Theme Of Selfishness In Frankenstein

Responsibility is the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the reader finds many examples of the importance, need, and especially lack of responsibility with characters like Victor and the monster. A reader of Frankenstein sees multifarious examples of Shelley’s theme of the dangers in not taking responsibility even today in the real world. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Shelley’s portrayal of Victor as selfish suggests that not taking responsibility can lead to pain, death, and the suffering of others as we see in the novel which relates to today's society of powerful countries not taking responsibility for the weapons that they create, and the damage that is revealed as a result. Characters in Frankenstein not taking responsibility show the reader the potential dangers of pain and death in numerous situations in the novel.

Beginning with Victor abandoning the creature at birth, the series of revenge and hatred-filled events begin to occur as both attempt to find justice and retribution. The creature stole the lives of everyone beloved by Victor, and Victor stole the monster’s chance at happiness by abandoning him. As the characters continuously harm each other, their isolation increases as well as their sanity. In the end, numerous family members perish, Victor Frankenstein dies of physical exhaustion, and the creature conveys his desire to

Simultaneously, Victor failing to take responsibility for his own creation leads the creature down a path of destruction that manufactures his status as a societal outcast. The creature's dissolution from society, his search for someone to share his life with, the familiarity with intense anguish, his thirst for retribution, each of these traits coincide with Victor as he is depicted throughout the novel. Victor unknowingly induces his own undoing through his rejection of the creature. Shelley foreshadows his downfall by stating that “the monster still protested his innate goodness, blaming Victor’s rejection and man’s unkindness as the source of his evil” (Shelley 62) The creature essentially places Victor at fault for the creature becoming an outcast of society, by expressing this Shelley constructs a very austere portrayal of man’s contact with outsiders. Virginia Brackett asserts in her analysis of the novel that “Due to the monster's rejection by the cottagers and other humans, Victor serves not only as his creator but also as the only social construct on which he can build his reality” As the creator of the creature, Victor adopted the responsibility of his creation and the duties that accompany it, however, instead of answering the call of duty he fled and disregarded his obligation to the creature.

“I shall perish, said he, I must perish in this deplorable folly. Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost. I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results”(117-180) In this quote he his referring to the fact that he would rather die than live deprived society as he sees it coming. Poe does not kow to interpret society corruption and falls into the dark and negative way of acting and making decisions. Poe Uses internal conflict to portray the bigger image that is happening inside of Roderick’s mind but he still

However, in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, events beyond the mariner’s control result in his isolation. The mariner slaughters the albatross, a symbol of fortune, which destroys his crew, “Alone, alone, all alone, / Alone on a wide wide sea! / And never a saint took pity on / My soul in agony” (Coleridge 231-235). The mariner evokes nature’s destructive powers which devastate his crew, leaving him stranded on a deserted ship. The mariner’s punishment is similar to Victor’s because both characters witness death but survive and live in solitude.

In the novel Frankenstein,by Mary Shelley, the mysterious and unnatural origins of the character of Frankenstein’s monster are an important element. The Monster, having been created unethically and haphazardly, is at odds throughout the novel, resulting in his alienation from society and prolonged feelings of anger, desertion, and loneliness. Shaping his character, his relationships with other characters, and the meaning of the work as a whole, the Monster’s origins are what define him. The Monster faces rejection and violence every time he attempts to make contact with the new, foreign world he has been thrust into. Having been created from mismatched body parts, the majority of which had been decomposing for some amount of time, the Monster is grotesque and inhuman despite having human parts.

His quest for absolute knowledge and power will eventually end his own ruin. Frankenstein created a Creature that later resented him for his creation. The unnamed Creature believes that Frankenstein should have to pay for the damage he has done. The Creature and Frankenstein develop a contrasting relationship throughout the novel and end in somewhat compassionate relationship. Frankenstein created a Creature out of recycled parts which resulted in the creature not being highly appealing.

“Feel very sad, down, empty, or hopeless have very little energy have decreased activity levels.”(NIMH). Victor felt rage, “Villain! Before you sign my death-warrant, be sure that you are safe.”(Shelley 158). Victor felt this way because his creation killed his brother and put the blame on his other loved one. The other thought Victor had about suicide was, “In that hour I should die and at once satisfy and extinguish his malice.”(Shelley 158).

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.

Frankenstein left the monster alone, and the monster reacted for seeking that Frankenstein should feel just as much loneliness and woe and he did by killing off his entire family. Shelly is therefore claiming that one's own nature and forms in which they were nurtured (Frankenstein) have an effect on those of others, and can even cause someone else to be more inhumane than the original person (the daemon). This is seen in human nature, where one who experiences abandonment from a parent because the parent's nature causes them to flee, this person will be more likely to commit crimes due to their loneliness and lack of direction by a parental figure. This translates directly into the plot of the story,