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Madeline Bell

British literature/ Period 1

Ms. Winter

14 March, 2017

The creature vs. Victor

Imagine waking up from the dead as someones menacing creation. In the novel,

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley published in 1818, this situation becomes reality for a man

named victor and his creature. Victor becomes blinded by the knowledge he possessed while

creating a creature from death. Fame would be granted to anyone who could essentially bring

back the dead and cure diseases in the future. This is a great talent until it is brewed and

conspired in the wrong madman's lab. Throughout Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, Shelley shows

that the creature is only evil because the neglect and rejection he is shown by victor his creator

and the society, otherwise known as oppression

From the beginning the Frankensteins raised Victor in a happy and loving family. Victor

openly stated that, I was their plaything and their idol, and something better their child, the

innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and

whose future lot was in their hands to direct happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their

duties towards me (Shelley 19). This shows that victor was once filled with love by his parents

and family. This links well to the article, Parents who lash out at children can stunt brains,

researchers say, by Alfred Lubrano that talks about parenting and how it can impact the mindset
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and behavior of a child. The article makes a point that, if a Parent stops responding, it's a

form of

abuse(Lubrano 3). Although victor was not raised by emotionally abusive parents but when

given the chance to be a father figure, he does not wish to reciprocate the same ideals he was

brought up with. Leading the reader to wonder, is victor ready to take on a child.

During the creation of the creature victor pulls pieces from dead bodies in graves. Once the

creature is alive victor fearfully states that, I beheld the wretch the miserable monster whom I

had created (Shelley 44). With the creature being made from dead organs the presence of this

creature would repulse anyone, including his creator and father figure, Victor. As the creature is

becoming mobile, Victor runs away in fear and while hiding he is, listening attentively,

catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse

to which I had so miserably given life (Shelley 44). Victor is now regretting what he has done

and feels as if he has made a huge mistake, this is the turning point of when neglect from Victor

leads to oppression within the creature.

The creature is viewed as a brainless shell of a being with no emotion or intellect, this is

proven later to be wrong in the text when the creature has a full conversation about his feelings

of misery and neglect from Victor and some of the society he has been exposed to. The creature

brings Victor in and starts with,

believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent, my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I

not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow

creatures who owe me nothing (Shelley 87)? Victor is questioned as a creator and a father

figure In A way here, the creature blatantly tells victor that he has the capability of being a great
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human being and doing nothing but good but he feels the misery obtained by the neglect has lead

him to be the cruel heartless monster, Victor portrays him as. Victor taken aback by the

knowledge filled in the creature he rebuttals with, Devil, do you dare approach me? And do

you not fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head (Shelley 86).

Victor has no sense of humanity when he speaks to and about the creature, he uses names such as

devil, monster, vile creature, and fiend. Victor made it abundantly clear that, there will be no

community between [himself and the creature], [they] are enemies (Shelley 87). For a creator

to view his creation so repulsively is an interesting trait. Victor wanted to create a being from

death, to preserve life, and when he finally has that accomplishment he wants his name nowhere

near the credit.

Victor's pride overwhelms and blinds him to the point of an anger dispute between the creator

and the creature. Causing the epic statement, I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I

am rather the fallen angel, whom though drivest from joy for no misdeed (Shelley 87). The

creature is now seeing that Victor is the root of all the evil that is filled within him. The creature

also makes a point that, everywhere [he] see[s] bliss, from which [he is] alone and irrevocably

excluded (Shelley 87). The creature is in this trance of all the wrong he's done and finds the

catalyst, that being Victor. While trying to show Victor that he is not a monster he keeps

referring back to his ideals by saying, I was benevolent and good, misery made me a fiend

(Shelley 87). The creature tries so hard to win some form of acknowledgment for being on this

earth and wants to prove to Victor and the society he has been exposed to, that he is only evil

because he has received nothing but neglect and hatred leading the creature to feel oppressed.
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Throughout the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, A curious power hungry scientist

discovers an intelligent and dark way to bring back life from the dead, essentially curing death

on earth. Once this idea becomes a reality for Victor Frankenstein, he begins to see that death is

never a state of being to tamper with. When Victors creation forms into a real creature the

excitement of the experiment turns into a nightmare. So who is to blame for the creatures

menacing ways? The answer is FRANKENSTEIN. Victor turned an innocent body and being

into a dangerous killing machine because Victor refused to show the slightest affection towards

something he originally wanted and created.

Works cited

Shelly, Mary

Frankenstein
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1818. Class book. 2017

Alfred, Lubrano

Parents who lash out at children can stunt brains, researchers say

2013. Class handout. 2017