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Emily M Benmlih

Acosta

English 12

03-16-2022

“Typically large, ugly and frightening”

A monster is described as large, ugly and frightening. In this case a monster is a selfish,

ignorant and overall an intelligent HUMAN being. There are monsters in the world that are

viewed as heroes, that learn from mistakes that then can turn into lessons. As victor progresses in

the book, his actions start to change and affect his overall life. Victor does not learn from his

mistakes. Victor creates a creature out of dead human parts, he manages to have the knowledge

to create new life and hides it from the world, Victor also had the ability to stop his creation from

hurting his loved one but chose to stay quiet. Victor Frankenstein is a horrible monster.

As Victor progresses through the novel he begins with his journey of getting as much

knowledge as possible. Victor is heartless. Digging up dead bodies not only has the

characteristics of a person going insane but of a true monster to be. For example, in the novel it

states “ I saw how the fine form of man was degraded and wasted; I beheld the corruption of

death succeed to the blooming check of life; I saw how the worm inherited the wonders of the

eye and brain.” (Shelley 38). This quote shows the way Victor isn't even bothered by the fact that

he has a dead body right in front of him. The way Victor describes the planning process of his

soon to be creation not only is it concerning but disturbing towards the families loss ones. Victor

had many other options to experiment with his knowledge doing it in a respectful manner. Victor
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is an overall obsessive person, he is interested in something and does everything to the max.

Building his creation affects not only his mentality but the way others may see him. As Victor

leaves his family behind he tends to lose contact with them. For two years straight he maintained

a toxic relationship with knowledge. “Dear, dear Elizabeth!” I exclaimed, when I had read her

letter, “I will write instantly, and relieve them from the anxiety they must feel” (Shelley 53) His

relationships tend to be lost over time. Victor writes letters to Elizabeth to show that he is still

connected towards her even if she only sees him as a cousin. He states that he misses his family

but the knowledge is much more important to him than anything else at the moment. Victor puts

himself first before anything even if it hurts others. In the novel readers are also able to

understand the way Victor is being affected by the way he digs up dead bodies. In chapter 5

Victor dreams about his mother returning to life. He sees her once again. This reflects back to

him digging up bodies in the graveyards, since the mothers death was recent it is something that

can connect to him.

To continue on that thought, a parent should never leave their child abandoned or out in

the world with little to no reference of what the world has to offer. If a parent fails to take care of

their child there are consequences , something Shelley herself has proven. As a creator of a new

species Victor needed to stay and show what the world has to offer for his creature. The creature

was in a way a child to Victor. Since the creature was left alone with no parent to guide him, he

feels frustrated and sad being alone in a strange world with no mother or father figure to guide

him. “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark

of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?” (Shelley 124) Frankenstein's creation tends

to discover more of Frankensteins family and life; the creation is able to find victor's
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weaknesses.As the creature discovered emotions and ways to cope with those emotions even if

it's not the best way he still finds a way to make Frankenstein feel the pain the creature feels.

The creator knows how much family and friends mean to him. The creation is full of anger and

expresses that by giving revenge. In chapter 16 the author establishes the loss of innocence the

creature had. Victor was aware of all emotions the creature had and still chose to do the opposite

of what the creature asked him to do. The creature states “You must create a female for me, with

whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being”(Shelley 133).

The creature wants someone of his kind to express the same emotions and have that connection

with someone, something Victor himself couldn't do. The creature expresses lots of emotions to

the monster to get a point across. As Victor fails to listen, the monster believes hurting the loved

ones of Victor is a great way to get back at him for all the times he let the creature down.

Victor Frankenstein is in charge of all the deaths of his loved ones. As he notices from the

beginning of Justine's case he is aware that she wasn't responsible for the death of William. “The

torture of the accused did not equal mine; she was sustained by innocence, but the fangs of

remorse tore my bosom and would not forego their hold” (Shelley 71). Vitor knew the truth

about why Justine confessed. He is selfish and chose to let Justine take blame for the whole

murder when all she wanted to do was clear her name. He notices that the monster had striked

towards his loved one and didn't speak up about it. Victor was aware of this but figured others

would think he was crazy or wouldn't believe his creation is true. In the novel women also didn't

have the power to stand up for themselves just as Justine figured she was doing good with

confessing all her sins that eventually ended her life. “ I shall be with you on your wedding

night,” Victor was warned that if he didnt create a soulmate for the creature, the creature would
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then kill Elizabeth. Victor disregarded that and continued with his plan in heading to other places

where he thought his plan would work. As the death of all his loved ones affects him he is still

determined to trick the monster into believing that he could kill him not realizing that all the

people he ever loved are now gone.

Although some may say Victor Frankenstein isn't a monster due the fact that he had a lot

of problems ahead of him and on top of that his mothers death greatly affected him as stated in

chapter five. “ Bloom of health, walking in streets of ingolstadt delighted and surprised..”

(Shelley 44) Victor's mother had a big impact in his life but that still didn't give him the right to

leave the creature alone in a world he yet hasn't discovered himself. Leaving the creature to learn

on his own only affected him in the long run. Victor also defines himself as a God. As the novel

progresses readers notice the resemblance Victor is trying to make between God and himself.

Anyone that believes in Jesus and the holy trinity the bible states not to mock god. Frankenstein

tried to have the power of creating life out of something that is not living. As Frankenstein

manages to get a hold of creating new life, he goes down hill. In a way this is a form of revenge

for mocking God himself. “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desire to learn;”(Shelley

23) Victor wants the knowledge and the powers god has.

In conclusion, Victor Frankenstein should have used his knowledge in creating new life

by providing research to hospitals. Victor overused the fact that he could create new life

beginnings. A person who has no respect over those who have passed and can maintain a look at

a dead body without feeling sorrow is truly insane. Victor Frankenstein indeed is a horrible

monster.
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References

Shelley, M. W. (1999). Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus: With Connections. Holt

Rinehart & Winston.