The Role Of Blame In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Without anyone to guide him and help him learn from more than just literature, the monster was forced to learn the hard way. The downfall of the monster started when he fell in love with the De-Lacey family. Loving this family, though it taught him something valuable, caused him to turn into an actual monster. Confronting them and being rejected affected the monster worse than a normal man, as he now completely understood what his place in society was. Unfortunately, this made the monster result to revenge and decide to use his corruption to hurt his creator.

In reality, he is disgusted by the sight of his creation so he abandons it leaving it all alone in the world without any guidance and runs away to the next room. Victor himself suffered from being a social outcast and now he bestowed the same feeling onto the creature by abandoning him. By treating the creature as an outcast, “he will become wicked … divide him, a social being, from society, and you impose upon him the irresistible obligations—malevolence and selfishness” (Caldwell). Not only is Victor selfish for abandoning his creature but he is shallow as well. Instead of realizing that he achieved his goal of bringing life to an inanimate body he runs way because of how hideous it is.

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. Victor first begins creating the monster, working tirelessly for selfish reasons. His body suffers tremendously and he drags himself along treating his body like a slave. He states: “My cheeks have grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement.” (Shelly 33) Frankenstein states that his “cheeks have grown pale” showing that he was sick, but he does not stop to nourish himself. He is wasting

Victor ran only because he thought the Creature was hideous. “I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as Dante could not have conceived (36).” At this point, the Creature was just a baby who had the physical capabilities of a superhero. The health and survival of any baby is dependent on social interactions. Without the proper knowledge of anything, especially companionship, the Creature was forced to live a lonely and depressing life. Perhaps, in this novel, Shelley was hinting that the monster like qualities shown by both Victor and Frankenstein are ones that often plague the human race.

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.

This was evidenced by Frankenstein rejecting the creature due to its physical appearance. He was also afraid that the creature resembled how he felt on the inside. Frankenstein tried to run from his emotions while the creature was discovering his. Mary Shelley described this encounter with the De Laceys after observing the family for a considerable time. “I felt sensations of a peculiar and overpowering nature: they were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never before experienced, either from hunger or cold, warmth or food.” I do not believe that Frankenstein was a bad person, but one that was irresponsible and afraid.

By breaking the law, neglecting his creation, and selfishly withholding information, Frankenstein made the already miserable existence of the monster indefensible. Even the first action Victor takes in constructing his abomination is reprehensible, by breaking the law he dooms his project from the beginning. Simply animating life was not enough for Frankenstein, he had to create a “human” but not just any ordinary human, a towering 8 foot tall beast sewed together using the stolen remains of the dead. While relating the gruesome details of his conquest to Walton, Frankenstein mentions that not only did he rob graves, but he “tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay”. By using the graves of the poor and the backs of tortured animals as stepping stones to reach his goal, Frankenstein makes both himself and the things he creates disgusting.

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,

The creature’s emotional anguish caused him to snap and proves that he has a very complex human mind. Frankenstein succeeded in creating a human, but he “made” him a monster by depriving and failing to care for his most basic human needs. A reader of Frankenstein comes away with a very different image of the creature than what is accepted by society. The creature becomes human-like to most readers and while his monstrous crimes are not excusable; they are

At first, the creature created seems gentle and harmless, but because of its grotesque appearance, he is forced to hide away from civilization. This “Monster” feels frustrated and angry towards mankind, which leads him to seek revenge on his creator. The author presents an exceptional character in Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the Creature. They are almost like two halves of a

When first meeting Frankenstein, the monster “muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks” (61, Shelley). This horrifies Frankenstein as he “escaped and rushed down the stairs” (61, Shelley). The monster assumes Frankenstein is his mother. However, as the monster reaches towards Frankenstein, “rather than clasping his newborn child to his breast in a nurturing maternal gesture, he rushes out of the room”, indicating Frankenstein’s un-nurturing spirit (Mellor). Frankenstein’s lack of feminine nurture leaves the creature in abandonment, demonstrating the isolation caused from lack of nurture.

Victor then realizes that creating a woman for the monster would possibly end human existence. Once he completes it he then rips it apart so the monstrosity will not spread. This causes the monster to be lonely, and become angry. When Dr. Frankenstein creates life from a monstrosity of parts he abandons it in disgust that he had the nerve to give an inanimate object life. From the