Victor or his Monster: Who is the Real Monster in Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'?

What is a monster, really? Is it really a Creature that has three eyes instead of two, with pus seeping out of every crevice in his face and an abnormally large form? Or is it someone with a mind so corrupt it rivals that of Satan? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a story within a story that centers on the tale of a man with an immense thirst of knowledge and a fetish to imitate the Creator. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a lot like the Greek mythological tale of the Greek God, Prometheus, and his brother, Epimetheus, who were assigned the task of creating man. The story captivates the theme of monstrosity. Mary Shelley wrote the novel in a form so the reader’s opinions never stray far from sympathy for the monster and apathy for Victor

The pity that the reader once felt towards this child-like creature who was abandoned upon creation, is turned to hatred and fear towards this monster who slaughters innocents. One doesn't blame the parents of a mass murderer for the crimes of their offspring simply because they gave birth to him. So why should Victor be held accountable for the treacherous deeds of his creation? The portrayal of the monster as the villain in this story attributes to the conflicting feelings of whether he is purely good or evil.

As the novel goes on everyone Victor once cared for are decimated in the path of his creation. "I was possessed by a maddening rage when I thought of him and desired and ardently prayed that I might have him within my grasp to wreak a great and signal revenge on his cursed head" (Shelley 103). Now, due to his unwavering lust for knowledge, all that was once good and innocent has been stripped from him. This has left him as a former shell of himself, to be compared with his own creation, solely driven by vengeance.

Due to Victor’s failure to take responsibility of the monster and take care of him despite his needs, the monster fails to acquire the basic virtue of hope. The monster develops a sense of mistrust and fear with no confidence with the world around him. The monster may develop anxiety and heightened insecurities.

In the novel by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, the creature and its creator, Victor Frankenstein, share a lot of similarities throughout the story. The relationship shared between the two resembles that of a father and his son. Since Victor created it , the creature inherits certain traits of Victor’s without realizing it. Victor and the creature both have an overpowering thirst for knowledge, a love for the beauty of nature and a tendency to use it as a scapegoat, a depressing feeling of isolation from people, a desire for revenge, and the ability to play God. The relationship between Victor and the creature does not develop like a normal father-son relationship, nor does it develop as a good versus evil relationship. Both characters show hero and villain qualities throughout the novel as their relationship develops.

Once Victor commences his project on creating life, he ends up isolating himself, neglecting not only his mental health but his physical health as well. While enduring his distressing illnesses, he remarks, “Sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I perceived that I had become...and amusement would then drive away incipient disease; and I promised both of these when my creation should be complete” (44). Although Victor discerns his poor health after working tirelessly, he fails to recognize his desperate need for a break. He understands that his body is not in good condition, but proceeds to state that he will heal his body only until his creation is complete, thus proving that he is imperceptive to repercussions. After following the monster through the ice and being treated by Walton, Victor gives advice to him, regarding his own experience with his own ambition for knowledge and glory, “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a respect to sting you, as mine has been” (19). His explanation of the consequence of inordinate ambition shows the realization Victor has finally come to. He notes the dangers ambition itself holds, and how pursuing glory with an unrestrained passion only results in misery. Through his journey Victor seeks for glory with a burning compulsion, but

The next day, Victor falls seriously ill in a state of depression and paranoia caused by Victor’s guilt and regret of creating the Monster. While creating the Monster, Victor’s isolation from his loved ones and the outside world weakened his morals and ethics; allowing him to create the Monster without any thought about the consequences of his actions. After he creates the Monster, Victor immediately recognizes the fault in his actions and regrets creating the Monster, this guilt and regret is the start of his self-destruction as shown by Victor’s falling

The Creature A Fallen Angel In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, although the creature's previous actions depict him as villainous being who only has the capacity for hatred, his final address to Walton suggests that his morality isn't lost. Throughout the book the creature kills humans that are connected to his creator, Victor. He carries out acts of revenge against Victor by killing all the people he loves, leaving Victor lonely and isolated just as he is. Yet, we are never able to truly see the emotions that the creature holds inside for his creator until the creature’s final speech to Walton. These acts of terror against the humans are only meant to distract us from the creature’s deeper feelings.

In the novel Frankenstein, the real Monster is Victor himself. It’s simple to understand and very clear to see. He may not look like one or realize that it is him, but many things throughout the book point you to the conclusion that the creature isn’t the monster. It stuck out to me the entire time reading this, but there were a couple spots that really made me realize who the real monster was. For example in Ch. 5, where he startled himself by his own creation and again in Ch.

In this story, I believe that the victim in the case would be The Creation after being abandoned and lost. Here is why I believe that he is the victim. The motivation of Victor Frankenstein to create the creation, comes from his childhood when he was obsessed with studying outdated theories that focused on natural wonders and phenomena. When Victor was at the University of Ingolstadt, he learned the secret technique to form life to non-living matter. When Victor was learning about these techniques, his mother dies of Scarlet fever, which sends him into scientific experiments to deal with the pain and grief.

In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Victor and his creature share many characteristics although they are opposing forces because of their differences. The story starts with Robert Walton recounting his time trapped in impassable ice where he met Victor Frankenstein, who looked very ill. Victor tells Walton about how he grew up in Swiss family and had a joyous childhood with loving parents. When Victor got older, he attended the university of Ingolstadt, where he became fascinated with the secret of life and after many years, he thought he had discovered it. Frankenstein had taken the body parts of old corpse’s and designed a creature, and one night, he brought his creation to life. When he saw the creature he was horrified by the sight of

The monster in Frankenstein portrays a very mythical form of life because it functions as a beastly, grotesque, third race creature with human like qualities. Throughout the book, the monster displays it’s mythical qualities, such as having black skin, yellow eyes, beastly physique, and hideousness. The monster goes around tormenting Victor, by killing his family member, and destroying the village at where he stayed for awhile. The monster demands that Victor creates another creature to be his companion, which is also proof that the Monster is its own race.

At first, Victor rejects the monster that he created, even though he is essentially his father. This in turn results in the monster’s vengeance and killing of other people. When the

“But it is true that I am wretched. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless; I have strangled the innocent as they slept, and grasped to death his throat who never injured me or any other living thing. I have devoted my creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love and admiration among men, to misery; I have pursued him even to that irremediable ruin” (Shelley 274). Who is to be blamed for Victor’s family’s death? Is it the creature or the creator? Victor created life, but he is not responsible for the creation’s actions. The monster has a mind of his own, in which he is emotionally characterized as human. The monster felt and acted like human; his appearance just seemed to jeopardize his life and acceptance in society. Victor’s creation has only caused him to enter a state of remorse. On the other hand, the monster feels neglected and rejected which causes him to kill Victor’s loved ones. Their relationship is made up of betrayal, rejection and a lack of love. Shelley uses allusions and epistolary form in order to express Victor and his creature’s relationship by giving an insight of both point of views, which allows the audience to learn about each character and their use of power and independence as they use it against each other.

Victor is noted for blaming himself throughout the entire plot, which characterizes much of his personality. He claims, ?I, not in deed, but in effect, was the true murderer? (63). He, therefore, blames himself for the murders of William, Justine, and Henry.