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The Double-Edged Sword In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

1090 Words5 Pages

As a species we have always strived towards the next best thing and in the day of technology the next best thing is robots and AI’s. This level of technology can help us in a plethora of ways from day to day chores for government agencies and the military. But there are people that do not believe that this level of technology will help us for the better. Some wonder if we will be able to control these creations and whether or not they will be ok with the fact that they work for us and are interests. This effect of the double edged sword has been a constant issue that we as humans have had to face but in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein this issue affects Victor and the monster. Victor is a man that wants to be a jack of all trades but his main focus is on alchemy and creating life. His thirst for knowledge leads him to create the monster which he hates with all his heart. This leads the monster to learn everything by himself. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the use of science, technology and knowledge is a double edged sword due to the constant conflict between the Creature and Victor. When Victor wanted to make the monster there was good intentions, which will lead to bad results. Victor as a young boy didn’t have a major father …show more content…

In the beginning Victor just wanted to learn how to create life, but when he does, he creates an ugly creature that he has no love for. When the Creature is alone, he must learn everything from scratch, but what he learns first give him a grim perspective on humanity. These two paths cross to cause everyone Victor loves to die by the Creature's hands and in the end their own lives are not spared. The double-edged sword is shown throughout the book by Victor's actions by creating the monster to the creature committing murders. All of this matters in the end because all this back and forth will lead to their own

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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,

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The Dangers Of Ambition In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Ambition as propelling it is, however can lead to the demise of the person influenced by it. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, informs the reader of the consequences of ambition, by telling a story of man named Victor Frankenstein who is overwhelmed by his ambition to see the atrocities he commits. In his ignorance created a monster who served to be Victor’s mistake as he slaughtered his family members. The novel illustrates the dangers of ambition because it is the main reason of Victor’s downfall. Pursuing a desire too strongly as to cause obsession is what destroyed Victor.

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Frankenstein: Selfish And Selfishness In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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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.

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He uses the little that he knows to fuel his hatred towards humans and his creator. This shows the exponential growth of the problems that Victor has created as a result of his desire for knowledge. Not only did he create the destructive monster, but now the monster is using a hunger for knowledge, the very thing that created it, to do even more damage. This root cause is linked to everything that is causing Victor’s suffering. The monster also compares his relationship to Victor to that of God and Adam, wishing that he had the same supplication to his creator that Adam did, “I remembered Adam’s supplication to his creator.

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Tragedy And Destruction In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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