Frankenstein Persuasive Essay - Was He a Victim of the Monster ?

934 Words4 Pages
Persuasive Essay In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor had a choice about whether he should play God and create life, or abandon natural philosophy and take a new path. Although some may argue that Victor had no idea that his monster would turn violent and murder everyone Victor loved, Victor is not a victim because he wantonly bestowed life on a creature that was physically more capable but emotionally less adept than he. Some readers may argue that Victor became a victim when his father led him down the wrong path by mindlessly dismissing his interests in Agrippa and Paracelsus without telling Victor why these were exploded philosophies. These readers might contend that it’s only natural to pursue “the forbidden fruit of knowledge.” It follows that once Victor’s mind was set on creating life and making a name for himself, he only thought of his scientific contributions; he wasn’t trying to create an abomination. People who feel sorry for Victor could argue that Victor had no idea how wrong or malicious his creature would turn out to be. Once the creature had decided upon retribution for Victor’s abandonment (since it was ill-equipped to deal with rejection), there was little that Victor could do to stop its violent crime-spree. Those who empathize with Victor’s plight may say that if Victor had tried to alert the authorities about this hideous killer, no one would have believed that Victor created this being with his bare hands. They’d argue that Victor was powerless to save Justine when she was accused of William’s murder, just as Victor was powerless to save Henry and Elizabeth. Therefore those who feel pity for Victor and believe that he was a victim contend that Victor was trapped in a helpless situation that he spent the remainder of his life trying to get out of. Despite Victor’s hardships, however, the fact remains that Victor had a choice in
Open Document