Why Is Frankenstein A Morally Ambiguous Character

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley tells the tale of the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his creation. Both Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s creation’s questionable actions lead them both to be considered morally ambiguous figures. Victor is ambitious with good intentions, but his ambition leads to bad results. The Creature is an innately kind and compassionate person who commits abominable actions due to how others treat him. Their moral ambiguity is significant, as it reveals that an obsession with ambition distorts one’s morals.

If we analyse the passage here, it goes into detail of “delight was in carnage and misery” which is refuted by the creature later on where the creature reveals when he kills his “heart was poisoned with remorse” (254). Therefore if we only took the crime and looked at the action without understanding the intention that was given with the creature's narrative it would vastly shift the way readers would interpret the story. The same could be said if the narrative was told purely in the creature's perspective, the world would be cruel and unhinging. The creature suffered nothing but cruelty from the rest of humanity (e.g. the passage in paragraph two) and his actions could be forgiven by the reader because of his mental age and the cruelty that lead up to his action. The readers would have little to no sympathy for Victor and only see the character as a cruel creature and perhaps even see the creature's action as a form of retribution; however, since the narrative doesn’t only show Victor or the creature. The reader is able to get a more complete picture and the author let us come to our own conclusions rather than imposing or guiding one to

He longs for a companion who will understand him and who will not mistreat him. The last moments of compassion dies within the creature when his creator destroys the companion he promised to create, and the revenge continues from there. Even though the creature commits awful crimes, he also commits acts of kindness.

Perhaps the differences of morality and science could be defined in parallel stories within the novel, one attempting to discover the secret of life and death, and the other attempting to reveal the secrets of abnormalities. It is noticed that Victor Frankenstein is enthralled by science in the physical world, so he embarks on an experiment that forever changes his life. In a way it can be noticed that Victor Frankenstein is trying to play God. He wants to discover the unknown, and clarify the mysteries of creation; the mysteries behind life and death. After discovering the unknown, Victor walks out on his Creature leaving it to live independently, which was a terrible blunder that he does not feel

In the religion Taoism, the Yin-Yang represents all the good and evils within humans. However, it is often difficult to tell the difference as good and evil is only based on perspective. In literature, writers and authors use the technique of having morally ambiguous characters to have this effect on readers. These characters are used to discourage readers from being able to distinctly identify if the character is either purely good or purely evil as a way to allow the story become more complex and be based on the reader’s perspective. In Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel, Frankenstein, the Monster is seen as a morally ambiguous character through Shelley’s use of identity, references to Paradise Lost, and multiple perspectives within the narrative structures to suit the overall theme of good and evil where it is based on morals and beliefs.

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.

The fact that his creation was not given a name is another significant example of Victor’s indifference for his “child”.  “The absence of a name denies a child the knowledge of his origin and familial connection.” (Defrain 21)  Not only does the monster lack a name and place in society, but he never experienced motherly-love and tenderness upon his birth, which is crucial to the healthy growth and development of any new being.

The Creature was so innately pure when he first moved in near the De Lacey’s house that he could not possibly conceive man 's idea of doing evil. The Creature could not believe that man, as amazing as it is, could feel something as disgusting as revenge. He believed that there was no way that someone could be driven to such an extent that they would feel the need to kill someone else.

When man decides to assume the role of God, consequences are bound to plague such an ambition. In the case of Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the product of such an ambition is a creature born of the dead. Despite the frightening process of his creation, the creature wakes into the world as a benevolent being. He simply longs for acceptance and friendship, but due to his unsightly features, the world is quick to condemn him as the monster he appears to be. With an unbearable sense of rejection in his heart, the monster begins to turn wicked. Soon enough he is responsible for multiple deaths in the name of revenge. Although many treat him unfairly, the monster is fully aware of his actions

Who is the real monster?” acts as the dominant question throughout the novel “Frankenstein” written by Mary Shelly as the reader explores the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his nameless creation. As the novel progresses, the reader notices how the relationship between the two characters goes far beyond a neglectful creature and resentful creation, for the two influence the thoughts, actions and emotions of each other. Furthermore, the creature’s physical appearance acts as his purpose throughout the novel as well as a mirror of Victor Frankenstein’s true identity. Additionally, the creature’s lack of identity begins to initiate Frankenstein’s shame towards his own identity, revealing the flawed character of Frankenstein and determining the resolution to the question “Who is the true monster? Who is the true catalyst of destruction?” During the novel, the reader is able to identify the creature as the most effective foil for Victor Frankenstein because the creature causes: Frankenstein to view the action of the creature as his own work, the shift between pride and shame in Frankenstein, and his physical appearance demonstrates his purpose to reveal the true character of Victor Frankenstein.

     The monster acts with more respectable and reasonable decisions than Victor does. He has a right for revenge. He has been abandoned, exiled, despised, and denied any form of happiness. He has wants and needs that any human desires; care, love, and friendship.

the massacre of his family. If Victor was more responsible towards his creation, the creature

Dictionary of Narratology). Because if we identify the character of Victor start from his happy childhood, university environment, but since he created the human-like, the complexity of his life getting worse and worse. He tried to struggle and beated down the monster to reconcile his mistake, and went back to his hometown to safe his family but ironically he couldn’t.

Human nature is a particularly difficult concept to understand, as we are multi-faceted creatures, with a great array of emotions and motives. Due to this unique fact, we are oftentimes confronted with moral decisions in which it is difficult to determine the proper response. Our morals mix into one another, and prove nearly impossible to untangle and decipher into one concise stance on a matter. Mary Shelley’s early gothic-fiction novel, Frankenstein, displays the Creature created by Frankenstein as an immoral being, but simultaneously provides a path in which his feelings can be interpreted and understood, therefore giving him relatably human qualities that mitigate his wrongoings.