Victor's Responsibility In Frankenstein

Words: 594
Pages: 3

Frankenstein is the story of a young scientist who creates a creature in a nonconformist way. The story mainly follows the effects the creation has on Victor Frankenstein and the Monster. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley communicates the importance of responsibility through Victor’s struggle to pursue dangerous knowledge.

Victor’s desire to pursue dangerous knowledge led him to study alchemy and created his desire to create life, this desire is driven forward by the disapproval of his father. During the beginning of Frankenstein's story it is described how his love for natural philosophy developed, specifically through the works of Charles Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus. These scientists were people in which Victor aspired to be. He wanted to be glorified, so he came up with the idea that he would be able to make man
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Frankenstein realizes that this is what he must do, because of the deaths of all of the people that he cares for. This is where Victor begins to realize the error in his ways, and decides to make a responsible decision and destroy the cause of all of these deaths. Although, Victor meets his demise before he is able to kill the monster, he inadvertently helps the monster himself realize that the revenge that he was seeking was wrong and without his creator he has no reason to live. This one act of responsibility that Victor displays throughout the whole novel causes the monster to forgive. A resolution can be reached between two characters, through one act of responsibility.

In conclusion, through the character of Victor Frankenstein and his struggle to pursue dangerous knowledge, Mary Shelley magnifies the idea that owning up to your responsibilities always has a better outcome than ignoring them. Shelley displays this idea through the actions of Victor Frankenstein, and the effects of these actions on the people he