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Danira Ortega

Professor Batty

English 102

11 December 2017

Frankenstein: Human as a Monster in Disguised

Monsters are a subject many people are intrigued by, whether is the physical aspect, the

behaviors or what determines a monster. A work of literature that discusses these topics of

monsters is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. In this novel, a scientist called Victor Frankenstein is

obsessed with knowing how creating a life works, which leads him to make a creature. This

creature does not meet the expectations Frankenstein has for it, so he abandons the creature,

which at the end kills Victor. Although some people may believe the creature is the true monster,

a study under psychoanalysis can show otherwise. By a comparison, the monster of this novel is

Victor because he is an ego-centrical person who lets his Id rule, which leads him to seek

recognition, have a lack of empathy and responsibility.

One of the main reasons Victor makes the creature is because he wants recognition. His

obsession with creating a life begins at a young age when he starts to read books by Agrippa.

Even though his father expresses to him that these ideas are incorrect, Victor still decides to

continue studying this subject. The main point where his obsession starts to increase by a large

amount is after he speaks to his professor, Mr. Waldman. After speaking with this professor,

Victor states, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the

deepest mysteries of creation (Shelley 48). Shortly after, Victor starts to do research in different

fields of science to fulfill his obsession with knowledge of life. This is a clear example where

Victor lets his Id rule over him. Id can be described as libidinal desires or impulsive biological
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drives. Sara Marklund, in her journal called Good and Evil in Man: The Double Nature of

Victor in Frankenstein, explains why Victor could have created the monster. She states, His

real and somewhat unconscious reason for creating the Monster seems to be a desire to obtain

awe and fame, and to make sure that his name makes a mark in history (Marklund 4). Because

of his thirst for recognition, Victor has no limits in what he would do to fulfill his obsession,

which makes him a dangerous person. He does not know where the decisions he is making are

affecting other individuals, and this can be seen throughout the novel.

Victor has no empathy towards other human beings in the novel; compared to his

creature, readers can see that even his creature has more empathy for humans than he has. After

Victor abandons his creature because of his appearance, the creature must find a way to survive.

He finds a little family that he steals food from for a while, and by observing this family, he

notices they are not happy and are poor. After this, he decides to stop stealing their food. The

creature states, I had been accustomedto steal a part of their store for my own consumption,

but when I found that in doing this I inflicted pain on the cottagers, I abstainedmyself

(Shelley 118). Furthermore, after he stops stealing their food, he decides to help them by cutting

wood for them, which shows how he has empathy for this family and wants to make up for the

pain he has caused when trying to survive.

Victor to understand the human body, and how life is created, has to observe bodies that

are decomposing. In doing this, he becomes immune to it and slowly becomes insensitive to

humans. In the section of the novel where he is just about to begin his creation, Victor states, I

seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit (Shelley 55). His insensitivity

towards humans affects the decisions he makes because he does not realize that his ego-centrical

actions, ruled by his id, can affect the individuals he treasures the most. George V. Griffith in his
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journal called An overview of Frankenstein, explains what Victors actions lead him to do.

Griffith states, Frankensteinsucceeds in his intellectual pursuit but a great cost. He loses a

friend, brother and wife. He loses all contact and sympathy with the human community

(Griffith). As Griffith states, because Victor is only taking in account the goal he wants to reach,

he loses empathy towards humanity. After comparing Victor with his creation, we can see that

the creature has more empathy for humans than Victor. This is an interesting perspective because

many people consider the creature not being human-like, yet Victor, who is a human, has a lack

of this quality that is known to exist in humans.

Throughout the novel, the lack of Victors responsibility is visible. From the beginning of

the story, he does not take responsibility for his actions. In the section of the novel where he

starts to increase his obsession with human life, he even blames his father for not explaining to

him that the book he has been reading is incorrect, just right after his father has said to him that

this book is trash. Victor states, If instead of this remark, my father had taken the pains to

explain the principles of Agrippa had been explodedit is even possible that the train of my

ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that lead to my ruin (Shelley 38). Victor is

trying to show that his father is responsible for not stopping him from continuing with this

obsession, but clearly his father is not the only one who tries to warn him that these ideologies

that he learned from Agrippa are not accurate and have been proved incorrect. Even his

professors explain to him that these ideas are inaccurate. David Minden Higgins in his book

called Frankenstein: Character Studies, mentions the lack of responsibility that Victor has. He

states, he refuses to blame himself for his actions in creating the Creature (32). Victor never

takes responsibility for all the killings that happen in the book, even though he knows he could

have done something to stop it. Victors lack of responsibility can show the super ego, which can
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be described as standards of moral and propriety, is suppressed which lets him to not realize how

the actions hes taking are affecting the people in his environment, nor take responsibility for

them.

Victor could potentially have stopped the killings in the novel if he would have given

attention to the creature, and not run away from him. Also, the creature gives an option to Victor

that could have saved some of the people that he treasures the most. In one of the sections of the

book, the creature tells Victor that if he creates a female for him, that in gratitude, he would not

kill anyone else because he will have everything he needs with her. If he decides not to, then he

will take revenge. The creature states, If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly

towards you my arch-enemy (Shelley 157). If Victor had not stopped with the creation of the

female, then the creature would not have a reason to take revenge on him, but since Victor drags

on the misery of the creature, then the creature to an extent wants to show Victor how much pain

he has inflicted onto him. Once again, Victor is not taking into consideration the aftermath of the

actions hes taking. By creating the female, he could have saved his wifes life and potentially

his as well.

There are many reasons why some people may believe that the true monster of the story

is the creature. If we take into consideration one of the definitions of monster given by the

Oxford Dictionary of English, which describes monster as A large, ugly and frightening

imaginary creature (Monster), then we can see why many people may believe that the creature

is the monster. In the novel, Victor describes his creature; His yellow skinhis hair was of a

lustrous blackhis watery eyes, that seemed almost the same color of the dun-white sockets in

which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips (Shelley 58). If we take

the descriptions of the creature given by Victor, then we can see why some people may conclude
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that the creature fits into the descriptions of a monster. Therefore, the creature is the monster of

the novel.

The reason why I argue that Victor is the true monster is because if we take another

definition for monster given by the Oxford Dictionary of English, that states a monster is, An

inhumanly cruel or wicked person (Monster), then we can see why Victor is the true monster.

As shown before, Victor has no empathy for humans, lets his id rule him, and does not takes

responsibility for the damage he has made. He is always trying to put the blame on other people

because he does not want to acknowledge the mistakes he has made, or the consequences that

came with them. Since he decided to abandon the creature after seeing his appearance, we can

see why he is cruel person. His creation into some extend, is his son. He left the creature to

wonder on the world alone just right after he had given him life. If we compare it to todays time,

then it would be like a mother leaving a baby on the street. If Victor had spent time with the

creature, he would have notice that the creature was not evil, he had qualities that could describe

him as a human, which means that the outcome of the story would be a more pleasant one for

everyone.

Victor is the true monster of the novel because he lets his Id rule him, has a thirst for

recognition, has no empathy for humans, nor takes no responsibility for his actions. Victor in this

novel is a representation of the human condition in todays time. I believe the reason why

Shelley decided to write this novel is because she wanted to illustrate how our obsessions can

lead to our destruction. If we let our Id rule us, then we become ego-centrical, and leads to us not

caring about other peoples suffering through our actions and potentially, become monsters. This

is something humanity fears seeing that usually people who are Id driven are more likely to
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commit some type of crime, since theyre not considering the consequences. These types of

people would go beyond the limits set by society to accomplish their selfish goals or obsessions.
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Works Cited

Griffith, George V. "An overview of Frankenstein." Literature Resource Center, Gale, 2017.

Literature Resource Center,

http://library.lavc.edu:2102/apps/doc/H1420002969/GLS?u=lavc_main&sid=GLS&xid=

be868ac4.

Higgins, David Minden. Frankenstein : Character Studies. Continuum, 2008. Continuum

Character Studies. EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk

&AN=837661&site=eds-live.

Marklund, Sara. Good and Evil in Man: The Double Nature of Victor in Frankenstein. June

2010, p. 4., gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/23793/2/gupea_2077_23793_2.pdf.

Monster | Definition of Monster in English by Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries |

English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/monster.

Shelley, Mary, Douglas Clegg, and Harold Bloom. Frankenstein. New York, Signet

Classics,2013