How Is Frankenstein Selfish

Duality is shown in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, a gothic tale of a scientist whom looks to advance the life-giving qualities of mother nature. Through this novel, Shelley proves that good and evil in human nature is not always simple to define, and that everyone has both of these qualities within them. The duality of human nature is shown through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his monster, who are both heroes in the novel while simultaneously displaying anti-hero qualities. Shelley forces the reader to sympathize with them both but also creates gruesome ideas of the two.

The gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley centralizes on humanity and the qualifications that make someone human. The content of the novel Frankenstein depicts a monster displaying human traits that his creator Victor does not possess: empathy, a need for companionship, and a will to learn and fit in.

If only one person had loved him, he wouldn't have killed all those people. If you look at it this way, you'll come to the conclusion that Frankenstein and the other people that met him were to blame for the monster's

However, according to Laurence M. Porter, as soon as Frankenstein actually succeeds in his goal, he “at some moments rejects his creature with horror and at others recognizes it as a sort of double,” both terrified and enthralled by its unnatural implications. However, Frankenstein’s shortsighted response to The Creature cause his failure to predict The Creature’s wrath and his narcissism causes his failure to prevent it. To illustrate, he cannot work up the courage to admit his indirect responsibility for his brother’s murder, instead allowing innocent Justine to take the fall, showing how his narcissism further accelerates the disintegration of his family. Instead of concerning himself with

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic novel that tells the story of scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his obsession with creating human life. This leads him to creating a gruesome monster made of body-parts stolen from grave yards, whom upon discovering his hideousness, the monster seeks revenge against his creator, causing Victor to regret the creation of his monster for the rest of his life. Shelley uses the literary elements of personification, imagery, and similes to give a vivid sense and visualization of Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and feelings as well as to allow us to delve deeper into the monster’s actions and emotions. Throughout the novel, Shelley uses personification of various forces and objects to reflect the effect in Victor’s actions.

Victor Frankenstein caused his own misery and destruction, which is why he is to blame for what

The fictional horror novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is driven by the accentuation of humanity’s flaws. Even at the very mention of her work an archetypal monster fills one’s imagination, coupled with visions of a crazed scientist to boot. Opening her novel with Robert Walton, the conduit of the story, he also serves as a character to parallel the protagonist’s in many ways. As the ‘protagonist’ of the story, Victor Frankenstein, takes on the mantle of the deluded scientist, his nameless creation becomes the embodiment of a truly abandoned child – one left to fend for itself against the harsh reality posed by society. On the other hand, Walton also serves as a foil to Victor – he is not compulsive enough to risk what would be almost

In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s Monster experiences a sense of self-actualization after coming to terms with his “monster” identity. In chapter 13, after Frankenstein’s Monster learns about human history and social norms, he conducted a self-analysis of his current self. He stated, “I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome”. Moreover, when he “looked around, he saw and heard of none like [himself]. Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned” (138). Through the knowledge he acquired from spying in on the Felix family, he gained the understanding that his grotesque look doomed him to be marginalized within human society; therefore, his understanding of human history destined himself to be a monster. Although, this self-realization of a monster identity plays a huge role in the general plot and character development of Frankenstein’s Monster, it hints at a subtler interpretation of the nature of knowledge.

Imagine a man walking down the street suddenly getting robbed. The man who is pickpocketed will certainly detest such injustice and gain the sympathy of society. On the other hand, the thief will be looked down by society. People judge the thief based only on this incident and brand him as a disgraceful and spiteful member of the community. What the public has failed to realize are the internal strife and emotions that the perpetrator has to bear due to his crime. If he or she were given the choice to steal or to be robbed, a generous person would choose to be the victim rather than the despised doer. Such a thought did not escape from Nietzsche, who regarded this concept as a folly of injustice: “An injustice we have perpetrated is much harder to bear than an injustice perpetrated against us” (Nietzsche). However, does everyone who perpetrates a crime bear much more than if he

This much is true for Victor’s failure to take responsibility for not only teaching his creation about life but also failure to take responsibility for the actions of his creation. “Frankenstein! You belong then to my enemy… you shall be my first victim” (153). Victor’s knows that he is responsible for the death of William because he abandoned his creation and made the monster learn the hard way that he would not be accepted into society. But he has no choice but to let Justine take the fall for the death of his brother because he fears being seen as a madman.

Firstly, when Frankenstein receives the message of the death of his beloved brother, he falls into deep grief, and says to his friend Henry Clerval, that “’Even Cato wept over the dead body of his brother’” (51). Cato was a Roman statesman who was known for opposing emotional stress (“Cato the Younger”). Yet, when his brother died, he is miserable, and weeps over his brother. Frankenstein, derived from this reference, had a strong connection with his sibling. It might have been uncustomary to grieve that period, but Frankenstein’s misery overtakes his will not to grieve.

Nature is the predetermined traits that people are born with, while nurture is the influence that affects people after they’re born. The debate surrounding Nature V. Nurture is how much of a person’s traits is predetermined and how much is influenced by the environment. Mary Shelley's believes in nurture more than nature.

One of the most significant of these deaths was Justine. She was working as a servant and when William died she was wrongfully accused of the murder. At the time of this occurrence Frankenstein intentionally does not mention his creation, as this would reflect poorly on himself. Justine was then executed leaving no one but Victor to blame, when he realizes the outcome he utters these words, “A thousand times rather would I have confessed to render her happy life, now all was to be obliterated, and I the cause!” , this clearly exemplifies how Victor is responsible for the actions of his creation (Shelley Ch.9).

Victor Frankenstein turns away from his responsibilities by ignoring the existence of his creation. Throughout the novel, Victor is constantly running away from the monster and not giving him attention, which resulted in the monsters change of personalities. For example, in page 71 the creation said, “All men hate the wretched; how must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us.” This quote suggests that because of the ignorance of Victor the monster began to become evil and have the urge to seek

First, Frankenstein is responsible for his actions as he is the one who had created him in the first place. Frankenstein likes to finish on what he has started. You can tell he was determined to create a creature as he working on it for six years. Even though he had finished it, it was not what he wanted. As seen on page 26 Frankenstein wanted to create an angel, but since he judged the monster on his appearance