Frankenstein Essay Research Paper Victor Frankenstein had

Frankenstein Essay, Research Paper

Victor Frankenstein had a wonderful life as a child. He was loving and cared deeply for his family. At the age of thirteen the works of Cornelius Agrippa fascinated him. His father called it ´sad trash´, which only fuelled his curiosity and enthusiasm ‘the fatal impulse that led to my ruin.´ His thirst for knowledge of science continued for two years until he witnessed the total destruction of a tree in a thunderstorm. The explanation of electricity shattered all of his ideas and concepts that he thought he knew and completely turned him against any more science. He decided to stick to maths studies ‘but it was ineffectual. Destiny was too potent and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.´ The reader is given a sense of doom even at this stage in his life. When his mother died he was devastated, his initial grief and disbelief gave way to a determination and an aim in life, which was to find out a new life form that would be stronger and smarter and would not die from disease.

At university his interest in chemistry soon became apparent, almost to obsession. He tirelessly and relentlessly studied ‘ change from life to death, and death to life, until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me´ Frankenstein was staggered that he ‘alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret.´ He genuinely believed that he had the ability and knowledge, fuelled from the fantasies that he had read as a young boy to become the creator of life. Feeling completely rational and justified in his work Frankenstein states “Remember, I am not recording the vision of a madman.” This statement gives the reader the impression that he is trying to justify himself. He worked night and day until ‘I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.´ His passion to succeed and feelings that ‘a new species would bless as its creator and source.´ There were moments when his conscience surfaced ‘often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation, but his feelings ‘like a hurricane´ to create a ‘being of a gigantic stature.´ Frankenstein worked to the point of exhaustion for the next few years ‘for the sole point of infusing life into an inanimate body.´ He genuinely believed that he had the ability and knowledge from fantasies that he had read as a young boy to become a creator of life. Frankenstein was driven on by his experiments even though he was sometimes disgusted with himself and the contents of his workshop ‘often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation.´ The success that he achieved in his first experiments convinced him that it was correct for him to be working on the creation of life. Frankenstein was desperate to succeed at all costs; he wanted to create a beautiful creature that everyone would admire. His first creation was a creature that shattered his dreams ‘now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.´ Horrified and shocked at the apparition before his eyes, he runs away, the guilt and horror penetrate his mind that can not absorb the failure and disaster he has created. At this stage you feel pity for Frankenstein, the loss of his mother and fascination to experiment with life and death have driven him to believing that he can create perfection and that everyone will be grateful and worship him. He had it set in his mind that he was going to achieve his goal and that it would be praised. His state of mind was only changed when he finally achieved creating life his reaction was ‘what have I done´ he was horrified at the state of the creature. Revulsion and shock cause a complete nervous breakdown Frankenstein is unable to cope with reality and failure, he becomes ‘lifeless, and did not recover my senses for a long, long time.´ He does not think that he has allowed this creature to escape or worry about the consequences.

When the creature is first brought to life, he is confused, he is quick to develop an understanding of the sense of pain, heat, hunger and cold. He marvels and delights like a child at the sights and sounds of nature. He is puzzled by the beating that he receives from the villagers and resolves to keep his distance and observe them, hoping that he will discover why they drove him away. There is no anger or desire for revenge at this stage, the creature delights in their beauty and happiness and shares their sorrows ‘when they were unhappy, I felt depressed, when they rejoiced, I sympathised in their joys.´ He becomes very fond of them and when he realises that food is scarce and the young ones are going without to enable the old man to eat he feels very guilty that he has been stealing from them. He has no evil intentions towards anyone or anything at this stage, he is still very innocent. When relationships between families become clear to him, he becomes curious and bewildered at his own background ‘where were my friends and relations. What was I.´ The creature has shown himself to be intelligent, capable of deep emotions and sensitive to the suffering of others; he is also patient in his quest to discover his identity. Bitterness first emerges when he learns to read and studies the papers tha