Is a creature who is made up of different body parts considered human? Is a creature who is eight feet tall considered human? In Gris Grimly's Frankenstein, one character, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature out of his inquisitive mind. The creature goes on to make mistakes and even crimes that come with no explanation, but towards the end apologies. I believe that Victor Frankenstein's creature is human.…
Shelley’s Gothic novel, Frankenstein, explores the complex nature of mankind by considering the consequences of an unrestricted pursuit of science. A rise in scientific experimentation with Galvanism during Shelley’s time is reflected through the protagonist Victor as he uses it to bestow life. Shelley portrays Victor and the Creature as complex beings, demonstrating both inhuman and human qualities. Despite this, the subsequent rejection by his creator and the De Lacy family drives the Creature to ‘eternal rejection and vengeance of mankind’. Victor’s initial response when meeting the creature, demonstrates his savage, cruel treatment and lack of responsibility towards his creation.…
Shelley’s belief of the corruption inherent in science is demonstrated through the allegory of Victor’s fall from grace as he loses his morality which is highlighted by his lack of empathy. Through his destructive quest for knowledge, Victor’s own sense of humanity is destroyed, as emphasised by the hyperbole within Victor’s statement, “I seem to have lost all soul or sensation, but for this one pursuit”. In contrast, the supposed “daemon” he creates is depicted as a sentient, passionate being, evident in his opening narration with its sensory imagery “innumerable sounds rang in my ears, and on all sides various scents saluted me” where the awareness and appreciation of nature reflects Shelley’s Romantic leanings. Shelley utilises this narrative voice of the creature to draw sympathy away from Victor to highlight the lack of empathy of Victor as he spurns his grotesque creation on superficial qualities, ignoring his responsibility to the thing he has created mirroring the chaos The creature alerts Victor of his moral failings through biblical allusions “I ought to be thy Adam... whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed”. Shelley's powerful biblical allusion to Genesis provides an immediate juxtaposition between the self-interested relationship of Victor and his monster,…
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…
When an infant is first born it experiences its five senses all at once like the Creature does when first created. In the passage from Frankenstein by Mary Shelly the author portrays the Creature as a new born. For the first time the Creature experiences his five senses and is overwhelmed by his experience. He connotes a baby like experiences and behavior; which is seen in the author’s writing when she compares the two by using the five senses and allusions.…
Shelley uses this twelve paragraph passage to gain the trust of the reader towards Frankenstein and to also make the reader disapprove of the monster. Shelley tries to make the creature seem inanimate and worthless when Victor Frankenstein tells Robert Walton about his ‘experiment’. Frankenstein refers to the creature as ‘a daemon’, ‘lifeless matter’, ‘a frame for the reception’, ‘the being of gigantic structure’, ‘about eight feet in height’, ‘the lifeless clay’ and ‘the great object which swallowed up every habit of my nature’. Every one of these quotes infers that the creature is a terrifying being who does not resemble a human at all. These descriptions are ones which would describe a hideous fiend. Frankenstein and Shelley use these descriptions to ensure that Robert Walton and also, more importantly, the reader, can gain a prejudice towards the creature on account of Frankenstein’s attitude and the creature’s depressing countenance. Frankenstein knows that Walton is very gullible as he is very lonely and will believe everything that Frankenstein tells him. This is backed up when Walton writes:…
For many people, seeing someone who is different may be hard to accept. In Frankenstein, a plethora of characters mentioned were unable to accept that the monster was, for want of a better word, a person. There is an innumerable amount of traits that make a us human and the monster appeared to have many of them. The qualities that make us human include the ability to care, intense emotions, the ability to tell right from wrong, and competence. Examples of the monster portraying these traits are spread out through the book.…
In the chapters 4 and 5 from the book “Frankenstein”, explains how he creates the creature and the ideas that lead him to his creation. In the beginning of chapter 4, it made it pretty obvious that Frankenstein was interested in the idea of dead people. For example, Frankenstein stated that “to examine the causes of life, we must first have to recourse to death,”(Shelley 18). This proves to show that Frankenstein was already planning on making his creature apart of death. Another process that Frankenstein used to construct his creature was when he thought about the creature as himself. To further explain, he says that “I should attempt the creation of a being myself,”(Shelley 19). Frankenstein then created the creature with characteristics…
The book “Frankenstein” by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley discusses Victor Frankenstein's life before the creation and after. The monster wasn’t made for mass destruction but godful life. Seeking revenge for rejection from mankind, the creature creates loneliness in Victor’s life. The question “Is man born evil or is evil created in man by society” is answered in the book because the creature wasn’t born evil. Over the years he grew a dark side because of no guidance, rejection, failure, and jealousy.…
Shelley wants the reader to feel compassion for creature as well as for Frankenstein. She writes as though she is trying to distinguish the idea of a good or bad in a person. In her biography, written and research by the European Graduate School Program, that she is atheist and you can really tell that by reading the novel. Things such as morals and ethics can be easily leaned not only by attending the church but merely social interactions and self-education. I think that this is shown through the creature in how he is so neglected but continues to persevere and gain his own knowledge and wisdom through his sensations and passions. Mary Shelley created something more than just a…
I believe that The creature can be considered human because, he has the same great emotions just like humans he understands pain and he knows what it is like to be miserable for the sake of himself, he has developed great knowledge over the years and has begun to understand the purpose of humans, he has understand the emotions of himself and others, he should be considered human because of his knowledge with that, he shouldn't be left behind without a specific purpose besides for the way that he looks. Over the years of being miserable he had understand the meaning of happiness when he had seen the man and the couple that had all lived together in a cabin, the had showed happiness to each other, the creature knew what it was like to be miserable, but he did not see them acting the way that he was acting which made him change his emotion on how he saw things, besides thinking about Victor, he knew that was how you would treat someone, because Victor had never treated him that when the family had showed kindness to each he felt a warm welcome…
The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly tells the story of an obsessive scientist who pursues to defy nature and create unnatural life. Victor Frankenstein attends a university where he is introduced to natural philosophy and soon after becomes consumed with a project replacing all ties to the outside world and those closest to him. When Frankenstein succeeds in bringing life to an inanimate body he is set back immediately by the botched creation he has made. Without a word from the creature, Frankenstein throws a tantrum and ultimately abandons the brand new life he started. As the creature struggles on the search for love and compassion, he encounters continuous rejection because of his distorted appearance and is driven further into isolation…
Through the theme of birth and creation, Shelley criticizes Victor not only for creating the new being, but also for abandoning it when it comes to life. Shelley's description of how Victor created his creature closely resembles that of human birth. She calls Victor's lab a "workshop of filthy creation" and describes it as a…
Shelley describes the creature's birth in two different points of view, she writes about Victor`s and the Creature`s points of view. When the creature is talking about his side of the story he starts by saying “A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time; and it was, indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses.” (Shelley 207) The creature is talking to Victor about when he awoke he knoticed that he the same sense`s that every human has. Next the creature goes on to say that he closed his eyes after he first woke up, because the light was so I bright. After that when he opened his eyes again he knoticed that Victor was nowhere to be found. So he got up and he learned that he knew how to walk. He then went to Victor's room where again Victor ran away. After that the creature just sat down and cried. He was cold and was lonely. This reminds me of when babies are born into the world they immediately cry out. They do this because they have senses that tell them they are cold so they let out a cry, just…
The monster, although it has acquired the name Frankenstein in popular culture, remains nameless throughout the novel, signifying its lack of acceptance in a human society. The monster’s rejection stems significantly from its appearance, ranging from its "yellow skin" (Shelley 42) and "dim-white sockets" (42) to its "straight black lips” (42) and a "shriveled complexion” (42). Shelley has clearly distinguished the monster, marking the first divide between monster and human. She has also established the initial trickling of the monster’s inability to associate with humans. In fact, the monster’s own creator, Victor Frankenstein, rejects it due to its appearance and refuses to interact with the hideous beast. The monster’s appearance prevents other characters from seriously interacting with the monster, as they form a prejudice against a non-human being. The fear of that which is non-human lingers throughout Shelley’s…