Not Guilty In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Often in a novel, an author will make the relationship between a parental figure and a child be one of conflict to emphasize their relationship to each other. However, in the 1818 Gothic Romantic novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley uses the father and son relationship between scientist Victor Frankenstein and the creature as a tool to demonstrate that one must take responsibility for their actions and that monsters are not born monsters visualized through Victor’s abandonment of the creature, the monsters reaction to being shunned and Victor’s failure to comply with the creatures request to create a partner.

The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley says a person is responsible for their actions if they do not weigh the possible consequences of their actions before making their final decision. Throughout the novel, Mary Shelley shows the consequences of actions that are done without proper thought beforehand. Victor Frankenstein wants to create life, he wants to be god, and his lust for this goal overtakes his common sense. Victor rushes into making his creature and then makes rash decisions which also contributes to his demise and the death of several of his close friends and family. The monster should be held responsible for his actions to a certain extent, however, his actions are influenced by Victor’s initial impetuous decisions. Mary Shelley shows this burden of responsibility throughout the book by continually showing the reader how much Victor’s unthoughtful actions affect his future, and how he copes with the results.

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.

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, shows how a character who is portrayed as a tragic hero, in the beginning, can become the monster in the end. Victor and the Monster in Mary Shelley’s captivating novel showed how rival enemies share striking similarities. The similarities between the two tragic characters are driven by their dreary isolation from the secluded world. A large difference is that they were both raised in two completely different environments but understood the meaning of isolation. Physical differences are more noticeable rather than their personalities. At first, Victor is horrified by his creation but eventually becomes more and more like it. With a desire to destroy each other both are left alone to come up with a plan of revenge since they took each other's most prized possessions.

In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein spends two whole years toiling to create a being which is comprised of the body parts of various dead corpses, for the purposes of science. Finally, he creates the “monster”, who commits a multitude of crimes, resulting in the deaths of many innocent people.These horrific murders raise many questions concerning who is to be held accountable. Victor walked away from the situation he created instead of facing his actions. If he had chosen to stay this could have prevented the heinous crimes committed by the monster as a result of Victor’s mental and emotional Neglect. Victor Frankenstein is guilty of not only negligence, but also the crimes the monster commits as they were a direct result

The novel Frankenstein brings to light many problems and situations that shed light on the faults of mankind. Cruelty was a huge factor in the novel; throughout Frankenstein is cruel to his body and to his creation. When he first makes the creature he runs from it, leaving the creature to fend for himself; even when reuniting with the creature he continues displays cruelty. The creature, in turn exhibits Victor cruelty right back. Within Frankenstein cruelty can be attributed, often affecting both Victor and the creature; serving as a crucial motivator and revealing their anger, pain, frustration till eventually both die.

Guilt can either be an emotion that makes a person feel remorse for his or her’s actions toward another, or can be the conduct involving the executions of such crimes and wrongs. In the novel, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, both definitions of guilt were the common theme. However, the main problem was whether the creature or the creator, Victor Frankenstein, were guiltier for their actions. The one presumed to be more guilty was Victor Frankenstein who created the monster in the first place causing his family pain and failed to take responsibility for the monster’s actions. Although he didn’t directly kill his family, the monster is guilty too. Victor Frankenstein caused his own misery and destruction, which is why he is to blame for what

In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, it scrutinizes the punishments when a man creates life, and plays the role of God. Victor Frankenstein, is at fault for the creature’s actions. Victor was looking for some honor and triumph, but when he accomplished his experiment, not only did it bring terror to Victor, but to the whole world. The monster never learned right from wrong and was never raised correctly, his first moment of life, all he experienced was the fear in Victor's emotion, and was abandoned right from the start. Victor selfishly isolated himself from society and ran away from his responsibilities which caused destruction to the people Victor cared for and loved deeply. The creature was known as a monster and was doomed due to his appearance. The crimes were done by the creature due to the revenge he sought out for towards Victor. The creature cannot be to blame for his behavior, Victor Frankenstein is the only one at fault for the murderers and wrong doings of his creature.

One out of every three children living in America lives without a father figure in his/her lives. Children growing up without a father figure can develop emotional and/or behavioral problems. In some cases, these children even become aggressive and get into trouble with the law (“Statistics on the Father Absence” n.p.). Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, occurs in Geneva and Ingolstadt, and portrays Victor Frankenstein as a deadbeat father figure to his creation because he does not take responsibility for him, and he must ultimately deal with the consequences of his creature.

People are not born with the mentality to kill—or are they? Human ambition and desires vary from one another, but for the most part, humans do not seek to commit atrocities. If they do, then who is to blame, the murderer or the ones who raised the murderer? In Mary Shelley’s novel, the main character, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, stitched body parts together to create a beyond hideous, vile-looking creature which caused Frankenstein to abandon him at sight. When the monster ends up killing Frankenstein’s beloved brother due to resentment, one can argue that the creature’s actions are justified (55). The murders and immoral actions of Frankenstein’s monster are justified because he did not have a parental figure, was neglected by the general public,

This brings us back to Frankenstein, Victor 's relationship with his parents friend, and Elizabeth translated by good words, Shelley uses quotes to emphasize the importance of human relationships (especially, family 's relationship) and how important they are to a person 's well-being “My children, my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of your union. This expectation will now be the consolation of your father. Elizabeth, my love, you must supply my place to my younger children. Alas! I regret that I am taken from you; and, happy and beloved as I have been, is it not hard to quit you all? But these are not thoughts befitting me; I will endeavour to resign myself cheerfully to death, and will indulge a hope of meeting you in another world”(24).

Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” is an inspirational work of horror and science fiction; it is the narrative of an unorthodox act of creation, of a monster which torments his miserable creator. The author puts forth ideas, and reinforces it through the development of the plot, that mankind is capable of both good and evil. Shelly demonstrates the ‘humanity’ of the creature; his actions and his inclination are like those of mankind. Indeed, even the negative aspect of his character, demonstrated through his quest for revenge, has a parallel in the actions of his human creator. In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” the creature is represented as being vicious and murderous but he is not inherently evil or malicious. Thus,

Have you ever been held responsible for the tragedies caused to others? For most the answer is no, however, for some, their actions have led to the misfortune of guiltless lives. In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, because of the absence of attention and teaching, the reanimated creation Frankenstein is unstable; Victor Frankenstein is who to blame. Two events that he should be accountable for are not training his creation to know right from wrong and abounding the monster which led to the murder of innocent people.

In the novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, Victor and the Creature are the main references when it comes to the issues of morality. Several themes such as good versus evil, prejudice, and ambition & fallibility, the importance of friendship along with references to other famous texts like the Christian bible are manifested through the use of Victor and the Creature as they interact with each other allowing readers to construe examples of morality. Many debaters may argue the Creature is “evil” since a majority of his actions harm others while Victor is good because he was the victim and seeks to destroy his creation. However, one may counter this argument if they accentuate Victor is evil since he was the Creature’s creator,

Morality. It has been questioned, emphasized, and respected since the beginning of time. Yet even today, not one human being can say what is morally right. Rather, morality is a matter of opinion. It was the opinion of Victor Frankenstein which stated that it was alright to create a “monster”. Victor Frankenstein’s creation needed a companion. Knowing that his first creation was evil, should Victor make a second? With the knowledge at hand, to Victor, it is not at all morally correct to bring another monster into the world. And yet, Shelley describes this story as a morality tale throughout the story, bringing up questions such as “What is the right thing to do?” and “Looking back, should I have done what I did?” Two events really stand out