Victor's Narcissism In Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has been an American classic for almost 200 years, which contains both philosophical and moral themes in the text, making the reader question the limits of humankind and its desire for power. For every character presented in the story their independent desire to overcome their intentions becomes so intense that the future that lies upon them is nothing close to what they can imagine. Victor Frankenstein´s desire to quench his thirst for power ends up clouding his judgement and making him elude the future that awaits him.

The novel Frankenstein brings to light many problems and situations that shed light on the faults of mankind. Cruelty was a huge factor in the novel; throughout Frankenstein is cruel to his body and to his creation. When he first makes the creature he runs from it, leaving the creature to fend for himself; even when reuniting with the creature he continues displays cruelty. The creature, in turn exhibits Victor cruelty right back. 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.

In the novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, the main character Victor Frankenstein is portrayed as a pathological narcissist throughout the entire story, he has this personality trait because of a traumatizing event that occurred in his youth changing his ideology to pursue a way to be better than death itself and play as a god.

Victor has created a monster, an “abhorred devil” who torments him throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Indeed, the creature commits several horrid acts, which drives Frankenstein to pursue him into the Arctic. Yet the creature does not inspire the same fear or revulsion in the reader; instead he gathers sympathy. While Frankenstein may beg to differ, the reader connects with the monster because he is isolated from the world and surprisingly has a gentle heart.

In Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the creature 's acquisition of knowledge leads to his diversion from benevolence to pure hatred towards mankind. The works of Victor Frankenstein, the monster was created by old body parts and strange chemicals, animated by a spark making him come to life. The Creature enters life as an eight-foot giant only to have been created with the intellect of a newborn. Abandoned by his creator and confused, the Creature attempts to integrate himself into society only to be shunned away in disgust by humanity. The Creature then makes his way and lives next to a human family which is essentially the start for the creatures detestation towards humanity. The Creature 's mind still of a newborn begins to observe his human neighbors as through observations and interactions the family has demonstrates the positive and negative aspects of the Creature.

When people hear the word “monster”, most people imagine a massive, horrid, and grotesque figure that haunts people. While pondering what a monster is, mankind thinks of the outward appearance. Seldom do people think of man’s internal qualities as being barbaric or gruesome. Authors allow readers to create their own images of these terrifying beings. Frankenstein is a thought-provoking novel that empowers readers to have their own opinions about who the actual monster is and what it looks like. Readers can conclude that Victor Frankenstein is the actual monster in Frankenstein because of how he views himself, how he creates destruction, and how he destroys himself.

Joyce Carol Oates states in her essay Frankenstein Fallen Angel, “…he (Victor) seems blind to the fact that is apparent to any reader – that he has loosed a fearful power into the world, whether it strikes his eye as aesthetically pleasing or not, and he must take responsibility for it.” Victor is unwilling to care for the creature, because he finds him dreadful, so he takes the easy way out and leaves the creature to take care of himself, which he is not capable of doing. Victor’s obsession to act superhuman blinded him while he was creating the creature because he had a desire to assemble the creature from makeshift parts so that the creature would be hideous and therefore inferior to Victor. The creature is formed as an ugly being so that it is easier for Victor to walk away from. Victor is willing to abandon his own creation because he views the creature as a, “… filthy mass that moved and talked” (136). Victor is stirred by his work, but not in a positive manner. He goes on to explain his feelings towards the creature by saying, “… my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred” (136). Victor is so bewildered and repulsed by the creature that he misses key signs of violence, from the creature, that may have saved Victor’s family had he not been so

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein brings his creation to life and has to endure the repercussions of his actions. While Victor is in fact human, the question of whether the creature or Victor is more human still stands. Humanity is demonstrated as compassionate in the book and monstrosity is the opposite. The creature is more human because of his developed personality and desire to be human. Victor, although born into a humane family, evolved into everything bad about humanity; he developed obsession, resentment, and manipulated life to conform to his idealities. Therefore, Victor is the real monster.

he author of Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw, and the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, both integrate the theme of creation into their novels. Henry Higgins the creator in, Pygmalion, and Dr. Frankenstein the creator in, Frankenstein, utilize new and innovative techniques to transform their victims into a new creations. They attempt to play the role of divine creator by making breakthroughs that are immoral and unprecedented. In the process they neglect the needs of their victims and focus on self-interest. The Monster in the novel, Frankenstein, and Eliza Doolittle in the novel, Pygmalion, are similar in the way that they both regret their creation and feel rejected by their creators; however, Eliza is able to be integrated into society

“At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification”(Shelley 80). The Creation of Frankenstein woke up in a world of hate. Since he looked different, the Monster never fit in with normal people. He would become isolated and feared because of his looks. Because the Monster was a hideous creation from Frankenstein, he was isolated and hated by his looks and behaved in an ethical manner when he began his path of vengeance.

In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses the characters of Victor and the monster in order to support the idea that humanity needs other people to define themselves in today’s world. Without having connections and relationships the idea of being able to define oneself, or even another person, is harder. Today’s society is based on the fact that humanity survives because of these important connections and relationships.

Frankenstein seems to show a prejudice towards his own creation; though he purposefully made the monster large to make it easier to add smaller things—such as nails and eyelashes—he chooses to look at his newly-awakened creation with repugnance. “For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley 35) This disgust motivates him to run away, thus abandoning his monster. Unfortunately, this was not the only event that contributed to the annihilation of Frankenstein’s

In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley tells a fictitious tale of the scientist Victor Frankenstein executing his dream of forming life. As soon as his creation awakens, Frankenstein sprints away full of disappointment and dread. Consequently, this sparks the beginning of the creature’s infamous attitude of anger. Despite him carrying around the stereotype of emitting evil, the creature counters it throughout the novel. Part of the novel examines his immense kindness and his unavoidable loneliness. Unfortunately, those two, manageable emotions don’t last long due to his unmanageable rage outweighing them. Shelley conveys these three sentiments on pages 128-131 through imagery and tone in order to tie those rhetorical functions into the greater theme

Frankenstein’s creature initially shows no signs of ill will or malice when first encountering human beings (Shelley 72-73). On the contrary, through careful observation he is able to learn more about human society and personal relationships. He begins to admire the close connection between the people he observes and respects their virtue. This, however, makes him realise what he is missing. Observing the love and affection between others only increases the effect his own solitude has on him. He is aware of his otherness and knows that he is “shut out from intercourse” (84) with the people he holds so dear. It can be argued that this is the point where the creature’s humanity is the strongest throughout the course of story. He has a basic understanding of human societies, he speaks and reads their language, shows compassion and, most importantly, seeks their company and friendship. In his knowledge that social belonging is the missing component to his own happiness, he confronts the people he secretly observed only to, once again, be met with fear and anger (94-95). He comes to realise that he

“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 9:1). In Genesis, Noah saves all of the animals and his family from the great floods that destroy the Earth and together they repopulate the planet. However, while Noah saved his family from certain death, he could never save them from death entirely. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein is able to play God and gives new life to previously deceased creatures. In this sense, Victor has found a loophole in God's punishment for Adam after he and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge but also created a metaphorical ark for humanity. This raises the question of whether or not it is admirable or iniquitous to