Good And Evil In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

As a result, this can lead to disobedience and unethical acts that can result in violence. This is shown within the book. That due to the lack of basic needs, the “monster” kills William, the brother of Victor.  What led to his shameful phase, was the painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong. That he knew that he killed William, but due to Victor actions and behaviors of Mistrust, his only way to learn was to demonstrate violence. The monster states, “I grasped his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet… clapping my hands, my enemy is not impregnable.” This offers some evidence on why he continued the murder, he wanted to deeply hurt the person that forsaked him. He wanted to have pride, rather than shame, but it was inevitable.

When the monster is betrayed by Victor the only thing that comforts his hurting is the thought and idea of revenge. The monster goes after Victor's brother, little William. When Victor finds out about his loss, he knows it was the monster which had made him feel devastated about what has occurred. This broke Victor emotionally because the relationship he had with his brother was robust. Victor cared about his brother more than his owned wife Elizabeth. The mindest the monster had was knowledgeably because of the way he knew taking the closest person away from Victor will harm him the most.

The monster asserts,” It was your journal of the four months that preceded my creation… I sickened as I read. ‘Hateful day when I received life!’... ‘Accused creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?” (Shelley 134). The monster discovers Victor’s hatred towards him, sending him into a revengeful attitude. The monster’s first experience of love comes from Victor creating him; although now that it is gone, the monster obtains no concept of love. His absence of love adds to his unethical and lethal terror on Victor and his family. Kim A. Woodbridge writes, “Even though the creature received a moral and intellectual education, the lack of nurturing and loving parent as well as companionship and acceptance from society led him to reject morality and instead destroy”. Victor’s gluttony causes the monster’s immoral turn to violence. Representing another deadly sin, Victor only provides for himself and puts his interest and well-being before the monster’s. In doing this, Victor not only angers the monster, but compels the monster to feel unloveable. The one person the monster wants love from the most deserts him, creating a destructive animal, ready to

Victor's creatures shows his innocent thus goodness through the things he enjoys and likes. My second point as to why the creature is not evil is because of the things he shows enjoyment in. These include many simple, innocent things. First, he shows enjoyment in the sound of birds. The creature states,"I was delighted when I first discovered that a pleasant sound.." (Shelley 308). This shows how delighted he is by something so small, which surely shows innocence. Secondly he shows innocence by liking DeLacey's music. If a creature was evil, they would not enjoy the sound of an old man playing guitar and the creature clearly states that the sound is "divine" (Shelley 329). Lastly, he shows gentleness and innocence through being grateful for the weather. Most evil creatures would not enjoy the weather or even mention it, but the creature shows his gratefulness greatly many times. An example of his gratefulness is when he says,"Soon a gentle light stole over the heavens and gave me a sensation of pleasure" (Shelley 307). As a result, the creature shows again that not only is he evil because of his actions, but also through the things he enjoys such as nature and music. Although there is already many reasons why the creature is not evil, there is many

life that turn them into evil. We are all born a blank slate and we pick up after what we

Committing the murders of Victor’s family in vengeance had led the monster to seek his creator in remorse after Victor’s passing. The monster meets Walton at his enemy's corpse, revealing his regret saying, “I knew that I was preparing myself for deadly torture; but I was the slave, not the master of my impulse…” (Shelley 198). He let the anger take grasp of his intents, and his once pure desires are now controlled by his craving for revenge. This quote illustrates that the monster is not the slave of his creator, as Victor says, but rather the slave of his own instinct. Continuing on his confession to Walton, the monster states, “When I run over the frightful catalogue of my sins, I cannot believe that I am the same creature whose thoughts were once filled with sublime and...the majesty of goodness” (199-200). Furthermore, the monster is subdued by guilt, yet his anger overpowers him, making the monster turn a blind eye to humanity. As a character who had potential for goodness, his life could have directed towards his own hopes, where he feels love and sees the wonder of humanity. The monster knowingly diverges from this promising path as the rage he held against humans molds his own morality. He sets out with hope for compassion, though in the fullness of time, his hate leads him to be blinded by his

After Victor abandoned him he was forced to fend for himself and this led to the feeling of anger and sadness."I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had for ever remained in my native wood, nor known or felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat.” Being left alone and having to fend for himself is actually what lead the monster to be pure and innocent for some time. It wasn’t until the monster decided to introduce himself to people that he started to lose his innocence because he was not expecting the reaction that he got. After getting a negative reaction, the monster decided to embrace how people portrayed him and he began having that thirst for revenge on Victor for abandoning

The monster is not faultless for the awful things that he has done. He kills three of the people that his creator was very close to including his adopted sister Elizabeth. Losing these people is very hard on Victor. The loss makes Victor so distraught that, “he calls the spirits of the dead” (179) to help him make the monster feel the pain of loss that he feels. In addition to killing those close to Victor, the monster destroys the house of the De Lacey’s with fire and then “dances with fury around the devoted cottage (123). Additionally, the monster appears to like the trouble and anguish that he is able to trigger in Victor: “your sufferings will satisfy my everlasting hatred” (181), the monster writes

Despite his vengeance against all of mankind, when the reader is given the chance to heat “the monster’s” narrative, it can be proven just how capable the creation is of love, kindness, and compassion. For example, “the monster” stole firewood from

When the word Frankenstein is conjured in someone’s mind, they probably think about a mad scientist creating a horrible, murderous creature because of the scientist’s wicked plans. But in reality, the creature was made by a man with good intentions so he could help further the world with knowledge and medicine. The creature was never made for foul intentions and actually started out as a caring and friendly creature. So what made him become the brutal, merciless killer that people have learned to fear? What truly created the monster was the actions of those around him, having no one as a companion, and hating that he was ever born.

Monsters are not born, but created. In order to become a monster one must have been previously victimized or have a predisposition to violence. The monster is created because he is exposed to violence and rejection, he then breakdowns and becomes malicious. In the lines “Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? (Frankenstein, 124)”. Shelley is showing that by turning against the creature, Victor is deserting him in a strange and uncomfortable world. The creature is miserable and all alone. In corollary, the creature hurts others, because he has been neglected and in turn a monster is created. The creature states that “I will revenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my archenemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred (Frankenstein, 138)”. I believe that the novel would have turned out differently if Victor had welcomed the creature with

"rules are made to be broken. Core desire: revenge or revolution". (Goldon). The monster had to face the wrath of many humans. he had many bad experiences with humans so he finally goes and does the one thing his anger allows him to do which is harm people. He knows he's not welcomed so he goes and kills everyone that his creator liked. He knew that it was the wrong thing to do but he was angry and he wanted to get revenge. "Persona: designed to make a particular impression on others, while concealing out true nature" (Handout on Carl Gustav Jung). The monster wasn't really evil. He had to show that he was evil because there was no other way to get what he wanted. He would always be mistreated due to how he looks, so he became a separate person instead of the peaceful creation he was at the beginning. The second person he was was a very unforgiving and harmful monster. He killed to get what he wanted. He seen no boundary and did whatever it took to get what he wanted. He broke many laws and many lines of morality, but all he wanted was another creation so that he can be with it. After Victor dies, he become the innocent monster he was before hand and decides that the only thing he can do now is kills

The monster that was created by Frankenstein was often angry. He was angry because he was abandoned by Frankenstein. Since he was mad it caused all of his anger to build up and he started killing people. The monster is looked at as evil and sees itself as evil. “I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterness and sensations of despondence and mortification” (Shelley 130).

Evil isn’t born, it comes from within. While some people may believe that evil is born, others believe that evil is made. Although signs of evil may not seem present at the start, as time progresses one may see slight details of evil, beginning to form. As seen in these short stories evil progresses in a timely matter. In Thomas Wolfe’s “The Child by Tiger,” Nadine Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time,” and John Galworthy’s “The Japanese Quince” the authors make the readers question the type of evil found within each story. As seen in Asher, Levi. “Philosophy Weekend; The Four Types of Evil,” Literary Kicks, 18 July 2010. There are four types of evil: demonic, instrumental, idealistic, and stupid evil. Each of these types

Frankenstein claimed that the “spirit of good” was no use because his “destiny was too potent” and inevitable to his “terrible destruction” (Shelley 23). Even though Frankenstein did not mean to become an evil creator of such a horrid monster, his thirst for creation was too powerful to be deterred, and once he started to play the part of God, things only began to get worse. The monster struggles between the need to fit in, such as when he watched the family and “longed to join them” (Shelley 77) as well as the call for revenge, “he abandoned me” and due to this, the monster “cursed him” (Shelley 94). Since Frankenstein created a being that revolted even him, the monster sought revenge due to the fact he would never be loved. Cain and Abel relate to the monster and Frankenstein because the brothers both wanted to satisfy the Lord through their offerings where the monster wanted Frankenstein to accept him and Frankenstein wanted the acceptance of fellow humans. Cain and the monster are similar in that once Cain murdered his brother Abel, God punished Cain by making him be a “restless wanderer on the earth”