Morality. It has been questioned, emphasized, and respected since the beginning of time. Yet even today, not one human being can say what is morally right. Rather, morality is a matter of opinion. It was the opinion of Victor Frankenstein which stated that it was alright to create a “monster”. Victor Frankenstein’s creation needed a companion. Knowing that his first creation was evil, should Victor make a second? With the knowledge at hand, to Victor, it is not at all morally correct to bring another monster into the world. And yet, Shelley describes this story as a morality tale throughout the story, bringing up questions such as “What is the right thing to do?” and “Looking back, should I have done what I did?” Two events really stand out …show more content…
Thinking about the deal with his family in mind, Victor begins his work on the second monster. The first monster made Victor suffer terribly and threatened his family; trying to scare Victor for not creating his mate, the monster angrily said to Frankenstein, “I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you” (162). While looking back upon his unfinished work, Victor remembers “the miserable monster whom I had created,” (152). “With the companion you bestow I will quit the neighborhood of man,” (142) promises the monster to Victor upon completion of his mate. Victor, trying to act morally, destroys the monster for the good of the world. Victor thinks to himself “a race of devils would be propagated,” (163) if the creation of the companion occurred. If powerful enough, the monsters could do serious damage. Victor realizes that he cannot possibly doom the world to benefit himself, and argues with his creation “Shall I…set…upon the earth a daemon” (162). It is definitely not moral for one person to unleash a terror on the world to benefit only himself and his family. Victor will not let any example change his mind on the point that the monster is always pure evil. Adding on to Victor’s point that the creature was too evil to duplicate, he states, “Your threats cannot move me to do an act of wickedness; but they confirm me in determination of not creating you a …show more content…
With the knowledge given, in the opinion of Victor Frankenstein, it is not at all morally correct to bring another monster into the world after bringing one in already. On the one hand, if the second monster was created, Victor’s family could be saved. By the same logic the rest of the world could be forced to bow before two hideous monsters. Victor realizes this in his creation of the monster: that what may seem to be correct could do harm, and that is what exactly happened. The choice of making or not making the second monster plays heavily on Frankenstein’s mind, and that could be a possible reason of his brief insanity. Even though Victor began his work supposedly for the good of man, his experiment did end hurting himself and his
Victor selfishly creates the Creature to gain prestige, pretentiously claiming himself as a human god when he succeeds and saying it was for the sake of humanity. In reality, he creates a grotesque being and abandons it the moment his illusions shatter, making the creature a victim because he denies the responsibility of raising it causing hardships for it. Victor also believes the creature is a reprobative individual since it kills his brother and foists Justine’s execution, thus he acts inimical towards it throughout the whole novel as he invectively exclaims, “Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes” (93).
Victor thought he was doing a service to humanity by creating a "new human." Victor wants to figure out how to cheat death, and he had allowed himself to be overcome by ego. If successful, Victor would be revered by the creature(s) he creates and his creations would make Victor a human god, or so he thought. Of course, after stitching together various parts of human corpses to create his new being, Victor succeeds in reanimating the dead, but is immediately repulsed by his creation and its "ugliness." Victor falls into a deep depression and shuns his creation, perhaps because now that he's conquered death, his replacement as God is
However, instead of rising to the occasion, his only response was to cower before his creation. Frankenstein says, “For this, I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart (Chapter 5).” Victor made a monster without thinking about its consequences because he was motivated by achieving glory. Unfortunately, his choice caused him and his family a lot of trouble.
Victor falls ill with anxiety, and as a result of Victor’s neglect the monster begins to destroy his life. Even when the monster confronts Frankenstein, threatening that he “will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of [Frankenstein’s] remaining friends, 102" Victor does not acknowledge the problem he has caused, the literal embodiment of his anxiety. He does not attempt to confront the monster head on or alleviate his loneliness, both a form of acknowledgement and thus a healthy way to respond to his fears. Instead, he once again pretends the monster doesn’t exist which only further enrages and empowers him. Once again, this mirrors the fact that when fears and anxiety go undealt with they will only grow and confirms that the monster is the embodiment of this
In this, Victor brought up things that no mortal should know about, such as: cloning, stem cell research, and IVFs. Examples of these were shown when the author states, “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn… my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical… the physical secrets of the world” (43). Victor is knowingly tampering with knowledge that is essentially too great for man. He is also essentially trying to be like God, which is the original sin, and as a result, he is put in eternal despair.
One's Morality can be determined the actions that they choose to do, this complication can happen. Victor, the creator is a smart man for knowing right and wrong because he's known what it means. In the creature's brain is just developing when victor was creating. The creature is known as Frankenstein as to learn from listening and observing one's surroundings. Frankenstein has to learn right from wrong because frankenstein is more a visionary character.
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. The creature was known as a monster and was doomed due to his appearance.
Throughout the novel Victor and the Monster come across many relatable situations that they are forced to overcome. Victor Frankenstein had a very happy childhood, and he describes his parents as being “possessed by the very creature of kindness and indulgence”. Although Victor had a very happy childhood, these characteristics do not seem like the foundation of good moral character. Similarly Victor’s monster was not raised with the foundation of a good moral character. When the monster was first created he possessed more strength than he knew what to do with.
Victor agreed, but after thinking about the madness of creating another monster, he broke his promise and destroyed his equipment and incomplete work (121). Because of Frankenstein’s doing, the monster murdered Henry Clerval and
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein brings his creation to life and has to endure the repercussions of his actions. While Victor is in fact human, the question of whether the creature or Victor is more human still stands. Humanity is demonstrated as compassionate in the book and monstrosity is the opposite. The creature is more human because of his developed personality and desire to be human. Victor, although born into a humane family, evolved into everything bad about humanity; he developed obsession, resentment, and manipulated life to conform to his idealities.
But these are not thoughts befitting me; I will endeavour to resign myself cheerfully to death, and will indulge a hope of meeting you in another world”(24). Victor shows the strong love of family in his childhood “No human being could have passed a happier childhood than [me]. My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence” (Shelley,40), he raised with excellent conditions and with parents who loved their children, but we do not see that Victor gives this love to his creature and ignored him, notwithstanding the fact that the two figures shared many characteristics. As a result of Frankenstein 's darkness and ignorance toward his creature, he refused to accept the monster because of his physical appearance and Frankenstein sees the creature as if he were the monster when the creature
The monster continues by reassuring the creator of his independent intelligence and power over the creature by telling Frankenstein, “This you alone can do”. Here, the creature assumes a role of submissiveness and reliance on Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s monster gains the sympathy of the reader who, despite condemning the murder of innocent people, commiserate with the lonely creature who is in search of an acquaintance, which he will likely never find. The monster also displays power and aggressiveness over Frankenstein; “You are my creator; but I am your master; obey!” The monster wants to desolate Victor’s heart, not by killing him directly,
Victor Frankenstein turns away from his responsibilities by ignoring the existence of his creation. Throughout the novel, Victor is constantly running away from the monster and not giving him attention, which resulted in the monsters change of personalities. For example, in page 71 the creation said, “All men hate the wretched; how must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us.” This quote suggests that because of the ignorance of Victor the monster began to become evil and have the urge to seek
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein uses the conflict between Victor and the creature, specifically their predatory relationship in their pursuit of revenge, to emphasize how revenge will consistently push or even exceed moral boundaries. The conflict between Victor and his creature is outlined in Frankenstein through the monster’s attempt to hurt Victor through the killing of William and Victor’s destruction of the creature’s future mate, representing how revenge often cultivates a normalization of immorality. Before William’s murder, the monster had been rejected by the DeLaceys and shot at for saving a young girl from drowning. As a result, the creature’s wish for revenge upon all
1941 ) makes noteworthy statements in her essay ‘Making a ‘Monster’: An introduction to Frankenstein’. According to her, the entire novel is a consequence of “Victor’s total failure as a parent”. Agreeing to the argument, I would like to point out how the entire novel is based on the relationship of the selfish irresponsible parent-Victor Frankenstein and the abandoned child- The Monster. While Mary Shelley creates a horrific creature to physically contrast it to the entire human race, she provides various character similarities between the creator and the created; this provides a new perspective to view the characters from.