Comparing Creation And Hatred In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

As all creations and their creators, there is either regret or hatred towards one another. We as people curse our creator, whether it be an almighty being or simple biology, and there are plenty of stories floating around that our creator regrets its mistake. Northrop Frye’s quote explains the creator and the creations relationship by stating “great trees more likely to be struck by lightning”. These great trees are both creator and creation; they bring the lightning to the soils, but in the process become burnt and destroyed. The two are both victim and instrument. In Mary Shelley’s novel, the hatred between creator and creation is narrowed to two beings, Victor Frankenstein, and his monster. The two are both victim and instrument of their own hatred, and bring the wrath of hatred upon the world around them like a pair of …show more content…
The creator also plays a role. Victor Frankenstein is first consumed by creating life, but after he succeeded, he “dreaded to behold this monster” (Shelley 52). Like his creation, he holds a hatred, but Victor’s hatred is fueled by regret; with his regret comes insanity and an obsession over destroying his work, which leads to the harm of the people closest to him. Their shared fate had been from the monster: his younger brother a victim that perished so young, his best friend that nurtured him back to health after his experiments, then his loving ‘sister’ on their wedding night. Victor’s family and friends parish, and ultimately so does Victor himself. In the novel he seems to be more the villain than the ‘tragic hero’, but, aside from his selfish experiments, he has a part in the tragedy. Not only does his creation wreak havoc, but he causes a vicious cycle that the voyager Walton may have taken on after the end of the novel. Shelley likely included this for both mystery and an unknown tragedy to contrast Victor’s misfortunate knowledge from his