He longs for a companion of any kind, but his malign actions drive him further from intimacy of any kind. His attempts in finding a friend are dispirited and ephemeral, like an exhausted toddler throwing a tantrum before falling asleep. Unlike Grendel, however, the monster demands from his creator, “ ‘It is true we shall be monsters, but off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another,’ ” (130). Feeling abandoned, the monster initially acts out, but recognizes his anger can be cured with company.
The first reason as to why Victor Frankenstein refused to produce a mate for the monster was because he was afraid that the two creatures would reproduce and spawn a new species. This
All the monster wanted was company, but because he feels alone. He tries to make friends with the people, but every time someone saw him, they would scream and run away from him. When he talks to Frankenstein, he tells him “I am alone and miserable: man will not associate with me.” The monster first kills Victor 's little brother because he is mad at Victor for creating him the way he is.
Isolation and a lack of companionship is the tragic reality for the monster, who was abandoned by his creator and is repulsive to everyone that he comes across. Victor removes himself from society for many months; severing nearly all human contact then renouncing his creation based on the monster's appearance. As the monster matures he begins to understands the relationship the cottagers share with one another, while the monster, “yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures: to see their sweet looks directed towards me with affection was the utmost limit of my ambition. ”(Shelley). Armed with nothing but the longing for a real connection, the monster approaches his unknowing hosts only to be “brutally attacked—by those he trusted...because of their human ignorance.
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.
Due to neglect and immediate abandonment during the beginning of his life, the creature develops a hostile attitude and seeks revenge on Victor Frankenstein. In response to the cottage dwellers attacking him, the creature exclaims “cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence of which you had so wantonly bestowed” and reveals his feelings “of rage and revenge” (Shelley 135).
The monster on the other hand had known only loneliness from the second he opened his eyes. The monster learns through painful rejection that he will never find companionship because humans are unable to see past his ghastly appearance and in anger tears away one of Frankenstein’s many companions. This begins the spiral of anger and loneliness that leads to the monster killing nearly everyone Frankenstein is close to. This, inadvertently, forces Frankenstein to have the same feelings of anguish and loneliness that he first instigated in the monster. Frankenstein never realises that all the monster wants is a companion, he cannot see his own emotions reflected in his creation.
This experience allows the monster to realize, that despite being perfect beings, even beauty can experience sorrow, just as ugliness can experience serenity. The monster also learns that the family is in similar position as his own, in which they are isolated from their society due to their crimes. From this judgement, the monster is able to approach the father of the household, by disguising himself as a lowly traveller in need of shelter, the
In this excerpt, Victor Frankenstein explains how he had yearned for this moment for two years, but when his dream came true, he was filled with horror and disgust. When this happened, he eventually came to the conclusion that it would be better to abandon the monster all together. However, in doing so, he filled the monster with hate, which led to many deaths committed by the monster. Due to this, it is easy to trace the monster's actions back to Victor Frankenstein, classifying him as a
Frankenstein conjures up an image of a mindless, green monster running and grunting with its arms straight out! Readers that study Frankenstein by Mary Shelley do find a monster like and frightening creature, but it is definitely not mindless. This creature, created and rejected by victor Frankenstein, teaches himself human language and thereby comes to understand and experience human emotions. The most prominent emotion, which directs the choices he makes, is loneliness, and this has tragic results. Then there is victor Frankenstein who is plagued by the secrets he keeps and therefore leads a joyless life.
Once noted, the parallels between Frankenstein’s fears and desires and the reality the monster experiences are many. Now that Victor is in university, he no longer has family and friends to fall back upon in the unknown territory of his university. Frankenstein voices is that “[he] believed [himself] totally unfitted for the company of strangers,” irrational as it may be, and believes himself solely dependent on his family and childhood friend for companionship. Without the love guaranteed to him by his family, Victor believes he is unfit to make companions by himself and destined to a life of loneliness. He places much importance on the fact that his father and Elizabeth love him and are concerned with his well-being.
In Shelley’s novel, the Creature exclaims that “sorrow only increase[s] with knowledge” (96). The Creature initially receives benefits of survival in the human world from his acquisition of knowledge, but he ultimately only causes himself pain. The Creature’s idea of befriending a human is crushed after learning that he is hated by the human race for his differences. The knowledge of humans’ hatred of the Creature causes the Creature’s sorrow, which is further developed into self-hatred. Similarly, fire allows for the pleasure of warmth and cooked food, but it also provides the
Discouraged and discontent, the monster gives up his quest to become acknowledged by humans. Finally, arguably the most important confrontation in the entire novel, Victor Frankenstein and his monster meet face to face and explain the causes of each other's suffering. The monster explains that it is simply his mere knowledge of his own existence that causes him great grief, "I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?
“If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us” Adlai E. Stevenson. The politician explains his perception of creativity in this quote along with its connection to ambition by relating determination and faith to the discovery of knowledge. He believes that nothing can restrict our drive to seek information when one entirely devotes himself to the pursuit. Similarly, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, Robert Walton, and the creature all attempt to acquire arcane knowledge at any and all costs. Their ambition drives them to take risks and even put the lives of themselves and others on the line.
A direct result of his search for knowledge is his burden of the Creature, a hideous monster who eventually becomes evil, cold, and a heartless