He tells him ‘do your duty towards me and I will do mine towards you,’ and if Frankenstein refused, he threatened him by saying he would ‘glut the maw of death’. This shows how the Creature’s abandonment and lack of nurture leads him to become a murderer. Further proof of this is when, during the Creature’s tale he tell Frankenstein ‘I could not conceive how one man could go fourth and murder his fellow’ showing that he was ‘benevolent and good’ and had Frankenstein full filled his duty he may have remained so. The Creature admits to Frankenstein ‘misery made me a fiend’ implying that Frankenstein’s actions, or lack of action, lead to this misery. Primarily it is not Frankenstein who has to suffer the consequences of his creating life, it is the Creature.
It is Frankenstein’s responsibility to teach the monster and see it as a friend. It’s because Frankenstein rejects his creature that causes it to become evil. “Oh No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing suck as even Dante could not have conceived.”(pg.49) Each time the monster killed it was a consequence of Victor’s actions.
However, the creation of the monster did not have to result in such horrific acts. Victor was mortified by his creation, and immediately rejected and abandoned it to face the world of judgmental people alone. “Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?” (Shelly, 108) It is believed that this irrepressible feeling of abandonment and the continuous rejection angered the monster so intensely that he sought to soothe his revengeful soul by murdering those closest to the one whom he felt responsible for
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.
Often times, the monster would carry out a good and selfless deed, only to be shunned by the recipients. An example was when he tried to save a girl after she fell into a river, only to be shot in the shoulder by her companion. This was when the monster knew that no matter how benevolent he was, humans would never look beyond his appearance, for they rather let their prejudice rule over their decisions than to face an abomination. In a moment, the monster’s impression of humans changed and he desired revenge on Frankenstein for making him an abomination. If only Frankenstein had given his creation a chance, the unjust treatments would have never happened.
Even though Frankenstein feels that his “human nature [did] turn with loathing from [his] occupation” (55) as he is creating the being, he continues on with an “unnatural stimulus” (55). Frankenstein realizes that there must be some issues with his plan, but never takes the time to stop and think about the possible outcomes of his plan. Because Frankenstein chooses to ignore his own gut
Frankenstein wanted to recreate his mother, but instead he made a creature comprised of the socially repressed elements of Frankenstein (the monster) and his wish for his mother. Frankenstein's creature comprises all of the unacceptable traits of humans, those we usually suppress. These traits may actually be a representation of those traits that Frankenstein wishes he had. Mary Shelley tries to humanize the position of the impossible monster to imagine what it would be like for a monster to sustain personhood when everybody around him treats him as an utterly outcast to society. Shelley is trying to show that the creature is not inherently monstrous, but
If only Frankenstein had tried to learn what his creature need before he gave him life! He created the creature that he rejected because its worldly form did not reflect the glory of his original idea. Thrown, unaided and ignorant, into the world, the creature began his own journey into the discovery of the strange meanings of the human language and society. The creature was an untamed and extreme version of the free individual. Without the support and shelter of a family, the creature nevertheless gained an education of sorts.
Many times, individuals fail to overcome suffering while their suffering continues to overcome them. Frankenstein shows that despite what one does to rid themselves of suffering, it may just never go away. In the novel, Victor Frankenstein builds a creature, but he is disgusted not only by his deed, but the appearance of the creature, turning him away. This first feel of rejection from his creator is what begins the creature’s suffering. The decisions the creature makes out of his suffering, or his characterization, show that one may not overcome suffering.
He then used electricity to give life to his creature. By making the monster, he was taking the place of God, or according to the myth, the god Prometheus, and became the creator instead of just the created. “Prometheus knows the good consequences that his acts and his pride will have to mankind, but Frankenstein acts without stopping to think what could happen after” (Pastelero). Although Frankenstein does become a creator by creating the monster, he does not care for his creation in the way Prometheus cared for his humans he created. Frankenstein was not a good creator, he was actually trying desperately to kill his monster he made.