He believed that his Creature murdered his brother and framed Justine, the Frankenstein’s maid, in order to achieve vengeance for Victor abandoning him, but according to Levine, Victor is the cause for this evil, “...evil is a consequence of maltreatment or injustice,” (Levine 31). Victor’s internal flaws and shortcomings prevent him from revealing the truth about his Creation and therefore he is unable to disclose details of Williams death to save Justine. Victor cowers and stands by as the town unjustly convicts and “executes” Justine, (Shelley 117). The cowardly act committed by Victor shows that he does not possess a strong enough moral compass to do the justified act.
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.
However, the results of the creation of the Creature are egregious, as the creature begins to murder people, specifically Victor’s loved ones, including his brother William upon realizing that William is related to Victor. Victor here is partially at fault in his brother’s death, as he abandoned the Creature, leaving it to terrorize the people. Though he is overwhelmingly contrite for their deaths, he neglects to admit who the true culprit is in William’s murder and allows Justine Moritz to take the blame, an example of his morally ambiguous actions. His inconsiderate actions cost Justine her life, though he feels horrible for it. Even then, he argues that the action he regrets the most—the creation of the monster—was the work of destiny, which was “too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.” (Shelley 23) Again, Victor places blame on fate to justify his obsession with ambition that led him to create the thing he regrets the most. His failure to recognize his role in William’s, Justine’s, etc. deaths while concurrently feeling remorseful for them solidifies his status as a morally
Victor is also a villain in a Archetype sense. Victor was trying to play god, when he created the creature, and that is something he shouldn't have done, because humans can't become too powerful, even though they always try. Victor became so obsessed with creating life, that it clouded his judgment, and took up all of his time and energy. On page 66, just before Justine's trial, Victor thought to himself, "During the whole of this wretched mockery of justice I suffered living torture. It was to be whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of my fellow beings." This line shows two things, first Victor knew that Justine, and William's death was his fault. Also, he knew that his experiments, shouldn't have been done, and were against the laws of nature and god. On page 39, Victor says, "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me." This quote shows how Victor wanted to be like a god. He wanted to be admired, and praised as a species creator. And this want is another reason he was the real villain of Frankenstein.
The monster believed that Victor would accept him, but after he realized that not only did Victor not want to assume his position in the monster’s life, but society also rejected him, it became a transitory thought, and instead became replaced with his bloodthirst towards Victor and his loved ones, which he knew would hurt way worse than just killing him; making him lonely like himself. Both Victor and the monster partook in horrid acts, in which held horrendous actions; the main one being Victor creating the monster in the first place which in result caused the both of them heartbreak, loneliness, and pain. If Victor wouldn’t have created the monster, then his life would not be filled with so much grief and emptiness; Victor is the true monster, although they are both the primal protagonists as much as they are the antagonists because of the display of the emotions they both portray as lamenting humans/monsters, and the power they give to nature in order to destroy one another. Victor used nature to his advantage, although it was wrong; Victor used nature to create and destroy the monster; he used the
In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the character Victor Frankenstein can not be identified as purely evil or purely good. An interest in science leads Victor to create an evil monster, however midway through the book Victor develops sentimental feelings for the monster, even though he has committed many
Victor and the monster hate each other and eventually seek revenge on one another (60). In the beginning, Victor was passionate about his creation of life, he thought it was a brilliant idea (79). However, he was unable to “endure the aspect of the being [he] had created” (84) after the completion of the creature. The monster appeared to be friendly as “a grin wrinkled his cheeks” (84) and tried to communicate with Victor (84). However, Victor tried to avoid him and did not want to associate himself with the monster at all (84). The monster was furious and “[swore] eternal revenge” (154) when his creator rejected him because of his appearance. Therefore, when the monster knew that William was related to Victor, he became enraged and killed him (154). As the monster continued to kill Victor’s family, Victor pledged that he will get revenge on the creature (60). The exchanges between these two individuals were an indication of Victor’s vengeful
His friend from home comes to surprise Victor but he ends up consoling him for months — he does not want to confront the horrors he has single handedly created. He is such a disaster that he cannot write his family, only putting them under more stress. Finally, after months go by Victor begins to regain his mind and consciousness. He receives a letter from his father stating that his child brother was murdered. This, of all things, is what finally pushes Victor to return home to his family. Once Victor has returned to his family he realizes what exactly he had done. Victor’s creation had made its way to his family’s home and had taken the life of his brother. Not only is has the life of this young child been stripped away but Justine, a family friend, has been accused of killing the poor boy. Justine had never done anything but love and care for the child as if he were her own. He claims Justine’s innocence but he does not come clean— he cannot. If Victor were to mention that of a monster he would be institutionalized and Justine would still be found guilty. Justine is put to death, the second being stripped of life at the his monster. Victor feels “a weight of despair pressed on [his] heart,” (Shelley 111). These murders are the fault of Frankenstein and the weight he feels is overwhelming guilt. Without the construction of a new life, of a monster, these lives would not be lost… still he manages to fond great comfort in
Graham Williamson Mrs. Garner English 04 May 2017 Who is the real monster? Victor or his monster? The definition of a monster is very arguable. A monster is typically seen as something inhuman and hideously scary. A human could also be a monster in that they could be extremely wicked or cruel. In the
Question #7- What difficult circumstances is Walton encountering when he meets Victor Frankenstein? In the letters that Robert Walton sent to his sisters, there is legit evidence that he was encountering difficult circumstances when he met Victor Frankenstein. When Walton's vessel was sailing to the Northern Pole they encountered heavy fog and lots of ice. Walton's exact words were, "...we were nearly surrounded by ice" (8). and he also exclaimed, "...we were compassed round by a very thick fog" (8). Also, while they were trapped in the ice surrounding them, they saw a gigantic figure going on along the ice which befuddled the crew because as Walton had said in his letters, "We were, as believed, many hundreds of miles away from any
After two innocent victims die in the hands of Victor because of the monster’s thirst for revenge, the monster confronts his creator insisting “Thy justice…is most due” . As he begs Victor to create another being, a female partner as hideous as he is, he admits the hurtful remorse he feels of his actions, promising “I will be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king, if thou wilt also perform thy part, the which thou owest me.” This reveals the monster understands right from wrong, justice from injustice, as he realizes he should stop his murder
After the death of his brother William and servant Justine, victor begins to think he is guilty of the murders. He begins to think since the creature was his creation, he was responsible for the murders indirectly. However, he refuses to tell anyone of what he has done out of fear. He created the creature's life before thinking of the consequences of "playing God". He didn't even accept his creation and abandoned him for his hideous
Alexander Nowak Medfield High School English 1/6/2011 A Dire Flaw In some novels, the main character often possesses a negative trait which ultimately becomes his/her biggest flaw. The manner of how the protagonist responds to his/her troubles impacts the development of the flaw. One character in particular encompasses a trait that even with his self-awareness,
Victor, after being convinced to create a female companion for the monster, realizes that this will only create double the amount of destruction, he then makes the choice to discontinue his project to prevent more devastation. Instead of less damage resulting from this choice it only brings more harm to his life and everyone around him. First, his good friend Henry Clerval is murdered by the beast and Victor is accused of this murder, “The human frame could no longer support the agonies that I endured, and I was carried out of the room in strong convulsions.” (Shelley 129). This was Victor’s reaction upon seeing Henry’s corpse and demonstrates how deeply his pursuit for knowledge affects him. Even though he is later released on circumstantial evidence, he will be scarred for life knowing that he responsible for yet another death. Given that Victor destroyed the monster’s only hope of having someone else like him in the world; the monster swears revenge and that he will return on Victor’s wedding night. Victor misinterpreted this warning and instead of the monster attacking Victor, his creation attacked and
It is vital that you know who the real monster in the Frankenstein book, Victor Frankenstein is the number one contender for this position. He creates a monster, but who knows if the actual monster he created is the true monster in this story. In