Paper One Assignment: Exploring the concepts of Doppelganger within Frankenstein

Tena Flateland Professor Mary Verrill The Novel April 20, 2012

Frankenstein, the first real science fiction novel, is a classic literary work of art. It is a horror story, and a tale of a mans journey into insanity. In addition, there is another character that is essential to the plot; the creature Victor Frankenstein brings to life. When analyzed, the two beings are intertwined more than one making the other; they are doppelgangers to each other. According to Wikipedia, a doppelganger appears in fiction and folklore and is a double of a living person, usually representing evil or misfortune. (contributors, 2012) The reference to a doppelganger doesnt have to be obvious; however in Frankenstein it parallels most of the story. The monster that Victor Frankenstein creates could be considered as a double of himself; toward the end of the story it seems that everything dysfunctional about Victors personality is reflected in the monsters actions. Victor doesnt set out to create an evil being, he sets out to complete an unorthodox experiment and is scared of the results. The monster doesnt set out to be bad; he actually just wants to be loved. ( Chapter 15, Shelley, 1994) The two beings interchange the roles of protagonist and antagonist with their blended thoughts and events. Victor Frankenstein is a man that comes from a family that has a respected stature in their community. He is adored by his mother and well-educated as a result of his fathers wishes; in a nutshell he is spoiled and bored. While on a family outing he comes across a book written by Cornelius Agrippa about ancient science. When his father dismisses it as nonsense, Victor pursues the study with a passion. He is encouraged by one of his professors, M. Waldman, and sets out to become a man of science. (Shelley, 1994) As Victor continues to spend two years on his studies, he starts to become obsessed with what all of his studies mean. He eventually figures out how to reanimate dead flesh and sets to work creating the monster.

There is an interesting parallel during this part of the story; for the sake of making a life, Victor neglects his own health and family, plus all which is necessary to function in society as a normal human being. At first, because of his passionate decisions and obsessive actions, he is an unsympathetic character. He displays a thought process that is selfish, prideful, and (when creating his experiment) disrespectful. After the being breathes life and is moving around, Victor reacts with horror and disgust; this mirrors his spoiled childhood. When he runs away from his invention, denying it any nurturing or kindness, it is a true low point in his character. In the end, Victor regrets ever finding the books that led him to make the monster, and loses all his pride and bravado. He is humbled by losing everyone in his life to his experiment, and feels only a need to destroy what he has unleashed upon the world. The monster, filled with knowledge and spite because Victor refuses to make him a mate, taunts Victor into following him. He leaves little clues here and there so that Victor can follow him, but always be a step behind. In this way he becomes the antagonist where he was a protagonist before. The creature is, on the most basic of levels, a walking, breathing dead man. He is composed of body parts from people and animals that have passed, so his appearance is grotesque. However so, his mind is new like a child; at first not understanding hunger or thirst (Shelley, 1994) and eventually trying to understand how humans operate. This is the first thing that drove him, to learn as much as he could about what he was while figuring out how to convince people he meant them no harm. He chooses to observe a family from a distance, and while doing so he learns how to talk along with behaving like a functional human. When he feels he is prepared to reveal himself them, he purposely approaches the blind father of the family first. He does this so he can convince him that he is a gentle person despite his horrifying appearance. His plan fails when the fathers son comes home, throws him out of the house, then

moves the family altogether. After a few incidences like this one, the creature decides to go back to Victor and convince him to build a mate that looks like him. His reasoning was that if a female counterpart was as hideous looking as he was, then she would want to be with him; then he would not be alone anymore. It is when Victor refuses to do so that the monster turns vengeful, away from his would-be kind and understanding demeanor. He resolves to make Victor as lonely and miserable as he is in retaliation for not making him a mate. He starts out as a neutral party, and then moves to the sympathetic role when he recounts his existence to Victor. He becomes the antagonist when he starts killing out of revenge, and in the end returns to someone relatable. Frankenstein as a novel is a timeless work. Within it is a story of two beings where the title suggests one; thus revealing the doppelganger. Their physical features reflect each others thought process, and their personalities switch back and forth as Victors account proceeds. Though the creature represents death and misery in Victors life, Victor represents misery and loneliness to the monster. (Shelley, 1994)

References

Contributors, W. (2011, December 19). Doppelganger. Retrieved April 21, 2012, from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Doppelg%C3%A4nger&oldid=466728139 Shelley, M. (1994). Frankenstein. Avenel, N.J.: Random House.