Happiness Doesnt Always Lead to Virtuous
In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the creature is miserable all the time. He is neglected and excluded just because he is not appealing to the eyes. All he wants is someone to be with and not run from him when they take one look at him, then he wont be malicious anymore. So when the creature says to Victor Frankenstein, make me happy and I shall be virtuous, this is not the same for Victor. Although Victor is happy, he is not virtuous. He has not been truthful or taken responsibility on his actions of creating the creature. There are many parts in the book where Victor is not virtuous. Like when he doesnt tell the truth about the creature when Justine was blamed for the murder of William. Or when Victor didnt make the partner that the creature wanted, or when Elizabeth was murdered. These were all times when Victor was not virtuous. Victors actions have caused unhappiness to the creature because Victor thought he was doing the right thing, in the end it also caused him unhappiness.
Victor Frankenstein was happy with his life until he created the creature, but after he abandoned the creature, Victor was happy again. His life was going well until he got the news about his little brother, Williams death. Justine a family friend was accused of the murder, and Victor knew that it was not Justine but the creature that killed William. However he told no one about the creature, even when an innocent person was accused and being blamed for Williams murder. The right thing to do would have been to come clean about the creature and tell what he has done, not let an innocent girl get executed for something she didnt do.
My tale was not to announce publicly; its astounding horror would be looked upon as madness(Shelley, 81) This is showing that Victor is scared of what people will think if he told what he knew. Victor didnt think about the good he would have done, if he would have told the truth. He only thought about the consequences that might occur to him when people found out about the malicious creature that he created. He let Justine take the blame so that he wouldnt face the consequences and problems of telling the truth. It also didnt matter to him how many people were upset with Justine because they believed that she was the murdered. Or how it affected the one he loved, Elizabeth, she was devastated when Justine was accused. However Victor still did not say that the creature was the one responsible. Victor not telling the truth about Williams death was not virtuous, all because he thought it would make his life easier.
Just when the creature thought that Victor was going to make him happy with a partner, Victor breaks his promise. He does this because he thinks he will benefit from it, and doesnt realize the consequences that it will cause. The creature just wanted a partner to be happy with and then he wouldnt be so malicious anymore. Victor thinks about it the wrong way and thinks the creature will use the partner to create more havoc. He does not realize that this will make the creature angrier and cause the creature to create more problems.
Victor is selfish about creating the creature a partner, he doesnt want to two creatures loose in the world. Victor thought, I was now about to form another being she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness.(Shelley, 170) Victor was not virtuous about this; he broke his promise and lied to the creature. The creature only got angrier and killed more people, so Victor only made things worse for other people. Victor lying to the creature and not keeping his promise to the creature to try to protect himself was not virtuous at all.
Victor is so nave, he always thinks the creature is coming to get him and kill him but, the creature only wants to hurt Victor. The creature wants to take the important people in Victors life, he wants to take them away from Victor. He does this because he wants Victor to be as miserable as he is. So on Victors wedding night, he thinks the creature is coming to get him but, doesnt realize that he is coming to get Elizabeth. Victor thinks that its always about him and doesnt protect anyone that is in danger. But I discovered no trace of him and was beginning to conjecture that some fortunate chance had intervened to prevent the execution of his menaces; when suddenly I heard a shrill and dreadful scream.(Shelley, 199). He doesnt protect Elizabeth on their wedding night; he thinks the creature is coming for him and he leaves Elizabeth alone.
In conclusion, Victor was not virtuous in many situations because he was trying to make himself happy. He did not take proper responsibility for his creation and neglected it just like everyone else did. He didnt tell the truth about who the killer was when William was murdered, he broke his promise and lied to the creature about creating a partner for the creature. He was too selfish to see that the creature didnt want to kill him, so Elizabeth was killed because Victor didnt protect her. Only on his death bed, Victor realizes he had some sort of responsibility for his creation. He had part responsibility for the actions the creature did, the lives that were lost. He failed the creature and humanity because of his selfishness and his need to be happy.
Bibliography
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. London, England: Penguin Books Ltd., 1992.
Need For Narrative Summary
Stories are meaningful and valuable to us thats why we share them and why they survive. We also share them because they intrigue us and give out helpful information to us. Stories help people understand their feelings, help make sense of experiences and stories are central to how we communicate. As much as we would like narratives to resolve themselves, the poignant ones leave us wondering and thats what keeps us intrigued. However narratives are being questioned but we still use them in reading and writing.
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