Blame and sympathy.

Authors Avatar

English Coursework~ Blame and sympathy~ By Ruth Matchett 12 KS

As a child, Victor had a good life and he was loved and cared for by his family.   When he was thirteen he was fascinated by the works of Cornelius Agrippa, which his father called “sad trash”, this only made his curiosity stronger and made the choice of being obsessed by these manuscripts “the fatal impulse that led to my ruin”.   His thirst for knowledge of science continued for several years, each year he became more engrossed and thrived for more knowledge and studying more great writers like the works of Albertus, Manus and Para Celsus, “the lords of my imagination”.   When he witnessed the destruction of a tree he could not explain electricity and he realized that he could “never even step within the threshold of real knowledge”.   In this state of mind he abandoned his years of studying and go back to mathematics

When Frankenstein’s mother died it left him devastated, his initial grief of the death sparked a new determination and aim in life, which was to create life that wouldn’t die from disease, it would be smarter and stronger than the human species.   In other words he wanted to cheat death, to play god, because of his selfishness he doesn’t stop to consider the consequences this idea could bring.

At first he does not intend to create this creature but when he was at university he tirelessly studied “change from life to death, and death to life until from the midst of the darkness a sudden light broke in upon me”, Victor was amazed that he “alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret” so self-absorbed in this passion to turn his dreams into reality he genuinely believed that he had the ability and the knowledge gathered from the works he read as a boy to become a creator of life.

He worked endlessly, trying to piece the puzzles of creation together until “I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation life; Nay more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.”   He felt that “a new species would bless as its creator and source.”   There were sometimes periods when he did try to consider the consequences “often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation, “but his feelings “like a hurricane” to create a “being of gigantic stature.” Victor exhausted himself working tirelessly night and day but his struggles soon became physically apparent “sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I perceived that that I had become.

winter, spring and summer passed” and “It was on a dreary night of November “Victor finally completed his masterpiece.

His creation was a monster, built from parts of robbers thieves and murderers it was “evil stitched to evil stitched to evil” (Frankenstein, movie).   It was this creature, his “dream” that shattered his hopes “now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished and the breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”.  Shocked at the “catastrophe” before his eyes he fled, the horror started to sink into his mind, he couldn’t cope with the failure, the “disaster” he created.   It is at this stage in the novel that you feel sympathy for Frankenstein, the death of his mother and the passion to experiment with life and death had made him believe that he could create a perfect life form that everyone would be grateful for and worship him for it.   He had it in his mind that he was going to achieve success and he would be praised worldwide.   His mind changed when he finally achieved creating life, his reaction was “what have I done” he was shocked at the outcome of his desire, this shock and revulsion in Frankenstein caused him to have a nervous breakdown as he was unable to cope with his failure “I felt the bitterness of disappointment; dreams that had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now become a hell to me” , he becomes lifeless and “did not recover my senses for a long, long time”.   Again he doesn’t pause for as moment to consider the consequences when he allowed the creature to escape, intact he described the event as a “good fortune” and he “jumped over chairs, clapped my hands, and I laughed aloud”.   If Victor had of known what evil this monster could bestow his feeling seem rather ironic.

Join now!

When the creature is first encountered we are almost scared of it but its infantile mannerisms make us more sympathetic towards it.   At first the creature is confused as it had to cope with all its senses all at once whereas humans have several years to master them and use them accordingly.   The creature is quick to develop an understanding of cold, hunger, pain and heat.   He delights in the sounds and sights of nature just like a child would.   He is bewildered when the villagers attacked him so he keeps his distance until he ...

This is a preview of the whole essay