Power Of The Creature In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Words: 1078
Pages: 5

During the early stages of the United States, men were the main support for the household financially. They were at the top of the chain and made most of the decisions. It gave them the status as being very powerful but achieving such a status did not come easy. Humans take specific measures to gain power over another and animals do the same. The same actions used by us nowadays were used by both the Creature and Frankenstein. Although the creature is not technically labeled as a human, Victor and the creature both use the same techniques to gain power of the each other. In the book “Frankenstein”, the creature seeks dominance over Victor by threatening him, stalking him, and killing Victor's loved ones in order to get a companion and happiness. …show more content…
By this time Victor has the companion almost halfway done. He spots the Creature peeking through the window into his study and immediately regrets making it. All the terrible memories come back and Victor destroys his companion right in front of his eyes. The one thing that the Creature wants is destroyed right in front of his own eyes. The only power the Creature does not have consists of making life and he has to rely on Victor to do that for him. When Victor destroys his companion right in front of him, Victor immediately frees himself from the power of the creature. Once again, the Creature uses intimidation and aggression to gain back his power. In this quote by the Creature, “Slave, I before reasoned with you, but you have proved yourself unworthy of my condescension. Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my creator, but I am your master; obey!”, his diction indicates that not only is Victor his slave but he should also obey him (Shelley 20). He then follows with a threat by saying that, “I shall be with you on your wedding night”. The key to the Creatures successful gains for power relies on two things, intimidation and suspense. Intimidation because of the previous encounters the Creature has had with other humans and suspense because he never leaves Victor with a definite answer. Both examples where he says that he will find Victor when it's done and he shall be with him on his wedding leave no idea of what the Creature is planning on doing. Without one of them, Victor would have more power and the whole novel would be structured