Frankenstein Essay Example - a Dire Flaw of Victor
Alexander Nowak
Medfield High School
English
1/6/2011
A Dire Flaw
In some novels, the main character often possesses a negative trait which ultimately becomes his/her biggest flaw. The manner of how the protagonist responds to his/her troubles impacts the development of the flaw. One character in particular encompasses a trait that even with his self-awareness, is unaware of the selfishness in his veins. In the novel Frankenstein, the protagonist Victor Frankenstein is this particular individual whose conscience consists of much responsibility but no discipline to show for it. Although he feels responsible for deaths of many others, Victor never confesses when he knows the fault is his. His vengeance almost keeps him away from the people closest to him, and it blinds him from their safety. Throughout the novel Frankenstein, Victor’s dire flaw causes him to care for his own ambitions, safety, needs, and no one else’s.
Victor’s selfishness is the cause of his biggest setback of being the creator of a monster rank with distain for anything with a heart that casts it aside. Early on in the story, Victor’s thirst for knowledge and ambition to create new life is quenched, but not enough for him to be proud of it. Victor’s self-centeredness is portrayed in his reaction to producing his worst nightmare in the form of a new life: (Shelley 35)
I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body… I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room.
Horrified by his creation, Victor abandons the monster in an act of selfishness with no care or compassion for the beast. Feeling bitter rejection from its creator, the monster’s mentality becomes skewered and warped by exclusion. From that point on its
Medfield High School
English
1/6/2011
A Dire Flaw
In some novels, the main character often possesses a negative trait which ultimately becomes his/her biggest flaw. The manner of how the protagonist responds to his/her troubles impacts the development of the flaw. One character in particular encompasses a trait that even with his self-awareness, is unaware of the selfishness in his veins. In the novel Frankenstein, the protagonist Victor Frankenstein is this particular individual whose conscience consists of much responsibility but no discipline to show for it. Although he feels responsible for deaths of many others, Victor never confesses when he knows the fault is his. His vengeance almost keeps him away from the people closest to him, and it blinds him from their safety. Throughout the novel Frankenstein, Victor’s dire flaw causes him to care for his own ambitions, safety, needs, and no one else’s.
Victor’s selfishness is the cause of his biggest setback of being the creator of a monster rank with distain for anything with a heart that casts it aside. Early on in the story, Victor’s thirst for knowledge and ambition to create new life is quenched, but not enough for him to be proud of it. Victor’s self-centeredness is portrayed in his reaction to producing his worst nightmare in the form of a new life: (Shelley 35)
I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body… I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room.
Horrified by his creation, Victor abandons the monster in an act of selfishness with no care or compassion for the beast. Feeling bitter rejection from its creator, the monster’s mentality becomes skewered and warped by exclusion. From that point on its