If his father had intervened and taken an interest in Frankenstein's studies, directing him toward a more realistic path, would Frankenstein, due to his stubborn and adventurous nature, have followed his own interests regardless or his fathers intervention? Most likely Frankenstein did not want to be like his father, ironically he ended up treating his "child" just like Alfonso treated him. Had Frankenstein subconsciously embodied the persona of his father, or was he merely born with the same characteristic as his father, and they were brought to the surface upon the "birth" of his creation? Considering the fact that themes are a reflection of reoccurrences and lesson learned in life, Mary Shelley could be using the characters to express her own confusion regarding her relationship with her parents and her identity. Mary and her mother, both devout feminists, shared the ideals of a liberated woman, however Mary was not influenced by her mother in her opinions, because she died during
Victor is fundamentally selfish and his scientific pursuits are in itself the product of a desire to boast about himself. He wants men to worship him as their god. The themes of chance and fate arise once again in this chapter. Frankenstein is on the point of returning to Geneva when an incident happens to change his mind. This plot device in which an expectation is expressed, only to be dashed a moment later by a seemingly chance occurrence is a common one in the novel.
This ruthless pursuit of knowledge and glory proves hazardous as his attempt at being “God-like” and giving“life to an animal as complete and wonderful as a man” (shelley,pg.53) backfires. This is so as he is not only aware of the horror of his activities but that his “marvelous accomplishment” is only but a nuisance to society and would be frowned upon by fellow philosophers and humans. Robert Walton, like Victor also has a burning desire to “satiate his ardent curiosity” (3) and as such commits wholeheartedly to his studies from an early age, reading “nothing but Uncle Thomas’ books of voyages”(pg.8) in attempt tooutdo previous human explorations by endeavouring to discover a path to the north pole. Also, Walton’s pursuit of glory and honor eventually results in him finding himself in a fickle position as his ship becomes perilously trapped between pieces of ice. However, whereas Victor’s hatred for the monster and relentless will to kill it drives him to his death, Walton ultimately pulls back from his treacherous mission having learned from Victor’s example, how destructive the thirst for knowledge can be.
Victor Frankenstein and Walton are “mirrors” of each other. Walton longs so badly for knowledge and recognition for his scientific experiments, but Victor knows the danger of an obsession with science and knowledge. The parallels or “mirrors” between the two characters show to the reader that Frankenstein’s story is actually a harsh warning to not only Walton, but to society also. This forces the reader to take note of the serious tone in his story. Frankenstein also realizes this and feels he has to tell his story to stop Walton making the same errors in judgment that he has; hoping that he will ‘deduce an apt moral from my tale’(31).
As part of human instinct it is only natural that one would thrive to surge beyond previous limits and access the secrets of life. Though can too much knowledge on one individual lead to a dangerous outcome, especially whilst attempting to play god. In Blade runner and Frankenstein this seek for greater means is evident and one can truly understand the impacts it can have. Victor plays the role of god in Frankenstein by creating what he had believed the ultimate human. Though naïve as he is, this only leads to suffering.
The desire to succeed interferes with being happy. A person can get lost in the process of solving a problem so intently that they forget those around them, to eat and even where they are. In Mary Shelley's horrific Frankenstein an example is the character of Victor, whose unnatural pursuit of knowledge, of discovering how to create the perfect being, is so extreme that he loses himself in his creation. Frankenstein follows the story of the brilliant Victor and his many achievements, which go astray after he brings to life a creature in order to sate his own curiosity about the "mysteries" of life. It becomes difficult to picture Victor as a human being because he attains in-human qualities like the ability to go countless hours without eating
Innocence and purity are tarnished when pride is introduced into oneʼs mind. Benjamin Disraeli supports this by stating “pride ruined the angels.” When people have pride they will go to extreme measures to remove the flaws that surround them; this leads to them losing the morality and naivete that once established their being. The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, exemplifies the disintegration of integrity through her protagonist: Victor Frankenstein. At first, Victor was a pure and intelligent human who once held a great passion for science and wanted to pursue his dreams of creating life; however, once that goal was achieved, Victor isolated himself from his creation due to all its imperfections and the overwhelming feelings from failing himself thus diminishing his pride.
In Frankenstein, Victor continually refers to his creation as ‘vile wrench’, ‘abhorred devil’. This uses of epithet illustrate his immediate repulsion towards the creature and his recklessness towards conformity of life he has bestowed. Despite this, the creature gladly desires Victor’s acknowledgement on his behalf - ‘Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed’. Juxtaposition between two biblical allusion, ‘Adam’ and ‘fallen angel’ suggests us the contrast in Victor and God. In Bible, Adam was the first male with gifted creation from the God’, but the creature rather refers himself more of ‘fallen angel’, ‘devil’ who plunges the eternal war against God.
Yesenia Castro Mr. Diehl English 1102 01 March 2012 Right or Wrong? Frankenstein by Marry Shelly depicts the negative side of an unorthodox scientific experiment. Victor in a way wanted to create a creature to experiment his skills and try to expand life, which in turn turned out to be a catastrophe. Victor had created a monster that created uproar in the society. Later on, that same monster that persuaded Victor to make him to make him a female companion, threatened him and his loved ones.
When Victor is thirteen, he chances to find a volume of the works of a famous natural philosopher. Although Victor’s father dismisses the work to be garbage, Frankenstein is not convinced, arguing that “the cursory glance [his] father had taken of [his] volume by no means assure[s] [Victor] that he was acquainted with its contents; and [Victor] continue[s] to read with the greatest avidity” (39). Victor’s pride in his interests causes him to overlook the practicalities of his studies, and allows his imagination to bring him to ruin. Obstinate mannerisms such as