary Shelley's novel she tells a story about how Victor the creator is clearly the real monster and his creation is the victim. Moral of the story the monster in frankenstein is only characterized to be a monster because that's what the people define him to be. Society has certain standards and it you don't meet their requirements then you're considered “abnormal.”
The novel “Frankenstein,” by Mary Shelley tells the story of a man named Victor Frankenstein, who decides to go against the laws of nature by bringing to life a being constructed with decaying body parts. Victor believes in natural philosophy and science, which leads him to the idea of creating this Creature. Although this novel can be interpreted in many ways, I believe that Mary Shelley is shining a light on the harmful and dangerous impacts that prejudice and assumptions can have on people who are considered different. Shelley may be suggesting that humanity is the true 'monster ' due to its socialized ideologies that make ambition, self-greed and rage fulfilling. Even to this day society is known to shun those who we do not see as equals. It is my belief that society is the true ‘monster’ in the novel, and that it is through our experiences and interactions with society that shapes us into the person that we become. Because of the creatures experiences with abandonment, abuse, rejection, and lack of nurture, the creature turns from an innocent soul into a murderous monster.
Author Mary Shelley was on August 30, 1797, in London, England. She was the descendant of theorist and political writer William Godwin and renowned feminist Mary Wollstonecraft the author of The Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Shelley unfortunately didn’t know who her mother was as she died after a short time of her birth. William Godwin who was Shelley father was the only one left to take care of her. The step sister Fanny Imlay was Wollstonecraft's offspring from an affair, with a soldier. Frankenstein is a book by Marry Shelley regarding a learner of science named Victor Frankenstein, who generates a hideous but receptive creature in an eccentric technological trial. The novel was written at the age of eighteen