“For this I Have deprived myself of rest and health.”
And as the night was soon coming to an end Victor Frankenstein’s creation was nearly ready to come to life Frankenstein could not have imagined through his years of work what the outcome of this experiment could come to.
On the dreary rainy night of November the single candle had nearly gone out, Frankenstein saw through the dull glimmer of half-extinguished light,
“I saw the full yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a violent convulsion shook its limbs.”
The yellow eyes and the violent shaking just shows Frankenstein how these dead body parts should not have been brought back to life, as if a person alive were to violently shake it would not be good, as this dead corpse is violently shaking is not good also. The shock that Frankenstein experienced when his beautiful creation came to life, but not beautiful, shocking, a ‘catastrophe’ he says. His dream to create the perfect human was shattering before this very moment, he could barely call it human it was a monster; he had chosen limbs to perfect proportion and selected beautiful features, but it only brought out his yellow skin, which barely covered Frankenstein’s great work of muscles and arteries that he so desperately worked on, and his head was flowing with lustrous black hair, and picking out his pearly white teeth, but it ‘only formed a more horrid contrast’ against his watery eyes filled in with dun-white sockets, and his shrivelled complexion completed with straight black lips. The beautiful features only make the overall appearance even more grotesque.
Unable to bear the sight of his monstrosity that he created he fled to his chamber and began to pace up and down unable to sleep, but alas his restless years had caught up on him and he fell asleep. During Frankenstein’s restful state he began to dream,
“I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted to see her; but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel.”
At that point Frankenstein awakes from the nightmare. Frankenstein’s dream was full of death and decay which reflects on Frankenstein’s own conscience he feels guilty about what he has created and brought into the world, for the reason being that the parts that he dug up were members of other peoples families and when he saw the corpse of his dead mother he realised that what if the other families saw parts of their fathers, brothers and uncles Frankenstein finally realised at this point about the other people that could be hurt if this monster was let loose, he was finally thinking of other people other than himself. Frankenstein reactions towards the creation is no less than disgust and because of this he turns away and shows his shame towards himself and towards the creature, for this example the creature begins to show his rage towards his father, creator and master.
When Frankenstein awakes he sees beyond his bed curtain the image of his ugly creation in shock Frankenstein runs into the courtyard below where he rested the night. Frankenstein began to think about what he had done, about the creation that he had made was so demoniacal that no mortal could bear imagine and this hideous creation that not even Dante could not perceive. Along his journeys of the next day Frankenstein, still kept the images of the night before in his head, and as he walked along the paving of the road, he saw a carriage come past and slow next to him, Frankenstein couldn’t believe his eyes it was his friend from university Clerval. The image of Clerval brought back memories of his father and Elizabeth. During the carriage ride the two friends talked about how his family were as Clerval visited them frequently. Frankenstein invited his close friend to stay over night at Frankenstein’s place of residence, When the two friends settled Clerval began to realise the Frankenstein had been deprived of sleep, Frankenstein soon admitted that he had been occupied with one thing all too long without sleep, Frankenstein started trembling and showing symptoms of his illness, Clerval exclaimed in his concern about how ill Frankenstein was, that was when Frankenstein collapsed into a nervous breakdown.
On the night of the monsters creation he found his creator on his bed, and as he started from his sleep the monster tried to utter some inaudible words, but Frankenstein did not stop to realise what the monster tried to say as he was startled by his freight and ran. The monster searched Frankenstein’s bed chamber and found his journal, and took it with him, he found a cloak and ran to find Frankenstein, but to no avail. So the monster fled to a lodge owned by a family in the forest and the monster stayed with the animals in the hovel. He could see the family through a hole in the hovel, so Frankenstein sat down and read the book that he had stolen from Frankenstein’s bedchamber. During the time that the monster stayed with the family unable to contact them because of his hideousness, The creature befriended the blind grandfather, he also learned to speak and read, but one day unable to leave the house as the family got back from their walk they caught the monster and exiled him from the house, the monster ran, he ran to Geneva the place where Frankenstein was born, he found this out by reading the journal of Victor Frankenstein, which was actually the book that he had stolen the night of his creation. This is the beginning of the creature’s revenge. When the monster got to Geneva he came upon a wooden lodge where inside he found William, who became aghast with the creatures disfigured looks, and used his fathers name in vain to swear death upon the Creature, when it heard the name Alfonso Frankenstein he stabbed young William and pool of red blood quickly seeped out of the large wound, William Frankenstein died, reacting quickly from his murder he placed the weapon into the maid Janine’s hand. Later Janine was found with the murder weapon and was hung for the death of William Frankenstein, the Creatures rampage of revenge clearly brought Victor to his knees, one dreary day Frankenstein was walking through a wood but, his heart jumped into his throat when his path crossed the creature that had so desperately hunted him down. Victor confronts the creature and so rightly accuses the monster for William’s murder and Janine’s framing, but the monster who was twice the size of Victor did not back down, he told Frankenstein that if Frankenstein does not make him a bride that will love him, then the Monster will be there on Victor’s wedding night. The creature has been mistreated throughout his entire existence and he will not be accepted by anyone, therefore it needs a companion so that they can live together away from civilisation, Victor accepts this treaty as so he could protect his soon bride’s life.
Frankenstein’s new task to make a bride for his creation was another event that pained Frankenstein finding other body parts for the Creatures counter-part. But alas, when it came to bringing the new Creature to life, Victor realises that his responsibility towards the creature is not outdone by that of the entire worlds safety, he felt that if these Monsters were to breed it would create a new race of Monsters. Like before when the first Creation came to life Victor realised that it was not his job to play God, and again this feelings are brought up with feeling of dread and guilt if he were to complete the task his creation asked. Victor has to bring up a great deal of acceptance; that he has to accept, His monsters birth, his inability to complete the task, the fact that he was crazy to believe it was right to reborn the dead. So in his final attempts to bring up his feeling of acceptance Victor Frankenstein’s hatred towards the first creation led him to destroyed the second creation, and prepared to flee with his soon to be bride. Victor’s hard reactions acted upon his impulse and by destroying the second creation brought about his irresponsibility towards his wife, because Victor knows that the Monster will follow him and destroy his family and friends, and Frankenstein owes the monster redress,
“The justice due to both him and my fellow creatures demanded of me that I should comply with his request,”
How could Frankenstein be so foolish? It shows that the torture that the monster has put Frankenstein through made Frankenstein unable to cope with his quick impulse, this smart man has gone through hell and so much death and pain has made Frankenstein to rely not upon his brains but his feelings. So Frankenstein’s irresponsibility has endangered everyone around him.
Frankenstein picking out the perfect body parts to make him the ultimate creation, but his physical appearances, due to the stitches and sowings, made him hideous to all human beings, the prejudice that is shown all throughout the book is completely irrational, therefore the monster cannot be accepted into society. Although the monsters actions to get his hasty revenge upon Frankenstein, his actions are mislead and misunderstood, because nobody knows apart from Frankenstein that the monster has killed anybody, but because of the peoples’ prejudice even his kind actions are mistaken for evil intentions, for example when Frankenstein saved the girl from drowning, her father shoots him because he believes that this ugly monster is trying to drown her. In fact Victor Frankenstein, the Creator, is to blame for all the murders, because of his wrongful treating towards the monster, it becomes twisted and vengeful, if only he had taken proper care of the creature it could have become, grateful member of society.
At the final chapter of Frankenstein’s story, he dies from exhaustion, his attempts of finding the creature that destroyed everyone he loved, led him too long without sleep and food, the chase comes to an end past Northern Europe through to the Arctic circle, where he is found by a sailor, when he is found he is very sick, and finally his tiredness and sickness had caught up with him and the adrenaline had fled from his body, as poor Victor Frankenstein passed away, the creature feels that he needs to be destroyed because his feeling of guilt had overridden him and now with his ‘Father’s’ death had brought the creatures mission and life to an end, so the final chapter of the story, finishes with Frankenstein and his Creation floating of on a floating fiery iceberg.
Mary Shelley tries to bring her morals through in this book; she shows that dangers of new technology could cause extreme danger if they are not used with the correct moral ethical controls. And the responsibility all parents have towards there children how they should be looked after or else the child will grow up the same way he was brought up in a non-caring way, and also that everyone in society has responsibility to the helpless and needy, because they too want to be helped and accepted by others or they too will feel unable to manage with the life that was brought on to them. It also shows that no matter what, there will be prejudice found in your lifetime and they will be prejudice towards you, but in this novel Frankenstein’s creation was called The Monster, but he is only misunderstood the real monster in this novel is Victor Frankenstein himself, and all the torture he went through he brought upon himself. In conclusion, you have a responsibility towards everyone else, and your actions you hold may be brought against you if you cannot bring yourself to show the correct moral ethics.
