The Importance Of Depression In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

The novel Frankenstein outlines the loss of innocence best through two characters, Frankenstein and his monster. Innocent characters would have lived and the monster would have never wanted revenge if Frankenstein had not rejected him. When Frankenstein lost his innocence, the family and friends in his hometown became endangered. Frankenstein losing his innocence also resulted in the creation of a monster, whom took his anger out on the people Frankenstein loved. The downfall of Victor Frankenstein resulted in the destruction of his own creation and the deaths of innocent people he held close to his heart.

These are Victor 's last wishes before he dies a short time after. “And do I dare to ask of you to understand my pilgrimage... No; I am not selfish...and survive to add to the list of his dark crimes" (Shelley 218). This means that Frankenstein is very obsessed with killing the creature. It has come to a point where his only purpose in life is to have the creature killed. Even if that means he has to ask a stranger or a friend to finish the job for him.

Abandoning his creation only brought out the truly evil side. The deprivation of companionship leads the creature to kill Frankenstein’s brother, William, not just to kill the young boy though. The creature tells Frankenstein that he killed William but he only executed the plan so that Frankenstein could truly feel the way that he did. He let Frankenstein know how he truly felt saying, “I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me”, (p.172). The death of his brother was to aid him in seeing that his creation did not have trust and did not have friendship.

Once victor brings the creature to life, he immediately realizes the hideousness of what he has done: “Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley 56). Furthermore, Victor struggles to cope with his creation throughout the novel. The creature wants to take revenge on Victor for abandoning him and causes Victor grief by killing the people he cares about. When the creature kills, Victor feels responsible and guilty of the murders. He continually breaks down with each death by “his” hands, which makes him go mad.

He decides he cannot complete his project. The Creature just did not want to be alone forever, but, Victor destroyed his lifelong partner. This is the last straw for the Creature, and, he is so upset he kills Henry Clerval, Victor 's best friend (129). A little while after killing Clerval, the Creature kills Elizabeth too, Victor 's wife (144). Victor was destroyed emotionally, which is what the

In this time, Frankenstein’s entire life is put on hold, as he is preoccupied with this task. He is unexpectedly killed at the end of the novel, and while it is not possible to state for sure who or what is responsible for his death, one can infer that it was the being, due to the fact that he was present at the scene and the time of the crime, and he was wanting to get revenge on Victor. Frankenstein’s last years of his life are stripped away from him due to this obsession he had with hunting his creature because of what he thought it

Victor’s actions resulted in the Creature killing others because Victor made the Creature miserable. When Victor first created the Creature, he observed it with horror and disgust. When the Creature found out what Victor thought of him he stated “I am solitary and abhorred” (111). Finding out that even his creator hated him filled the Creature with agony and rage. These emotions that Victor brought upon the Creature compelled him to kill Victor’s loved ones.

Each character was willing to commit their life to one thing; each causing sorrow to them and their loved ones. The monster committed his entire life to getting revenge on Frankenstein. The monster caused so much pain for Victor that his action greatly contributed to the novels entire tragedy. When the monster was first created, he was abandoned and disowned by his creator. He wandered off into forest and learned how to survive on his own.

It is clear that Dr. Frankenstein is in a regretful mindset when he states, “I suffered living torture.” Meaning that he knew it was never Justine who killed William. However, he would never be able to speak up because he is fearful that he will be perceived as mad by his family and by the public. This was just one of the consequences that Frankenstein has to face due to his creation. Frankenstein also recognizes the fact that it is ultimately his own fault that William has died and that Justine will be wrongly sentenced for his death. Thus the reason he states that the trial is a “wretched mockery of justice.” The death of both William and Justine then lie on Victor Frankenstein’s shoulders.

The creation was driven by revenge and became a real monster. He swears to take revenge on his creator, Victor, so he killed Victor’s friends and family one by one. In the end, the monster also killed Victor’s wife Elizabeth. It wanted Victor to know how it felt during its life, lonely and misunderstood. In the middle of the novel, Victor makes a statement to Walton about his destiny, trying to use his own experience to exhort, change, and prevent Walton’s desire and passion for adventure.