Frankenstein and the monster Essays

Frankenstein and the monster Essays Frankenstein and the monster Essay Frankenstein and the monster Essay Essay Topic: Frankenstein Pity for Frankenstein is felt mostly because of the heavy losses he had to come to terms with, when his family and indeed happiness was ripped from him by the one he created. The creator is supposed to have some power over what the creation does, not the other way round. Frankenstein is portrayed as a very noble character, a man who excites love and compassion in everyone he meets. He is not trying to do a bad thing by creating the monster, he is just curious and pushing for what he thinks will help mankind forever immortality and the ability to resurrect the dead. For all the goodwill and effort Frankenstein put into his work all that he received was nothing but tragedy and destruction. All of his family were murdered, along with his friend Clerval, by the fiend he had created. It is more obvious why we should feel pity for Frankenstein because of the amount of death that surrounded him. Frankenstein had so much at the start of the book, and to lose it all is heartbreaking. The monster however, had nothing in the first place so he could not lose anything, making great pity felt towards Frankenstein, not the monster. When he loses his Elizabeth tears streamed from his eyes and his mind gave way to every gloomy idea that arose. Seeing a hero like him fall makes people feel sympathetic, increasing the pity that is felt. On the other hand, it could be said that Frankenstein was a very selfish man by not thinking carefully over what the consequences of creating a living being, such as himself, would be. At first he was advised by his conscience not to tamper with nature, but he didnt listen and started his work. : This work was to take him many months and during this time he entered a state of monomania, shutting himself off from the rest of the world and concentrating fully on his creation. He even realises this but refuses to change: Sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I perceived that I had become; the energy of my purpose alone sustained me: my labours would soon end, and I believed that exercise and amusement would then drive away incipient disease; and I promised myself both of these when my creation should be complete. For most of this time he didnt even send letters back to his worried family to let them know that he was still alive! Not only this but, once finished with his work and had seen what he monster was, he abandoned it and hoped that it would just die, meaning he could avoid having to deal with it. The only reason he was so focussed was because he wanted to make a difference to mankind and for that, his family would just have to wait. Having seen his creation he realised that what he had done was wrong, but he could not destroy the monster because he had actually made the monster better than the human race itself. Instead he was sure that lack of experience in the world would get rid of the monster for him. The book tells a lot about human nature, that people are not made by their nature but their nurture, and that there are very pleasant sides to it, but this comes with the very nasty sides as well. The amount of criticism of human nature makes us feel pity throughout the book and I believe that this large amount of pity felt for characters in Frankenstein, along with the death of such a noble man and his creation, makes this book the perfect definition of the word tragedy.