Lee Siegel's 'Should Literature Be Useful?'

Victor Frankenstein, engulfed in the obsession of creating life out of death, resurrects a body composed of multiple parts from different origins. Victor “had worked for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this [he] had deprived [him]self of rest and health;” this madness is Victor’s desire to become a creator that people envied (Shelley 57). Victor creates a monster, one that is the “outcome or product of curiosity … pushed to an extreme” (Brooks 387). Resembling an infant perceiving its surroundings through its parents, the monster’s entire perception of the world is centered around Victor Frankenstein due to . The monster tries learning about his creator

Frankenstein removes himself from friends, family and society in order to absolve himself from responsibility of morals. Through efforts to maintain control and an acute fascination, Frankenstein alienates himself at an early age in the name of science. Victor is not entirely ignorant of the dangers of his self-satisfying obsession as he first regrettably reflects, “I was, to a great degree, self-taught with regard to my favorite studies. My father was not scientific, and I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness, added to a student’s thirst for knowledge” (Shelley 28). Rather than recognizing that his isolation is self-induced, Victor blames his alienation on his father’s ignorance. By controlling his relationships, he gains greater confidence in his own abilities, instead of relying on others’ companionship. Notably, evidence for Victor’s disregard toward “domestic affection” is reintroduced as he remarks, “I must absent myself from all I loved while thus employed. Once commenced, it would quickly be achieved, and I might be restored to my family in peace and happiness” (Shelley 138). With selfishness at the core, Victor controls his chaos by distancing himself temporarily, so that he might reunite with his family at a later date. He is being inundated by the common belief that glorious scientific achievement comes at the cost of moral and ethical sacrifice. Victor justifies his self-alienation by means of the creature; however readers

Frankenstein, a novel first published in the year 1818, stands as the most talked about work of Mary Shelley’s literary career. She was just nineteen years old when she penned this novel, and throughout her lifetime she could not produce any other work that surpasses this novel in terms of creativity and vision. In this novel, Shelley found an outlet for her own intense sense of victimization, and her desperate struggle for love. Traumatized by her failed childbirth incidents, troubled childhood, and scandalous courtship, many of Shelley’s life experiences can be seen reflected in the novel. When discussing the character and development of the monster, Shelley launches an extensive discussion on the

Frankenstein puts the monster into a situation that causes him to be one of a kind. The monster had no one to whom he could relate. Victor thrusts the burden of existence upon the monster by creating him, leaving no route for escape from the situation. Frankenstein causes the monster to live a life in solitude, and the monster realizes the contempt others have for him. The monster feels as if he is no different, and believes he “deserved better treatment”(Shelley 114). Through his observations, the fiend ponders whether his existence is truly that of humanity or rather of “a monster, a blot upon the earth from which all men fled and whom all men disowned”(Shelley 119). By creating him, Victor forces these hardships upon the monster.

Victor Frankenstein created life, a monster that was born into this world with no purpose, and no one to love. He did not even have a name, he was called a monster from the start. Just like a normal human baby, he came to life not knowing anything, and had to learn from his surroundings. Just like a person, he watched and learned from others, and tried to understand the world and the people in it. From that, the monster understood that he just wants to find a life for himself, and not be viewed as an evil monster, but there are many things that are preventing that. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the author portrays Frankenstein’s monster as a friend through details in his character and his outlook on life.

When Frankenstein became inspired with life and death, he abandoned his family, friends, and logical reasoning. On page 29, Frankenstein states, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me” (Shelley 29). This quote clearly demonstrates Frankenstein’s impulsive nature. In Chapter 4, Frankenstein felt he had learned the secret between life and death, and he wanted to create a completely different species. Without any further thought, he began work on his project. Chapter 4 only shows the beginning of Frankenstein's lack of self-restraint. After he had begun his work, Victor would not respond to his family for months on end, isolating himself from the outside world, and no point did Frankenstein halt his experiments and research. “His creation of the monster brought out a different side to him. Frankenstein’s creation caused him to become more impulsive, with absolutely no self control. He buried himself in his studies, ignoring his family and friends. Frankenstein states on page 30, “...my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature. And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time” (Shelley 30). He had become “...pale with study, and had become emaciated with confinement” (Shelley 29). As soon as Frankenstein found

Perhaps the most important takeaway from Frankenstein is the causes of the evil actions of the characters, specifically Dr. Frankenstein and his creature. When isolated or rejected, each character resorts to violence and acts of ill-intention. Isolation and rejection are painful states of being, and even sub-human creations react to them poorly. Victor Frankenstein frequently projects his feelings as a result of the isolation he feels in quotes such as this: “…the shades of my murdered friends heard and approved my devotion; but the furies possessed me as I concluded, and rage choked my utterance.” (Shelley 218). He explains that his mind shifts to thought of evil when he ponders how he lost his friends and family, proving Shelley’s opinion on the harms of isolation. Victors creature falls victim to violence in response to isolation as well. Following William’s rejection of the monster, declaring him a “…monster! Ugly wretch!” and an “ogre,” the monster strangles him (150). Both Victor and his creation experience moments

The result of his passion, the monster, is ever present in Frankenstein’s thoughts and it controls his actions. The monster eventually destroys everything that is important to Frankenstein, because everyone he loved is dead. Frankenstein lives the rest of his miserable life in hope of avenging the deaths of his loved ones. Shelley expresses that relationships between people are the key to happiness, because Frankenstein is unable to find any joy after his loved ones are murdered. Throughout the story, Frankenstein is a slave to his desire for knowledge and the ability to create life.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, illustrates an interesting story focusing in on many different themes, but what most readers may miss, is the similarities between Victor Frankenstein and the creature he created. As the story develops, one may pick up on these similarities more and more. This is portrayed through their feelings of isolation, thirst for revenge, their bold attempt to play god, and also their hunger to obtain knowledge. These are all displayed through a series of both the actions and the words of Frankenstein and his creature.

Victor Frankenstein, a man obsessed with scientific oddities since his youth, finds a way to reanimate the dead. In the hope of creating “a new species [who] would bless me as their creator,” (33) he designs what he hopes to be the creation of a man-made human being. However, his attempt produces merely a living being, a being which Victor grows to despise and fear, despite his initial claims that “darkness had no effect upon [his] fancy” (31). However when faced with his creation later within the novel he describes his experiment as a catastrophe when he “saw the dull yellow eyes of the creature open” (Shelley 35). In an attempt to be accepted by Victor, the creature journeys into the village to learn the ways of the humans. However

Victor Frankenstein travels to Ingolstadt to study. Once there, he was stuck to the sciences and especially for chemistry. He reads all the books he could come over and going at all lectures in the subject. In the end, one thing that interests him most and is the body's structure and origin of life's principles are based. He studies the anatomy and he gets very interested in death to thus get answers about the origins of life. After some time, he finds that he is inclined to give life to inanimate objects and decide to create your own creature from dead matter. This turns out to be not too successful. Frankenstein do not think through the consequences of his actions he may have and when the monster finally gets life and becomes Frankenstein

Throughout the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the creature is subjected to countless acts of violence and rejection. For a monster to develop, one must have been formerly exploited either by an individual or their society. The creature is not only a physical product of science, but his atrocious behavior is also an explicit result of Victor’s actions toward him. The creature was not born a monster, but slowly morphed into one as he experiences violence and rejection from his society.

Victor Frankenstein was a regular scientist until he became obsessed and mentally ill. “This state of mind preyed upon my health… all sound of joy or complacency was torture to me; solitude was my only consolation-deep, dark, deathlike solitude” (Shelley 77). Mary Shelley created the character Victor, who devoted most of his time, research, and effort into creating a being which can hold life. Victor became successful, yet mentally scarred after the sight of his creature. This hurt Victor, but not as harshly as the creature's following actions. The creature goes on to kill members of Victor’s family and kill his closest and dearest friends. The creature’s actions cause Victor to suffer both mentally and physically. Victor then falls back

Frankenstein's creation is a complex character whose true motives cannot be determined easily. Although one cannot excuse his actions, they should certainly not be viewed out of context. The creature is exposed to the painful reality of loneliness from the moment of his creation. "I had worked hard for nearly two years," Victor states, "for the sole

The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, was a piece written in 1817 during a time when women weren’t considered to be adequate authors. Shelley’s work is both intriguing as it is thought provoking. She brings to light the true nature of society and life altogether when tested. She factors in how the outside world can influence our choices in writing. George Levine from “The Ambiguous Heritage of Frankenstein” and Benjamin Truitt from “Frankenstein Critical Analysis and Literary Criticism” both share their opinions about Shelley’s piece of written work.