While the groom is looking for the creature, he gets to Elizabeth, the bride, leaving her “lifeless and inanimate”. When looking upon the crime scene, Victor sees the murderer: “A grin was on the face of the monster; he seemed to jeer, as with his fiendish finder he pointed to the corpse of my wife” (Shelley 174). This evil act is directly caused by the creator’s rash decision to destroy the female and ruin his monster’s life once again. Many people agree that it is “Victor’s inability to see the monster’s own value and not his concern for the world that leads him to leave his “Adam” without a mate. This, of course, drives the monster to kill again” (Lunsford 175).
Soumitra Sarkar ENGL 220 Section 62 Instructor: Mikael Awake Frankenstein Research Proposal 04/22/2015 Frankenstein Research Proposal - Human Nature Branching off of the third topic of the research prompt, I’m making a proposal to work on how Shelly has portrayed human nature in Frankenstein. In the novel, Dr. Frankenstein makes a monster from the best body parts and yet others reject that monster along with it’s own creator. The status quo is that humans are naturally accepting and good people. However, in every single instance, the monster in the novel is rejected. Initially the monster seeks to somehow befriend others.
In this mission he encountered Victor Frankenstein, an extremely weak and moribund man. Victor soon explains to Walton his treacherous journey to find and exterminate his “monstrous” creation. Most people who read “Frankenstein” have the same perception of the characters involved in the novel. This perception usually has to do with Victor Frankenstein being a victim of his so-called “monster”, in other words his creation. This “monster” with grotesque features and actions ends up killing every one close to his maker out of hatred and vengeance.
Throughout Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein readers are forced to compare and contrast the morality and monstrosity of both Victor Frankenstein and ‘the monster’. In literal terms, behaving monstrously is described as ‘committing actions that are inhumanly or outrageously evil or wrong’. To this end, it could most definitely be argued that both of the main characters in the novel are monstrous at one point or another. Ultimately, the following essay is intent upon exploring whether it is in fact the humans or the monster that act ‘the most monstrously’. Firstly, Shelley depicts Victor Frankenstein as more monstrous than the ‘monster’ through the use of a careful plot structure.
The reaction of Victor changes the role between him and Frankenstein, making Victor the monster. The way Mary Shelley has done this has shown a contrast change in character roles. There is a sense of irony as Victor is regarded as the monster in chapter 5 instead of Frankenstein. Their roles have changed as Victor is classed a monster but there is still a strong sense of sympathy towards Frankenstein. “The beauty of the dream vanished and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” As the reader acknowledges this it give a nauseating impression towards Victor, but also a shocking undisguised impression of hatred.
This is also similar to Frankenstein because Shelley uses a similar example of personification to describe Victor’s feelings. “The sun and the heavens, who have viewed my operations, can bear witness of my truth” (Shelley, 1994, p.137). These are both instances of how personification is used, in similar ways, to show that both Victor and the Mariner feel as if they are being watched by the people who have died because of their mistakes of either killing the bird who brought good to the men, or created a monster who killed people that Victor loved very
During the novel Frankenstein creates the Monster and when he realizes what he has created he almost instantly regrets the idea. “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeds moderations; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart,” (Shelley p.58). The feeling of remorse for creating something that grotesque remains with Frankenstein till his death. That same feeling of remorse can be seen in the Monster when he realizes that he had killed and destroyed everything he came in contact with, killing his creator and everyone close to him. This was the result of the love he never felt and in the end the Monster living with the burden of this remorse.
The main character’s name is Victor Frankenstein and the entire novel is based on what he has done. What he did to ruin his life, how he played god and in the end caused the killings of his loved ones, everything is centered on his decisions. Every moment that lead to his demise, that is what this novel is about. Shelley’s technique is amazing. She puts a story within a story and within that story lays another story.
“Anguish and despair had penetrated into the core of my heart; I bore a hell within me, which nothing could extinguish.” (Shelley 75) However, Victor cannot explain the truth because he is afraid people will think he is crazy. He is convicted knowing that the monster caused the death of his own family member and the execution of Justine. Shelley conveys that the scientific attitudes of Victor creating the monster made Victor feel
In what ways does Mary Shelley create sympathy for the monster? When we see the name “Frankenstein”, we are instantly reminded of the doctor’s creation and of how he played God, with out even knowing it. Even by today’s standards he went against human nature after being warned not to. Before studying Frankenstein, I stereotypically associated the monster, to hideous rejects in society. However the monster was brought into the world, isolated, unwanted and discarded; he deserved sympathy not cruelty.