Position:Home>Books & Authors> In the novel Frankenstein, what do Victor Frankenstein and the Creature Represen

Well!.!.!. I'm not writing this for 'points'!.!.!. but I do have some jumbled thoughts about Frankenstein that I'd like to get out and see if I can organize!.

Frankenstein began as a ghost story told on a camping trip with Percy Shelley, Byron, and one of Byron's somewhat demented doctor friends!. Byron's friend later went on to publish his own ghost story from the trip, in which Byron is thinly veiled as a vampire!. In any case, Mary Shelley's story never completely departs from those roots, so on a more surface level, the monster simply resembles the boogie man and Frankenstein the man who awakens the boogie man!.

However!.!.!. Frankenstein is still being read in schools today, so there must be more to it than its thrills and chills!. As spiffy has hinted at, we can probably use the alternate title M!.S!. later added to the novel ("The Modern Prometheus") as a lens for understanding her intentions!. Zeus punishes Prometheus for giving mortals fire before they're ready for it--in turn, M!.S!.'s story punishes Victor (whose name is probably not an accident, bringing to mind the Victorian era and its preoccupation with modernism) for giving man power over life before he's ready for it!.

There is of course more of meaning in the story than that!.!.!. the monster's parallel with Milton's Satan and later with Adam, the whole Moby Dick thing going on at the end, etc!. etc!. But I'd say the Prometheus thing is the basic symbolism M!.S!. was going for!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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I'm not really sure if they represent anything!.!.!.!.I was always under the immpression that it was meant for entertainment and a character study rather than speculation!. also when Shelly wrote it, the science was hardly advanced enough to create a monster, and although it can serve as a warning to modern day scientists trying to clone thing and create hybirds, it was not applicable during Shelly's time!. The other title is "The Modern Prometheus" which brings up a legend in Greek mythology about how a god gave mankind fire and thereby transgressed nature's laws!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein’s life story is at the heart of Frankenstein!. A young Swiss boy, he grows up in Geneva reading the works of the ancient and outdated alchemists, a background that serves him ill when he attends university at Ingolstadt!. There he learns about modern science and, within a few years, masters all that his professors have to teach him!. He becomes fascinated with the “secret of life,” discovers it, and brings a hideous monster to life!. The monster proceeds to kill Victor’s youngest brother, best friend, and wife; he also indirectly causes the deaths of two other innocents, including Victor’s father!. Though torn by remorse, shame, and guilt, Victor refuses to admit to anyone the horror of what he has created, even as he sees the ramifications of his creative act spiraling out of control!.
Victor changes over the course of the novel from an innocent youth fascinated by the prospects of science into a disillusioned, guilt-ridden man determined to destroy the fruits of his arrogant scientific endeavor!. Whether as a result of his desire to attain the godlike power of creating new life or his avoidance of the public arenas in which science is usually conducted, Victor is doomed by a lack of humanness!. He cuts himself off from the world and eventually commits himself entirely to an animalistic obsession with revenging himself upon the monster!.
At the end of the novel, having chased his creation ever northward, Victor relates his story to Robert Walton and then dies!. With its multiple narrators and, hence, multiple perspectives, the novel leaves the reader with contrasting interpretations of Victor: classic mad scientist, transgressing all boundaries without concern, or brave adventurer into unknown scientific lands, not to be held responsible for the consequences of his explorations!.
The Monster
The monster is Victor Frankenstein’s creation, assembled from old body parts and strange chemicals, animated by a mysterious spark!. He enters life eight feet tall and enormously strong but with the mind of a newborn!. Abandoned by his creator and confused, he tries to integrate himself into society, only to be shunned universally!. Looking in the mirror, he realizes his physical grotesqueness, an aspect of his persona that blinds society to his initially gentle, kind nature!. Seeking revenge on his creator, he kills Victor’s younger brother!. After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster’s solitude, the monster murders Victor’s best friend and then his new wife!.
While Victor feels unmitigated hatred for his creation, the monster shows that he is not a purely evil being!. The monster’s eloquent narration of events (as provided by Victor) reveals his remarkable sensitivity and benevolence!. He assists a group of poor peasants and saves a girl from drowning, but because of his outward appearance, he is rewarded only with beatings and disgust!. Torn between vengefulness and compassion, the monster ends up lonely and tormented by remorse!. Even the death of his creator-turned-would-be-destroyer offers only bittersweet relief: joy because Victor has caused him so much suffering, sadness because Victor is the only person with whom he has had any sort of relationship!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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