Frankenstein Doppelganger Effect

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The Warning Behind the Doppelganger Effect Most novels aren't just written solely for the purpose of entertainment, but are written to reach out an audience; to transmit a message or an opinion. Mary Shelley writes an allegory about man and technology, and she does so through the use of the doppelganger effect by applying it to the two main characters in the narrative Victor, and his creation. A doppelganger relationship between two characters can be identified through three distinct forms of application, the doubles, the complements, and the opposites (The Context of Frankenstein). Through the use of the complement and the double, the relationship between Victor and the monster reflects the actual connection of Man and technology and exemplifies the destructive outcome it leads to when a limit is exceeded. Victor and the creature at points seem to complement the opposite qualities of one another, meaning that one has what the other lacks. “Frankenstein and his creation may even represent one being -- two sides of a single entity forming a doppelganger relationship. However, it is difficult to decipher which represent good and which represents evil -- the man or the monster” (Storment). At the beginning, Victor, the creator, held all power and knowledge between the two, until the monster begins learning and developing, it is then that Victor seems to begin losing reason and control: “…I shudder to reflect, that I have been the miserable origin and author? Cursed by the day, abhorred devil, in which you first saw light! Cursed (although I curse myself) be the hands that transformed you! You have made me wretched beyond expression. You have left me no power to consider whether I an just to you, or not” (Shelley 104). Correspondingly, in the dilemma about who is good and who is evil, the qualities seem to transfer evenly from one side to another like the scales of
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