Character Analysis Of Victor Frankenstein: The Real Monster In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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A monster is defined as “one who deviates from normal and acceptable behavior” and also as “a person of unnatural or extreme ugliness, deformity, wickedness, or cruelty” (Merriam-Webster). This means that when someone is called a monster then one is trying to dehumanize them and seperate them from the rest of mankind, because of this the word holds a lot of power. Many readers of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, conclude that Victor Frankenstein is the real monster of Frankenstein because of his pursuit for knowledge at all costs, his rejection of the creature, and his refusal to take responsibility for his actions. It may be easy to dehumanize Frankenstein because of his actions, but upon a closer look one will see that he is just like the rest of mankind.Victor Frankenstein doesn’t act unnaturally in his pursuit for knowledge without restraint, or his rejection of the creature, and he shows remorse for his lack of responsibility and desires to take responsibility and stop the creature. One reason that many readers view Frankenstein is a monster is because they view his pursuit of knowledge without regard to ethics as unnatural. While an unstoppable curiosity is surely not honorable, it is not unnatural. It is seen in other …show more content…
This highlights a human side of Frankenstein, not a monstrous one. Shelley uses Frankenstein as a warning to use restraint in the pursuit of knowledge, don’t impusively reject what is different, and to make sure to take responsibility for ones actions, and by dismissing him as subhuman one could easily miss her message. Instead, one should acknowledge these traits lie in everyone because of our human nature and try to control them so that they don’t hurt themselves or the people around
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