On page 164, Victor Frankenstein confesses his actions to his father. After Henry, Justine, and William have all died, he proclaims that he would "a thousand times... have shed [his] own blood, drop by drop, to have saved their lives." This is the root of Frankenstein's gloom. He loved his family dearly, and they were good to him. They were completely innocent, and had no hand in their own deaths. Their murders were one hundred percent the fault of Victor. Later, when Elizabeth is murdered as well, Victor's pain is even greater. He wonders if he can even survive, feeling responsible for the deaths of his family.
But how guilty, really, is Victor? Certainly he had no intention of creating a monster. He wished only to create a being of intelligence and beauty - not a killing monster. One may argue that he achieved his goal. His monster has complex feelings, and is capable of abstract thought. He wishes only to be loved, and in a sense, is just as beautiful as Victor on the inside. What, then, is the pivotal part where Victor becomes guilty of his family's deaths? I argue that this happens not when he creates the monster, but when he refuses the monster's needs and desires.
After creating the monster, Victor immediately abandons him. He screams in terror at the sight of his creation and runs away. Later, he refuses the monster's only request, that he make him a mate. This is what turns the creature into a monster. In the end, Victor is guilty of his own grief. His actions have led to the demise of his family, and ultimately himself. By refusing to take responsibility and care for his own creation, he has bred a wretched creature that can only have one desire: revenge for his own wretched state.
I agree with you. As I mentioned in my blog post, I think Victor begins to realize where he went wrong by the end of the story. His ego is too big to admit it, which perhaps is why he projects his own regrets on Walton's crew, acting as if he is giving them in advice, when in reality he realizes it is the advice he should have taken all along. Victor indeed becomes guilty of facilitating his family's deaths when he refuses the monster's needs and desires. I think he rejected the monster out of fear and cowardice, and I think he later acknowledges this by encouraging Walton's crew to be courageous in their mission. I might argue that Victor was so afraid of the monster because the monster represented everything Victor had been repressing -- a blatant need need/desire for love and companionship. The monster exhibited these intense human emotions when Victor could not. The root of Victor's melancholy, then, could also be his disappointment in himself and his failure as a creator.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with your point that Victor loves his family; he deserts them to go to school and doesn't bother to stay in contact with them, despite the fact that they rely on him and love him so dearly. He ignores them and only returns when they are of use to him. They are deeply saddened by his poor moods and try to help him, while he mopes and expects them to wait patiently on him. He puts of his wedding to Elizabeth to go on a trip and never thinks to protect his poor family, always leaving them in danger. I certainly agree that he is at fault for their deaths though; he could have dealt with the creature, or dealt with the consequences of making him on his own. He chose to stay away and hope the problem would disappear on its own, in the most cowardly manner possible. He treated the monster as he treated his family - with no affection or care, but with indifference and neglect.
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