Preview

Humanity Exposed In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
698 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Humanity Exposed In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
The standard novel Frankenstein is a mass of horrific situations. Writer, Mary Shelly demonstrates her passionate side of ghost stories as she fulfills them within her novel. As she writes the novel Frankenstein, it enlightens her to come up with many ideas relating to horror stories. Frankenstein, is a novel that should make one’s blood run cold because of all the wrong and offset things that happen between the creature and civilians that are in it. It is uplifted from the beginning of the novel when the creator Victor succeeds his creation of an “inanimate body” (Shelley 35) to be resurfaced again in his atramentous laboratory at the University of Ingolstadt. With his creation it is assumed that he the creature is another human individual. The creature learns the basic needs of a human and how others interact with one another. As he grows to seek full potential, he encounters a problem that is in his way through out the entire book. The problem that is triggering him is the feeling of compassion for someone. Even if someone doesn’t look the way a human being should be, it should not be a problem for someone to …show more content…
Victors creation with the monster is a hate-love relationship between each other. One minute they dislike one another because something is wrong and the other minute they solve things to be cordial between them. Victor is not satisfied with his creation he wanted more from something that was bold and revolutionary. His creation is something that he should be enlightened about and be proud of the accomplishment that he succeeded with the outcome. Victor speaks, “I could hardly believe that so great a good fortune could have befallen me; but when I became assured that my enemy had indeed fled, I clapped my hands for joy and ran down to Clerval” (Shelley 38). No one appreciates who Frankenstein is and for that the people of the community don’t have compassionism for a creature like

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    On a basic level, it could be argued that Victor’s search for knowledge ultimately leads him to his transgressions and eventual demise; through the medium of science he is able to create a creature that is fearful and monstrous, this suggests the power of science is something to be feared. However, the creation of the monster could be viewed as a misuse of science, rather than an accurate demonstration of its other altruistic uses; Victor had the knowledge and power to create life however just because he could do it, doesn’t mean he should; a moral debate still applicable to modern society. Science could be seen as fearful within Frankenstein due to the reader’s (especially that of Mary Shelley’s audience) inability to understand how it works, before the 1800’s and the great amount of scientific, social and political change and development, science; especially medicine, was seen as witchcraft and something to be feared. With the age of enlightenment came more acceptance however the majority of the population was still skeptical and fearful of science as it was unknown to them. Shelley could therefore be suggesting that scientific experiments to explore the depths of the unknown are dangerous and shouldn’t be done, thus inciting fear. In Frankenstein, it demonstrates how terrible the consequences can be if scientific knowledge and power falls into the wrong hands, the way Victor is depicted at many points throughout the book suggests he is mad with…

    • 1745 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Frankenstein is a novel book in which the mistake of Victor leads to the death of his loved ones. A scientist decides to interfere in the plans of nature and nature represented by the creature severely punishes him for that. Only “God” should take responsibility of creating a human form of life. Victor and the monster both die.…

    • 58 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Throughout the novel, Victor Frankenstein hides in constant fear of the creature he has created. However, he had one opportunity to live his life free of this constant fear. That was to simply create a partner for his creature and the creature promised to leave him alone forever. He took the agreement and began making the partner. However, in the middle of the process, he betrayed his creature’s trust in him. He destroyed what he had created and vowed to never create another creature ever again. This betrayal of the creature’s trust is what prompted the monster to continue his monstrous rampage and is what led Victor to live his life in constant fear. This one simple act of misdeed, due to the fear instilled into Victor by the creature, allows…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Victor’s rejection and abandonment of the creature and many other people’s subsequent rejection of the creature, based on appearance, reminds the reader of how society (both in Shelley’s era and in the modern day), can and do reject those who are different and Shelley cultivates more sympathy from the reader this way. Frankenstein has had love and support from family all his life, by showing us Frankenstein’s childhood and then showing us his acts toward the creature readers are positioned to think of how callous, selfish and awful Frankenstein is as he rejects the creature and does not deem him worthy. Frankenstein tells the readers of his charmed childhood and because of this the reader thinks he’s a decent man, you also admire how he loves…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Foil Essay: Frankenstien

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Throughout the novel, The Monster is characterized as a sensitive being; he wants to be loved and resents the fact that he was rejected by Frankenstein. As he gains knowledge and begins to grow more intelligent, The Monster comes to the realization that Victor abandoned him, that he is unwanted. This frustrates him as he continually gets rejected by society. Although Victor seems to think very highly of himself, The Monster has a very low self-esteem, “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on” (pg #), which stems from his rejection by both Victor and society as a whole. This character trait of The Monster makes the sort of selfishness of Victor, as it shows that, in his search for fame and glory, he was uncaring of the consequences. In creating The Monster, Victor’s intentions were not what they should have been; instead of trying to create life in order to make the world better, he was doing is for the sole purpose of becoming a God-like person. His God-complex is apparent in other parts of the novel as well, when he meets The Monster in the mountains and they have a conversation about Victor’s want to destroy The…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    After the monster found victor in his room he was filled with anger “You have destroyed the work which you began; what is it that you intend?” (120). In addition, the monster asked “endured incalculable fatigue, and cold, and hunger; do you dare destroy my hopes?” (120). Subsequent to the monster braking in to Victor’s room and escaping in his own boat, Victor was filled with rage. “The night passed away, and the sun rose from the ocean; my feelings became calmer, if it may be called calmness, when the violence of rage sinks into the depths of despair” (121). One main event that started the quench for the undying hatred and sorrow was the death of Victor’s son, William. The monster decided to give the humans one last chance. When he stumbled upon a child, “suddenly, as I gazed on him, an idea seized me, that this little creature was unprejudiced, and had lived too short of a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity” (100). Soon after his encounter with the child, the monster realized that the young boy was just like everyone else he has met. “Hideous monster! Let me go; my papa is a Syndic-he is M. Frankenstein-he would punish you. You dare not keep me” (100). The creature also learned that the child he gave one last chance to was the son of Victor Frankenstein. “Frankenstein! you belong then to my enemy-to him towards whom I have sworn…

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is written about a man Walton who goes on a journey to the North Pole. Walton’s ship becomes trapped in ice, and this is where Walton sees two men dog sledding. One man, who looks very frail, is invited onto Walton’s ship. The man, who goes by Frankenstein, shares Walton his story how he built this monster. This monster, angry at Frankenstein, kills all his loved ones in revenge for creating him. A main theme in this novel is the struggle between human morality and whether the monster is naturally evil or was it his decisions that caused him to act evil. This is a major concept discussed by two Enlightenment Philosophers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Diction In Frankenstein

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The dark and creepy tones in Frankenstein reflect the concurring, mysterious murders that occur throughout the plot. The author, Mary Shelley, adds a certain “wow factor” when revealing the atmosphere of terror and horror to the reader. Shelley also gives the reader a supernatural aura. The author’s diction reveals that the monster, that Frankenstein had created, is a romantic hero.…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Frankenstein, the role of the monster and human are subtly revered with Victor considered more monstrous than the creature he created. This is because first, Victor is portrayed monstrous than the creature because he abandons his creature instead of educating and friendly introducing him to the world, which is itself a monstrous act of irresponsibility. Secondly, Victor ought to know that the creature will likely harm others, but due to his selfishness he places his family and friends at great risk. Some might say that Victor is not monstrous and disagree with the fact that he only wants creature to be killed, because he agreed to the creature that he will make the female form of the creature to fulfill the creature’s need and for his family’s…

    • 1656 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gothic Class

    • 875 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When Victor has his first encounter with the creature he is very shocked and scared at the same time. “Devil, do you dare approach me? And do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head? Begone, vile insect! or rather, stay, that I may trample you to dust! And, on! That I could with the extinction of your miserable existence……” Victor main goal was to create a human and whether it came out beautiful or ugly he should have never spoke that to Frankenstein. In society, we look as Frankenstein as a horrible scary monster when in fact he just always wanted to be love; he didn’t ask to be here. Because of what he went through there are causes that effect the way that he lives. When Frankenstein speaks for the first time he says “do your duty towards me, and I will do mine to you and the rest of mankind.” This is in fact rational because the creature just wants a female companion to keep him company. “I am alone and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create.” This quote shows how much he wanted to be loved by another. Victor refuses because he did not know the consequences of making another like Frankenstein that could cause society harm.…

    • 875 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    student

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When Victor Frankenstein first saw the creature alive, it wasn’t what he had expected it to be. The creature didn’t look like how Victor imagined it would look like, because Victor expected the creature to look beautiful and the creature turned out completely different. Victor instantly tries to ignore the creature and leaves, “unable to endure the aspect of the being i had create, i rush out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber…” said Victor (page 49). Victor runs away from the creature instead of confronting him. The least victor could have done was at least talk to the creature or even destroy him. Victor didn’t listen to the creature or give him any of his attention.…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Frankenstein, one of the themes involves cruelty and the mistreatment of others. This can be seen when Victor turns away from his creature and abandons him. It can also be shown through diction Victor constantly calls the creature a demon, the devil, vile, and a monster. The hurt done to the creature by Victor Frankenstein is the main cause for the plot development and rising conflicts. Realistically, if Victor had accepted and showed the creature an accepting society, there would be no story. But since he never experienced love or acceptance anywhere, he vows for revenge and death to everyone his creator loves. Because he was only shown hatred and disgust, he only shows hatred and disgust for society.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This is exactly what happens to Victor when he becomes so focused on making the creature rather than being in the real world. He also explains that “this crisis” of technology taking over our lives “leads to a general realization about our technology: that it is us” (Vargish). He argues that humans are at fault for the huge technological advances going on today and that it has gone too far, due to the drive to discover. He also argues that it represents our true aspirations in life. For instance, Vargish shows how Victor abuses technology for his own personal gain as he argues that “he plans to employ his new technology to create a race of dependents who will worship and praise him” (Vargish). This shows that Victor uses technology for what he is truly after-worship and praise. Vargish argues that Victor is more concerned about his pride than making the creature. This behavior is much better represented by the creature rather than Victor, which demonstrates how crossing the line with technology and especially for the sake of pride can lead to big consequences. Due to Victor’s pride, the creature that he regrets creating in the first place, becomes an attention seeking monster reflecting who Victor really is, or as Vargish stated “Frankenstein's monster is Frankenstein; the creation expresses the creator”…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As Victor was in the laboratory in process of creating this monster, he envisioned himself to be the creator and source of a new species. Enthusing in his role of creature-creator, a fertile parent (Bentley, Family, Humanity, Polity: Theorizing the Basis and Boundaries of Political Community in Frankenstein, 2005 p.338) to innumerable progeny (not shying away from the benefits of parental responsibility) he meaningfully says, "No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely…

    • 1718 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    This is one of the reasons why he was so mean to people. Victor was mean to the creature because right after he created him he ran away from it. “Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived” (Shelley 36). If Victor would have listened to the creature he would have found out he just wanted someone to talk to. This could have stopped the creature from doing bad things. When the creature stayed next to the cabin and got to know the people that lived there he thought they would be different. They were not and this ruined how he felt about humans. “Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow creatures, who owe me nothing? They spurn and hate me” (Shelley 69). Victor made the creature feel awful and that is something a monster would…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays