david p
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
While Victor has a really ideal childhood, the creature is faced with constant rejection from the moment he is given life. Naturally he feels warmth and compassion. When the creature is ‘born’, the first thing that happens to him is that Victor, without thinking, abandons the monster because he is "unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] had created" . Victor, denying his creature all of the love that he himself was fortunate enough to have, regards the monster as a "wretch" and a "miserable monster". When the creature comes to life and he stretches out his hand in an attempt to receive affection, Victor teaches the monster that he cannot be loved, instead of responding positively, feeling the need to "escape" and take "refuge" from him. Even though the creature does not remember, his first recollections of being a "poor, helpless, miserable wretch" and "feeling pain invade [him] on all sides" come from this rejection. <br><br>Victor has no excuse for being monstrous. Victor becomes a selfish adult who does not understand consequences and the creature's natural kindness develops into vengeful misery in spite of his caring supportive upbringing. Because Victor was never denied anything as a child, he grows up to be a self-centred being. While during his childhood he supposedly receives lessons of "patience, of charity, and of self-control,” and “was so guided by a silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment", he fails to learn that there are in fact consequences to his actions. The creation of the monster itself is a selfish act that results from his selfishness, because he never considers that there might be effects of some sort for the rest of humanity or even for himself. Because he develops this feeling of his own invincibility, when he decides to "unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation", he is really only thinking of his own personal glory as a scientist and fails to recognise the possible problems that controlling nature can present. His reaction to discovering his God-like ability to produce life is "delight and rapture" in his own power, not concern about the effects of such power. When he gives life to his creature, instead of taking responsibility, he selfishly runs away and does not concern himself with the creature for almost a year. <br>Once he does finally meet the creature, he has little compassion for him because he cannot understand the feelings of someone who has been repeatedly denied love. Victor does not seem to truly understand the creature's desire for a companion because he has had Elizabeth since childhood. On the contrary, Victor often chooses to isolate himself from those who love him and separates himself from the companionship that the creature craves.<br><br>Through his bad experiences, the creature changes from his naturally kind state to become an angry, embittered adult because of his neglect. In contrast to Victor, the creature is denied everything he needs, especially love and acceptance. By the time the creature learns the origins of his creation, he has already experienced much rejection based on his hideous appearance and is already miserable because of the companionship that he lacks. As he reads Victor's journal detailing his creation, he becomes even angrier and refers to the "hateful day when [he] received life" and bitterly curses his creator. After experiencing further rejection from the De Lacey family and the father of the little girl who he saves, his anger grows and he becomes vengeful towards his creator. The creature's misery is a direct result of Victor's neglect to take responsibility both before and after the creature was given life.<br><br>Victor's and the creature's individual faults ultimately lead to their mutual destruction. Victor's selfishness and the creature's vengefulness lead to the deaths of those close to Victor. Because Victor denies the creature everything from love and compassion to acceptance, the creature's anger deepens and he is driven to kill Victor's brother William as punishment. William's death consequently causes the death of innocent Justine who is believed to be guilty of his murder. These deaths occur because Victor grew up without understanding of consequences and he, as a result, selfishly denied the creature of the necessities that would have prevented him from committing such abhorrent crimes. <br><br>By killing Victor's closest friend Clerval and then Elizabeth, his lifelong companion, the creature continues to act on his vengeful feelings because Victor continues to deny him necessities and destroys the monster's own future companion before his eyes. The creature resorts to this life of despondency and violence because the resulting rejection he experiences. Even after the monster has started to kill and he has expressed his bitter attitude to Victor, Victor does not realise that he has "drawn down a horrible curse upon [his] head," but still sees himself as "guiltless" and does not acknowledge that he could have prevented this misery if he had not been so set on scientific glory. The monster's final revenge on Victor, leading him through the arctic regions of the north, eventually leads to both of their deaths. Because of Victor's selfishness, the creature feels the need to lead him on a physically and emotionally draining journey that causes Victor's health to decline and finally Victor's death. Once Victor has died and the creature no longer has a reason to live in his loveless, companionless state of existence, he vows to put himself out of his misery and die. <br><br>In comparison to these two, Robert Walton is hardly worth considering. He has the potential to be a little like Victor because he wants scientific glory. He is also attracted by Victor’s personality. However, when it comes to the crunch, he will not pursue the monster to his death, but shows a lot of care towards Victor.<br><br>While the creature's problems are different from Victor's, both situations lead to their destruction. Shelley presents these two opposing experiences, but she sets both the loved and the neglected to fail and die in misery.