Friend or Foe: Victor Frankenstein

... who reached the goal of his work and life and realized that breathless horror and disgust filled his heart, and it was all creation of his own mind and hands! It is a collision of science and a human being. It’s a conflict between the value of human life and the value of a scientific discovery. This story is not only the tragedy of Victor Frankenstein but also of his creation. It’s the tragedy of loneliness and fighting alone with the world. Victor Frankenstein is a remarkable character of this book. The observation of the inner changes he goes through the book and the way the author expresses his feelings makes it’s meaning even deeper. In the beginning we see Victor Frankenstein’s childhood. I see this little boy being a beloved toy for his parents:”… 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 it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me…”.His parent’s loved him and life was beautiful for him. The author shows us the way little Frankenstein acts in the outside world: “…My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature they were turned, not towards childish pursuits, but to an eager desire to learn, and not to learn all things indiscriminately…”. So unlike children, so different from them! He lets only a few people inside his little world. The way his character is shown makes you feel on the one hand amazed by this little boy, but on the other shocked by his inquiries that were directed to “...the metaphysical, or, in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world”. The character changes through the book. He gradually converts into a man that wants him name to be known: “...So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein-more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation”.

He starts living in his own world and his only aim is to achieve what he has planned. He gets attracted by “…the structure of the human frame, and, indeed, any animal endued with life”. The more the author shows him being addicted to his work the more he looses the reader’s sympathy. He forgets about everybody - about Elizabeth, his family. It feels like science starts making him think he is God:” … Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs…”. The author tries to control our reaction to this character by adding or taking away his “human emotions”. Neither his work on the creation of life, nor his behavior after he achieved his goal make feel sympathy. What did he feel? Can science that valuable? What I saw was a weak man who after giving life to the creature “through it away”. Yes, the author shows us the pain he felt inside but what’s this in comparison with what that creature felt? After that the way you react completely depends on you very personal point of view on a human’s being life. Being so irresponsible for what he created caused a lot of suffer for Victor Frankenstein. The author leaves a lot of space for the reader’s thoughts on this matter. In my own opinion, the character of Victor Frankenstein is a tragical example of a man who wasn’t strong enough to accept what he created and became a victim of his own creation. I would say I feel sorry for all the pain that Victor Frankenstein suffered, but frankly speaking I believe it to be the price he paid for doing something a human being should never have done. I would like to finish my essay with his very own words:” Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.”