Ethical Choices In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Alexandra Stephenson 2nd period-Weber 5/21/12 Ethical Choices One of the biggest ideas in Frankenstein is doing the right thing. Victor Frankenstein doesn’t stand up for what is right because he wouldn’t put himself at risk of being considered crazy or having to admit fault and take responsibility if it wasn’t in his “best interest”. We see that when people don’t stand up for what is right, others, even people they are close to, will get hurt. We see that Victor gave no consideration of the consequences of producing life on his own and only wanted the fame that came with a huge discovery. He then abandons the monster because of its hideous appearance. The monster “grows up” and learns to survive, but he is driven away by everyone except…show more content…
On the night of their wedding day, Victor remembers the promise that the monster gave to him about seeing him on his wedding day and goes out in search of him. When he hears Elizabeth scream, he realizes that it wasn’t him that the monster had planned to kill, but Elizabeth. “The death of William, the execution of Justine, the murder of Clerval and lastly of my wife; even at that moment I knew not that my only remaining friends were safe from the malignity of the fiend…,” (Shelley, 200). Victor realizes that all he held dear was destroyed because of his selfish ambitions. When his father dies, however, is when he truly feels alone. In the end, justice was served to him by dying without any loved ones left. Mary Shelley, through Frankenstein, shows us that if we don’t do what’s right, especially if it involves life and when the time calls for it, we will have no one do what’s right for us when we need it most. We should do what’s right, even if it doesn’t mean that our lives will stay the same or be better. We see that we should put others before ourselves and treat others the way we want to be treated, the way we have been taught our entire lives. Even almost 200 years later, humanity as a whole still hasn’t learned these
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