In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, ambition evolves into a form of obsession with revenge. But the result of vengeance is a curse to human life and its longevity. Both main characters in the novel, Victor and the monster become obsessed and let vengeance be their downfall. Victor was a very ambitious character who longed for knowledge and the presence of new life. He soon became obsessed with his creation and said,“I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health”(p 42). Victor devoted his entire life to a science experiment that would become his biggest regret. When Victor first laid eyes on the creature he realized what kind …show more content…
After being rejected from his creator he longed for human contact with the family in the cottage. His determination to learn about their language, history, government, and personal lives took up every hour of the day. After observing the cottages and their new foreign companion Safie, he said, “My days were spent in close attention, that I might more speedily master the language” (p 99). When he was ruthlessly rejected from the family his ambition changed; his goal was no longer to become friends with man but be the enemy of man. He vowed, “eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind” (p 121). The monster’s suddenly became obsessed with vengeance. He gave up all good to be a ruthless killer, in hopes to make the creator’s life miserable. On his tireless search for his creator, he of Victor and said, “The nearer I approached to you habitation, the more deeply did I feel the spirit of revenge rekindles in my heart” (p 120). Because of the monsters endowment to revenge, many lives were lost. But the monster was not satisfied with his wrongdoings, instead, he regrets his ambition of evil. After seeing Victor dead on the ship he cried and said, “I should have wept to die; now it is my only consolation. Polluted by crimes and torn by the bitterest remorse, where can I find rest but in death”(p 198)? Obsession was also the monsters downfall, he became a ruthless killer for the sole purpose of
6.How does Victor’s male ambition lead to dire consequences? Victor was blinded by his male ambition and neglected the outcomes of his desire. Men are thought to be able to achieve anything they put their mind to, that their conquest for knowledge and drive would ultimately be rewarded with the same level of success. Mary Shelley challenges this idea, showing that even the most driven people can also have their goals lost. Victor did not see that his neglection of the monster would result in the monster’s revenge.
This led Victor to “gain some clue by which he might trace the steps, of his fiendish enemy” (249). After finding out that all the people’s death was because of his creation, Victor found it in himself to kill it. If the monster is dead, Victor does not need to worry about it killing nor affecting anyone anymore. With all those deaths, the only thing a person can do to get rid of the feeling of guilt is to kill whoever is responsible for those deaths. In summary, it was Victor’s fault that all those innocent people died and it led to him feeling
Victor is stirred by his work, but not in a positive manner. He goes on to explain his feelings towards the creature by saying, “… my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred” (136). Victor is so bewildered and repulsed by the creature that he misses key signs of violence, from the creature, that may have saved Victor’s family had he not been so
In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, it scrutinizes the punishments when a man creates life, and plays the role of God. Victor Frankenstein, is at fault for the creature’s actions. Victor was looking for some honor and triumph, but when he accomplished his experiment, not only did it bring terror to Victor, but to the whole world. The monster never learned right from wrong and was never raised correctly, his first moment of life, all he experienced was the fear in Victor's emotion, and was abandoned right from the start. Victor selfishly isolated himself from society and ran away from his responsibilities which caused destruction to the people Victor cared for and loved deeply.
His experience with death persuaded him to continue on with mindset of creating the creature was best for the benefit of mankind. Without the tragic death of Victor’s mother, he would have not had continued in his endeavor to create the
Nonetheless,Victor is overwhelmed and instead of caring for the monster, he seeks an easy way out which ultimately leads to the betrayal and abandonment of the creature. Now, the monster is left without care and is filled with anger and sadness as Victor did not take responsibility to look after him. Therefore the monster goes out of rage and kills people that are closest to victor's life. Evidently, all the monster wanted was for Victor to take pride in his work and both care and accept him for the monster that he was. In addition, the monster tried to get near people with hopes of gaining trust and bonds.
Victor Frankenstein is selfish. The novel portrays Victor as a selfish character who is only concerned about his own well-being. Frankenstein wanted to manipulate the power of life. He abandons his creation because of the creature’s appearance and also withholds information or lies about his creation. Due to Victor 's selfishness, readers feel sorry for his creation.
Victor then states, “Never will I give up my search, until he or I perish…” (152). He wants revenge on the monster so much that he will not stop searching for the monster, until either he or the monster dies. This shows the beginning of his obsession, which was originated from his revenge.
The creature goes off on his own and get revenge on Victor by murder the people he is close to. Victor wants the creature dead and the creature wants Victor dead, in the end they both get what they wanted. The theme that passion can be destructive is shown through the creature, Victor's self destruction, and Victor and the creature’s passion to get revenge on each other. The theme of actions by passion can be destructive is first demonstrated by the creature’s passion for everything he does.
He pulls at the heartstrings of Victor’s emotions, but Victor can see the true evil that is within him. “But it is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and helpless; I have strangled the innocent as they slept and grasped to death his throat who never injured me or any other living being,” had mentioned the monster after Victor’s death (197). The monster claims that he was unloved, and he was right in that regard, but that does not form evil. Evil forms by the weakness of one’s mind, not neglect.
The creature wants to take revenge on Victor for abandoning him and causes Victor grief by killing the people he cares about. When the creature kills, Victor feels responsible and guilty of the murders. He continually breaks down with each death by “his” hands, which makes him go mad. The task of creating a monster turned Victor into a monster
The monsters revenge on Frankenstein, drives him too to be full of hatred and need for vengeance because he destroyed everything good in his life. He feels as the death of his loved ones is his fault because he is the one that created the horrid creature in the first place (Brackett). “As time passed away I became more calm; misery had her dwelling in my heart, but I no longer talked in the same incoherent manner of my own crimes; sufficient for me was the consciousness of them” (Shelley 158). The monster wanted Victor to feel the same thing as him, lonely and sadness. The monsters revenge works, Victor becomes rejected by people and has nobody but himself.
A timeless human goal has always been to set visionary goals to advance the coming generations. Although many results can be successful, a great number of them can turn out deadly. In the novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley illustrates the result of a man’s visionary motive of creating life, which consequents into the birth of the deadly creature. The creatures understanding of justice is based on eliminating anyone or anything preventing him from reaching his goal; accordingly, his actions to attempt revenge upon Victor only led to his downfall throughout the novel. The creature’s understanding of justice and it’s revenge against Victor is the driving force of the story because it builds up the anticipation the reader has for the final confrontation.
After Frankenstein experiences the death of Elizabeth, he understands that he is the cause of all the deaths in his family and promises to seek revenge on his creation. All the guilt he has turns into anger and fuels his impulse for revenge on the monster. He very passionately and assuredly describes his anger when he says, “My revenge is of no moment to you... I confess that it is the devouring and only passion of my soul,” (217) and promises to seek justice for what he believes is rightfully his. Frankenstein travels to the ends of the world to enact the revenge he thinks he deserves.
Everywhere he went, including his hometown or the beautiful valley of Charmounix, he was always shaken by the fact that his tedious monster was loose, hunting both his mind and body. Moreover, every time Victor try to distract his gruesomeness by appreciating and enjoying the present, he would be always dragged toward darkest memories from his past and his future full of anxiety. Such that whenever Victor encountered his inhumane creation, he does not reconsider his creation’s feelings, but rather easily become swayed by his own morality; that his creation was the only cause of his suffering and it should be exterminated. Even after countless opportunities to reconsider his ideas, Victor performed futile effort toward his issues, which he continuously applied his idea that his logic was the only thing that was