Victor Frankenstein was born into a loving and caring family, with his mother and father and orphan adopted sister, Elizabeth. Victor was always a quick learner and studied sciences, chemistry and had a fascination with electricity. He left home to continue his studies in science at the University of Ingolstadt (Shelley, page 50). During his time at the university, he impresses his professors and fellow class mates with his own philosophies. As his term was ending at Ingolstadt, Victor wanted to practice his philosophy of recreating human life.
Through his research and concepts, Victor created a plan to reconstruct the human body and bring it to life using chemistry and electricity. He visited graveyards for human body parts for his monster (Shelley, page 56). While Victor worked day and night to re-create human life, he kept this secret from his family and friends. Once the monster was created, Victor was unsure what to do with it and panicked. He knew at that point he would not be able to love and care for this monster and felt guilty and he rejected the monster. The monster and Victor separated and no one knew of the existence of the monster besides Victor (Shelley, page 61). Victor and the monster were both alike and different in many ways.
Victor put a lot of hard work and compassion into creating the monster, which took him nearly two years. He showed his love for his work and was dedicated in making the monster come to life. He kept a journal with notes on how he created the monster and what steps he took. The monster also had compassion for finding friends and trying to fit in with society and wanted to be cared for and feel the love for others. While Victor had love from his family, he did not have love for the monster. The only time Victor felt compassion for the monster was before it came to life.
The monsters life was much different than Victors. Victor had a normal birth, a loving and caring family; he grew up with money, education and knowledge. Victor was handsome and fit into society. The monster on the other hand, was created by different human body parts and was massive in size. He had no home and wondered in the woods, he slept in the hovel of a barn of a family and had the same hunger as Victor to teach himself how to read, write and speak (Shelley, page 115). The monster was constantly on the run because people were scared of his hideous scarred look and rags for clothes. The monster had no name; he had no family or friends and was abandoned.
While the monster hid and lived in a familys barn, he was compassionate towards them. He would listen to them and learn from what they said. They struggled with finding food and cropping their farm during the winter. The monster graciously helped them and only wanted friendship and love in return. When he helped the blind man, he felt love for a moment until the family scared him away because of his looks (Shelley, page 120). The monster finally understood that he did not fit in. He became very upset and wanted to seek revenge towards Victor since that was his creator. If he had to look like a monster, he was going to be a monster.
The monster wanted to make Victors life hell. He would seek revenge until he was able to kill Victor himself. The monsters first strike was killing Victors younger brother William (Shelley, page 72). The housekeeper was falsely accused of the death of William and although Victor knew the housekeeper did not commit the crime and knew that the monster did this, he did not tell his family or the police. Victor showed that he is just as much a monster as his creation. He allowed the housekeeper to be executed for the death of his younger brother William instead of confessing this was his fault (Shelley, page 82). He showed no remorse and wanted to seek revenge against the monster as well. Victor proved to be a monster inside of him whereas the monster was only a monster because of his looks.
The monster found a notebook of Victors explaining the creation of the monster and how he came to life (Shelley, page 117). This terrified him to know how he was created. This upset him and made him want to seek revenge against his creator. When the monster and Victor finally meet and the monster expresses that he wants a mate of his own. He wants to feel love and compassion for another person the way that Victor is able to feel love for other people in his life. Victor refused to create another monster in order for his monster to have a companion (Shelley, page 128). But once the monster agreed to leave Victor and his family alone and disappear, Victor decided to create a second monster.
Before Victor began the creation of a second monster, he vowed that he would marry his true love Elizabeth. Victor then decided he would not make a second monster and disposed of the work. The monster was angry and again wanted to seek revenge on Victor for not keeping his side of the promise and said I will be with you on your wedding-night (Shelley, page 147). On Victors wedding night, he made sure to keep the cabin secured so that the monster would not strike again. While Victor is checking all possible entrances for security, the monster gets a hold of Elizabeth and strangles her to death.
The monster has almost completed his goal to seek his revenge on Victor. The monster wants Victor to feel just as lonely and as miserable as he has felt since he was created. And Victor now has the same feelings as the monster and also wants to seek revenge. The monster has taken everything from him and his killed off his family. They both share the feelings of being hurt, lonely, angry and wanting to seek revenge on each other. The chase began and Victor followed the monster through Europe and Russia to kill him. He nearly catches him around the Arctic Circle and the chase had exhausted Victor and he is close to death when Robert Walton finds him and brings him upon the ship to recuperate.
Victor tells his story to Robert Walton. He thinks Victor is crazy and does not believe his story of the monster. As Victor tells the story, Robert takes notes and writes letters to his sister about the fascinating story being told. When Victor dies, the monster dies inside as well. Although he wanted to make Victors life miserable, it was only because he was miserable. The monster told Robert Walton his side of the story and that he was sad because he did not have a name and Victor was his father. The monster wants to create his own funeral in the form of a cremation. He then takes off waving into the darkness and that was the last anyone has seen of him.
When comparing Victor to the monster, they both possess two distinct characteristics of being compassionate and being a monster. Victor was compassionate towards his family and his work to create the monster. Once the monster was created, Victor became a monster; he abandoned the monster and wanted him dead. Maybe he thought the monster would not survive and would eventually die. He had no feelings and did not care for his creation. The monster was caring and wanted more than anything to have family, friends and someone to love. But in finding out who he truly was through the notebook that Victor lost, the monster found that he was ugly and did not fit into society. He truly became a monster and took the lives of innocent people to get back at his creator. In the end, both of the men were left with no one; they fought and chased each other until they emotionally and physically died.
If Victor took the time to get to know the monster and showed his compassion towards him, both Victor and the monster could have had a happier ending. The monster was only seeking the attention of his creator and needed unconditional love that he would not find in the outside world. Victor was not completely aware of his consequences when creating the monster. He only knew scientifically he could bring a person to life through his theories. After he made it possible, he spent the rest of his life trying to hunt down and destroy the monster. The monster had great strength and was undefeatable. They had a common goal of killing each other, which neither of them could accomplish. They fought and chased each other so hard, that their physical capabilities would not give them the strength to fight any longer.
The monster did not know right from wrong. The monster felt emotions of love, hate and anger. When the family left the monster he felt the anger of his own despair (Shelley, page 123). The monster realized he would never have love, he showed his hate and anger in rage, burning down the farm house, and killing Victors loved ones and eventually trying to kill Victor. He promised to seek revenge since Victor would not create a second monster for him and he followed through on this promise. Victor knew right from wrong and although he knew creating the monster was wrong, he stilled moved forward with the creation in order to prove his philosophy was right. The monster would have disappeared forever if Victor kept his end of the promise. His wife Elizabeth would still be alive.
When Victor brought Elizabeth back to life, the monster was nearby waiting. They both wanted her for themselves. Victor was not going to give Elizabeth, his own wife away to this monster and the monster was not going to let Victor be happy if he could not be. It turned into a tragedy when Elizabeth set herself on fire when she discovered what happened to her. This meant that neither of them would be able to share compassion with her. This left Victor and the monster back to seeking revenge to kill one another.
Victor became the ultimate monster. His dangerous knowledge of advanced medicine and electricity gave him the opportunity to create immortality, which no man should be allowed to do. He watched as everything happened from the creation of the monster, to the lives of his loved ones being taken away. He had to watch as each one died. He allowed the housekeeper to take the blame for the death of his younger brother when he knew it was the monsters revenge. He watched his wife come back to life and thought he would have a second chance, only for her to be killed again. Victor was no different than his monster was. Victor was not ugly on the outside, but he was ugly on the inside. Victor wanted to seek revenge on the monster, but the monster was too smart and too strong to be taken down so easily. Both of them had a goal, just as Robert Walton also had a goal. In the end, both men lost their compassion and their hate towards each other. Robert Walton also lost his compassion for reaching the North Pole once realized how the dangerous knowledge of these two men caused them their life. He was touched by the story and realized the destruction. He realized he may never meet his goal either and he set sail to return home.
Works Cited
Shelley, Mary W., and Johanna M. Smith. Frankenstein. Boston [etc.: Bedford-St. Martin's, 2000. Print.
"Mary Shelley's Frankenstein- Comparison of Victor Frankenstein and His Creation." Bukisa - Share Your Knowledge. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. http://www.bukisa.com/articles/20525_mary-shelleys-frankenstein-comparison-of-victor-frankenstein-and-his-creation
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