The Monster in the Lab Coat Many literary critics have long argued a question regarding Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: Who is the real monster? One can argue that, throughout the novel, it is Victor Frankenstein, the overly ambitious scientist, who is the true monster. Victor Frankenstein is depicted as a callous creator who shows no empathy to his own innocent creature. Frankenstein fails his responsibility as a creator and abandons his creation to a life full of abhorrence. The creature has infinite potential, but it is Frankenstein’s prideful nature and negligence that makes the creature become “monstrous”.
While in the process of creating the monster, Frankenstein is both completely obsessed with his project, and, does not consider the consequences before it is alive. As soon as he becomes “capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter,” (53) Frankenstein explains how it “was the most gratifying consummation… to arrive at the summit of [his] desires” (53). Immediately, he begins work, and “[seemed] to have lost all [of his] soul or sensation but for this one pursuit” (55). Frankenstein “could not tear [his] thoughts from [his] employment” (56) and “pursued [his] undertaking with remitting ardor” (55). Even though Frankenstein feels that his “human nature [did] turn with loathing from [his] occupation” (55) as he is creating the being, he continues on with an “unnatural stimulus” (55).
There are many similarities that can be pegged as relevant between the two. The most relevant being the pursuit of dangerous knowledge, the sublime nature of the world, the connection between creation and creator, and the possibility of redemption. The pursuit of knowledge is at the heart of Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to surge beyond accepted human limits and access the secret of life. Though, in his pursuit he seemed to forsake his soul and everything he loved suffered. Through his pursuit of playing God, he did not realize that his actions would result in the downfall (death) of him and everyone he loved.
Primarily it is not Frankenstein who has to suffer the consequences of his creating life, it is the Creature. But for this suffering he makes Frankenstein notice the pain he has caused the Creature by taking revenge and killing the people Frankenstein most cares about. In Frankenstein, the neglect of duty never leads to anything good. Having abandoned his duty of care towards the Creature, Frankenstein then has to learn from his mistakes by suffering the consequences of this
Though the methods of creation were different for both parties, both God and Frankenstein created life with good intentions, and the creations failed them (to some degree) in both accounts; however, the key differences in the acceptance of the creation of both mankind and Frankenstein’s monster spelled out inevitable defeat for the doctor trying to follow in the footsteps of God. During Frankenstein’s two year toil, he did things that would be considered despicable by human nature. He dug up bodies, defiled graves, and killed and gathered various animals, all in the hope of stitching together the perfect vessel for transferring life into; at times, Frankenstein even hated himself, disgusted at the work he forced himself to accomplish (Shelley286). However, he completed his task with a huge determination; in fact, he cut himself off from all contact, including his family, because of a need to stay focused on his goal and fear of what other people would think (Shelley 287). When his work was finally done, Shelley describes him as being filled with “anxiety that almost amounted to anxiety” (288).
A famous Harvard professor named Lawrence Kohlberg concentrated his work on the ethical evolution of an entity as he established a theory on the moral development of individuals. In this theory Kohlberg explained the six stages of moral development while also stating that people may only progress if they move along this path one stage at a time. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the individual experiencing these moral stages is the monster whose lone creator was Victor Frankenstein. Although the monster does go through some ethical expansion, it cannot experience the first level of Kohlberg’s theory because the ‘authority figure’, in this case Victor Frankenstein, was nonexistent as he neglected the monster completely. As a result of this abandonment Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development cannot be completely applied to the story of Frankenstein, but there still remain certain connections.
In the novel Frankenstein, author Marry Shelley depicts character Victor Frankenstein as a scientist with a strong passion for forbidden knowledge and finding the answers to life through science. Though his intentions are good this leads him to the creation of a monster. Throughout the novel Frankenstein is constantly encountered by obstacles that test his passions for science and responsibility for his creation. For Victor it seems that the choice to abandon the monster is the easier path, rather than taking care of his creation. In the beginning of the book, right after the creation of the monster, Victor fled his home to get away from the creature, only to return and find that it had escaped.
Following the death of Caroline, Victor becomes engrossed in the creation and the idea of creating a monster and almost usurps the role of God by creating ‘man’, however it can be argued by many that the Monster isn’t a man at all, nor is he treated like one by many due to his looks. Victor believes due to his creation that ‘new species would bless me as its creator’ showing that he sees himself as almost God like and that by creating life, he has done a good thing
The monster is introduced to the reader from Victors point of view. This is a technique to influence the readers reaction since we already have our opinions on Victor Frankenstein due to previous events in the novel but later when the narration switches to Frankensteins monsters we read the story from a different perspective and learn that Victor is not a good man at all. The reader is also given a positive image of Victor Frankenstein. One of the first things we read is Robert Waltons opinions of him and from this we know that Walton saw him as a very successful, respected and good man. From the start of Victors narration, we are shown his character in a good light through the account of his childhood - "I, their eldest child, their plaything and their idol, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by Heaven" We see from this quote that he's painting the picture that he is from Heaven, that he's such a good man who is of high importance.
Viktor Frankenstein, The Creature And The Main Themes In "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelly The creature that Victor Frankenstein created was horrible to all who saw it, including Victor himself. Huge,misshapen and awkward,the creature was not even concidered a human.Indeed, the creature began to fullfill the only role that humans allowed him to occupy: the role of a bloodthursty monster. Yet, what Mery Shelly's Frankenstein shows us is not so much how horrible it is to alert the natural order, but how tragically simple it is to create a monster. Victor Frankenstein created a monster not by contraverting nature, as many would believe, but by judging the creature by his outward appearance and treating him like an unworthy freak.How simple it is to hate oders, to concider them less than a human based on superficial analysys! If only Frankenstein had tried to learn what his creature need before he gave him life!