What is a monster? The word "monster" causes one to imagine a hideous, deformed or nonhuman creature that appears in horror movies and novels and terrifies everyone in its path. More importantly, however, the creature described generally behaves monstrously, doing things which harm society and acting with little consideration for the feelings and safety of others. "Thus, it is the behavior which primarily defines a monster, rather than its physical appearance"(Levine 13).
Alhough Victor Frankenstein calls his creature a monster, and considers it disgusting and abhorrent, it is in fact Frankenstein who behaves monstrously. He claims to have created the creature for a noble purpose: to defeat death. However, it is clear that his motives
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In doing so, Frankenstein condemns the creature to loneliness and persecution. The creature's hatred and violent acts are not an inherent part of his character, as he explains, "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous" (81). If Frankenstein had raised and cared for him, the creature would have experienced compassion, and had someone to support him and be his advocate. Instead, the creature is left to learn about the world on his own, and develop a set of morals based on the way society treats him. Because he grows up outside of, and shunned by, society, he feels very little moral obligation towards other human beings. "...and tell me why should I pity man more than he pities me?" the creature asks Frankenstein. "Shall I respect man when he contemns [sic] me?" (122) The creature is not a monster in his own eyes; he is behaving rationally given the treatment he has received. If he were taught a better way to act, he would almost certainly behave in that way. The monster is not born a monster, his ugliness notwithstanding; he becomes one because society behaves monstrously towards him.
Frankenstein, on the other hand, has lived within society and is expected to have certain morals. Among these should include parental responsibility, an obligation to care for the being to whom he
Victor Frankenstein’s creature understands that he is indeed different, but is not evil from the beginning. The creature wishes to integrate himself to society, to be accepted, but knows that his physical irregularities make this very difficult. It is evident in the novel that Victor Frankenstein’s creation is the villain and everything is all really Frankenstein’s fault. Nevertheless, just because it’s in contradiction of the obvious stereotypical interpretation that big ugly thing is the monster, doesn’t mean that the logical counterculture method is correct. Mary Shelley is fond of associating Victor Frankenstein to God, with his creation of life.
Mary Shelley gives sufficient discourse on the positive and negative human influence on the character and personality of Frankenstein’s creature. One good example of this is William Frankenstein’s initial, ignorant reaction to the creature, especially when he considers the creature as a “monster! Ugly wretch! You wish to eat me, to tear me to pieces…,” (Shelley 141). This extrapolates the marred personality of the creature, considering he only wanted to “…educate him as a companion and a friend, I should not be se desolate…,” (Shelley 141). This is a prime example of the negative human influence on any being, due to the shocked and disgusted attitude of
In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the Creature that Victor Frankenstein creates is morally ambiguous. The Creature plays a pivotal role by being a main focus throughout the novel. The Creature’s moral ambiguity is also significant to the outcomes of the novel. Additionally, the Creation is morally positive due to his discovery of nature, education, and assistance. But, the Creature is also negative due to the treatment he faces for being different and for the crimes he commits over time. The Creature’s moral ambiguity assists in establishing the meaning of the work as whole that monsters are not always born with malicious intentions and that these intentions are crafted by the actions of others.
At the surface, Victor Frankenstein appears to be an altogether good and kind human being. He is well-educated, sensitive, and loving towards his family and friends. At first glance, even his reason for creating the monster seems reasonable: “I thought that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time (although I now find it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption” (33).
Frankenstein's true character and the way he is perceived are so different. Frankenstein is seen as an abomination and a horrifying monster and only as a horrifying monster. Monsters are viewed as evil scary creatures. On the other hand, Frankenstein feels more human than a monster. He wants to be included and accepted into the society he lives in, but people don't accept him because they are afraid. In the excerpt, Frankenstein said “ ...I trust that, by your aid, I shall not be driven from the society and sympathy of your fellow creatures.” The creatures he is talks about are the humans he is saying with help from his creator or father, he has hope that he can be accepted one day into that society. A monster would not try to get the peoples
Monster: an imaginary creature that is ugly, terrifying and enormous. However, not all monsters are from a story, they’re all around us. Monsters can be a person, place, thing or an abstract idea. As we grow older, we will encounter monsters of our own or hear of one.
All his life Victor was obsessed with science and things beyond what they seem. He isolated himself from all human existence for two long years, studying, thinking and ultimately creating. Victor pushed the limit of science by creating a living, breathing creature. In order to create his creature he had to take body parts from the dead. This paints a great picture of how dedicated he was to science and really how morbid the setting of this novel really is.
A human, by definition, is a being that is susceptible to the sympathies of human nature, such as sadness and kindness; furthermore, this also suggests that one is human should they possess the biological components of a human organism. Based on this definition, I believe that the monster in Frankenstein is considered human, and Mary Shelley’s portrayal of the monster is contradictory of René Descartes’ depiction of the human mind and his predictions of biotechnology in the future. Shelley’s monster is more aligned with the tenets of John Locke in An Essay On Human Understanding, where Locke discusses a more mechanical aspect of the human mind.
Victor's duties towards his creature are to take care of him as if he were his son. Not let him wander around by himself, not let him be lonely. At first, Victor let him wander around because he was scared of the creature and was mad at him because he believe the monster killed William. According to paragraph 14, line 6, it states, "You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature." This quote shows how the monster is trying to tell Victor that he too is a murderer if he plans on killing the creature he created. This also ties in with Mary Shelley's epigraph which states, "DID I REQUEST THEE, MAKER, FROM MY CLAY, TO MOULD ME MAN?" This quote shows how the creature never asked to be created,
Daniel Dennett in his 1996 book Kinds of Minds writes, “Every human mind you've ever looked at … is a product not just of natural selection but of cultural redesign of enormous proportions.” Dennett points out that each of us are a product of ‘cultural design’. An example of this is, The monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The monster really does show us how society could have a positive or negative effect on who we become as people. Victor Frankenstein’s monster started out with the maturity level of a child, and the dependance of one as well.
In the letters at the beginning of the novel, it’s stated that a Robert Walton, an explorer, is sailing in the Arctic Ocean and eventually stumbles upon an injured Victor Frankenstein. In the letters, Walton is retelling what Frankenstein had told him about his story. Frankenstein was at birth a Genevese, belonging to distinguished family. As a child, he enjoyed learning things and he was quick to learn new subjects which explains why he had a profound love for science. Later his mother, Caroline Beaufort, adopts a girl named Elizabeth Lavenza who she gives to Frankenstein and takes his mother words literally, believing that Elizabeth belonged to him.
Frankenstein puts his yearnings and worries over all other people in
Most people think that monsters are scary beings that inflict terror and pain upon people. There have been many movies created that show how different eras of society have viewed monsters, and the same monsters always end up recurring overtime because society's main fears do not change on a large scale. The true meaning of what makes a man a monster has nothing to do with what that person looks like; it has to do only with their actions and feelings. A man becomes a monster when he hurts others mentally or physically without having any remorse for the other being. In Frankenstein, a gothic novel written by Mary Shelley in 1831, Shelley imparts her idea that monsters are created by society, which means how the majority of people treat another
Throughout the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the creature is subjected to countless acts of violence and rejection. For a monster to develop, one must have been formerly exploited either by an individual or their society. The creature is not only a physical product of science, but his atrocious behavior is also an explicit result of Victor’s actions toward him. The creature was not born a monster, but slowly morphed into one as he experiences violence and rejection from his society.
Victor Frankenstein, main character in Mary W. Shelley novel Frankenstein discovered the secret of creating new life and become fascinated with the possibility of giving life to lifeless matter. He is consumed by the idea, working day and night not caring that he “tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay” (48). Irresponsible young man, not thinking it through creates “human being…of a gigantic statue” (47). Without thinking how he, the creator, will care for his creations. Without considering what the life is going to be for the creature he creates. He gives his creation life. He was in such a hurry to animate his creation that he didn’t pay attention how the creature looked. He and only he knows the secret of the process. He