Monstrosity In Frankenstein

Superior Essays
In the story of Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, we are presented with one grand question that we frequently ponder throughout the book: Who is the true monstrosity - Victor or his creation? In the beginning, we are introduced to a seemingly positive version of Victor, one that may seem a bit delusional in his quest to create an artificial human being, yet still not one we consider a monster. But as this story progresses, does Victor eventually become the monster he created? Or was he truly the monster all along and his creation a mere reflection of himself? Despite Victor’s slight insanity and the Creature’s horrid appearance, neither one of these characters begin as a monster, but develop a monstrous nature.

Many parallels between
…show more content…
At first he enters the cottage and strikes up a friendly conversation with the old man, who is blind and oblivious to the Creature’s horrid appearance. The conversation progresses as they speak of kindness and friendliness, when suddenly Felix, Safie and Agatha enter the cottage and react out of fear, tearing the Creature away from the old man and forcing him to quit the cottage. The Creature’s only hope for acceptance is now shattered. From then on he vows hatred against humanity, and this becomes the beginning of a monstrous development. “From that moment I declared everlasting war against the species, and more than all, against him who had formed me, and sent me forth to this insupportable misery” …show more content…
Victor only wanted to contribute to science and the Creature only wanted to be accepted and loved. But these two innocent souls became lost in the battles of life, fighting for understanding. It can only be said that these characters developed into monstrous beings through hate and revengeful actions. Due to Victors lack of responsibility, he allowed a lost man to become a hellish ghoul, which ultimately resulted in the death of several innocent people who were close to Victor, therefor dissolving any chance for Victor to be happy. His own creation became a his every destruction - a terrible

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the words of Mitch Albom, “All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers.” Parenting, much like cruelty, leaves an irrevocable mark. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Shelley uses cruelty to expose the contrast between the perpetrator and victim-…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As he is created by man, the appearance of the monster is unlike any other. The creation of the monster from bones and artificial parts lends itself to being representative of the working class (Benford 181). This confirms that the working class is a man made creation and Sandra Benford states that the artificial parts lead to the monster being mechanically inclined. Part of the reason the monster is unnatural is his physical perfection, not only is the monster stronger, faster, and more resilient the humans, he has the intelligence to rival man (Shelley 31). This seemingly physical perfection of the monster is akin to a machine, it is simply too powerful and reliable in its strength to be human.…

    • 1669 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Changing Sides Frankenstein was written in the early 1800’s by Mary W. Shelley. Frankenstein is a book about a struggle of repentance for what at first seemed to be a prodigious scientific discovery, but actually became an ironic tragedy for both creator and creature. It can be argued that the book’s main character is the creator of the creature, Victor Frankenstein. Throughout the novel, Victor experiences many life changing events. Not only does Victor grow in age, he matures and grows emotionally.…

    • 1022 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    One of the main things that’s this creature does is save a little girl from drowning in a stream, on his way to find Victor in Geneva. Only to get shot by her guardian. It takes him weeks to try and recover from his wounds. Another thing the creature does that shows sympathy is that he gathered wood for this family that he stole food from, not realizing at the time the family is unhappy, because the old man is blind and the family is in poverty and esurient. Then the monster learns to read from that family thanks to the young man Felix, teaching Safie ,an Arabian woman, to read because she does not speak the language that Felix and Agatha, his sister, do so the monster decides to sit down and learn.…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    But it was not so; thou didst seek my extinction, that I might not cause greater wretchedness; and it yet, in some mode unknown to me, thou hadst not ceased to think and feel, thou wouldst not desire against me a vengeance greater than that which bitter sting of remorse will not cease to rankle in my wounds until death shall close them for ever” (Shelley 166). Victor was disgusted at the creation he created, so he sought to exile it and hide its existence. He suffered in the end as he could not complete this goal due to the sickness that had consumed him. The monster wanted to praise him as the creator, yet he did not give it that chance.…

    • 1663 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, there is a creature whom Victor Frankenstein created. The creature and Victor are similar in a few ways, including how they both eventually feel degraded and miserable. But, they are also very different because Victor wants nothing to do with the creature, yet the creature still desires his love. The creature is made to be the monster by Victor because he killed many of Victor’s loved ones and other men and women. Yes, the creature can be malicious, but he is not the true monster.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein’s creation is portrayed as truly monstrous until the very end of the novel. Victor’s actions throughout the novel make him the actual monster instead of his creature, but the reader does not realize this until the end of the novel when there is a switch. The creature makes a speech showing his transformation and understanding of himself, and Victor becomes the antagonist in the reader’s eyes. Victor abandons his creation and refuses to build a female like him, causing Victor to be more monstrous than the creation. Victor created life and once it did not turn out how he was expecting he does not want to carry the burden of creating another.…

    • 1413 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The creature’s actions are often misinterpreted, which causes him to resent humans and so accelerates his transformation into becoming a monster. During his travels, the creature comes across a river, just in time to see a girl running “along” its “precipitous sides”. The girl loses her footing and falls “into the rapid stream”. Immediately, the creature hurries out of his “hiding place, and, with extreme labour from the force of the current”, rescues her. When a man spots the creature with the girl, he tears “the girl from” the creature’s “arms”.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Frankenstein, written by Mary-Ann Shelley, Shelley portrays Victor as the ultimate monster. Throughout the novel, Shelley tests Victor’s morals and concludes him to be arrogant and selfish. Shelley depicts his immorality through the creation of the creature, abandoning his creation, and his decision to uphold his reputation and sacrifice mankind. Shelley illustrates Victor’s immorality through the creation of the creature. When Victor attends university at Ingolstadt, he decides to pursue his studies in the Sciences.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the entire novel, the Creature is exposed to stimuli that shapes the being that he becomes. The Creature is inherently social, but the stimulus of the villagers shaped who became. When he tried to peacefully talk to the them, he was shunned on more than one occasion. The first time is when he wanted to introduce himself to the cottagers and in result, Felix runs at him and, ¨[strikes him] violently with a stick¨ (Frankenstein, 134). When the Creature kills the young boy, he is introduced the the stimuli of destruction and the satisfaction it brings.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As the story had progressed, the monster became an enemy to him. The monster had committed atrocities that affected Victor and his life. The monster killed people in Victor’s life who he cared about and he had no one to blame but himself. “I considered the being whom I had cast among mankind, ad endowed with the will and power to effect purposes of…

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, the closer Victor became to completing the creature, he is more enclosed, darker, misguided. He unconsciously proves that that it’s no longer a quest to Frankenstein anymore; it’s an obsession. One would initially assume the monster is the evil, yet it is Dr. Frankenstein who creates the monster and then hides from the responsibility. His cowardice not only leads to the death of his younger brother, but also to that of the young girl accused of his murder. The monster has moments of great intellect and rationality and simply requests another creation so that he may not be so lonely in the world, only because his own creator has abandoned him in the first place.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The creature shows more compassion than Victor, first off he worry about the family he was observing while in the hut. “I spent the winter in this manner. The gentle manners and beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to me: when they were unhappy, I felt depressed; when they rejoiced, I sympathised in their joys.…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The creatures’ desires is to be part of the cottagers’ lives and for them to love him. This represents a connection that the create felt between him and the rest of humanity. However, the creature is rejected by society because of his disturbing appearance. He feels “emotional and psychological reactions” because of “stress and fear” (Morality without God, 2). “He is a being that has been misguided and rejected by society” (Frankenstein: The True Monster, 3).…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Victor lives with the torment and cannot seem to enjoy life anymore. He relives his past every single day that the creature exists which adds to the never ending cycle of…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics