Understanding the concept of the inventor and the invention as demonstrated in mary shelley’s book, frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein and his creature

Victor Frankenstein is the main character in the Novel ‘ Frankenstein’. This Novel also referred to as ‘ The Modern Prometheus’ was written by Mary Shelley and first printed in the year 1818. In the novel, Victor Frankenstein comes out as a scientist who has much interest in studying the chemical processes. In the novel, victor comes out as the son of Alphonse Frankenstein and Caroline Beaufort. He was born in Naples and brought up in Geneva. He is a brother to Ernest and William. Unfortunately, his parents died of a fever known as scarlet while Victor Frankenstein was at the age of 17. Victor Frankenstein is adopted by Elizabeth Lavenza whom he later falls in love and becomes his fiancée (Shelley& Hindle 2003).

Victor Frankenstein had an inborn interest in science and making discoveries. His great desire was to discover the elixir of life. However, Victor Frankenstein loses his great interest in science as a whole after seen the remains of a tree trunk which had been stricken by lightning in the compound of Ingolstadt University. His interest is turned to chemistry. Victor Frankenstein develops a goal of using chemical compounds to create a creature and bring it to life. Obsessed by the fondness, victor takes two years of study to bring together apparatus and chemical compounds on a mission to create something and give it life (Shelley& Hindle 2003).

Victor Frankenstein manages to combine chemicals and makes a creature, which he brings into life. However, the creator – Victor is horrified by the ugly creature he has created. The creature is so ugly and Victor flees. After been abandoned, the horrible creature gets on a mission to revenge and search for its creator – Victor. The vengeance leads to the death of Victor Frankenstein your brother William. After the death of William, the house help – Justine is blamed, but only Victor knows the cause of the death but has a strong fear that no one will believe his point of the story. He also fears that the story will provoke reactions and turn all the blames on him (Shelley, Casaletto & Brilliance Audio (Firm), 1993).

When the creation meets his creator – Victor Frankenstein, he begs him to create a female companion. However, Victor Frankenstein sees big trouble ahead if he brings another creature of such kind into being. He ultimately tries to destroy the creature, a mission which he fails. After the creature survives the staged death, it vows to revenge. The creature begins its revenge mission by killing Henry Clerval – Victor’s best friend. By failing to create a companion for him, the creature promises to do the same and destroy the marriage of Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth Lavenza. “ You have denied me my wedding night – I will be with you on yours!”, this is a common phrase that the creature keeps on emphasizing to Victor Frankenstein. The creature avenges on Victor Frankenstein by strangling Elizabeth Lavenza on her matrimonial bed on the eve of their marriage. Everything seems a disaster after the death of Victor Frankenstein father because of grief. Victor Frankenstein has nothing left to live for and dedicates the rest of his life in a mission to kill the creature (Shelley& Hindle 2003).

To Victor, his own creation has turned to be a demon in his life. He sets a journey to the Arctic, perusing to kill the creature. His second mission to kill the creature fails when Victor falls in ice and contracts pneumonia. Fortunately, he is rescued by a ship which is on a journey to the far North Pole. The life of Victor Frankenstein comes to an ultimate end when he narrates his story to the ship captain – Robert Walton. The creature receives the death news of his creator in grief and sorrow. The creature vows to burn itself alive and disappears to the Northern most extreme of the globe, never to be seen again (Shelley, Casaletto & Brilliance Audio (Firm), 1993).

The creature and his creator – Victor Frankenstein shares several things in common. They are the main characters in ‘ The Modern Prometheus’ by Mary Shelly, and among some of their similarities include their nature to pay God. Victor Frankenstein has a Godly nature of creating and bringing forth life. By use of his scientific knowledge, Victor uses chemicals and apparatus to create the ‘ monster’. This is a godly nature, since according to the history and human understanding, it is only God who has the ability to create and give life. Equally, the creature has the ability to take life. The monster takes the life of William; Victor Frankenstein brother. This is a revenge mission after Victor abandons the ugly creature. In later stages of the tale, the creature goes ahead to revenge by taking the life of Victor’s best friend; Henry Clerval. This is after Victor Frankenstein attempts to kill the creature when it requested him to create a companion of its kind (Shelley, Casaletto & Brilliance Audio (Firm), 1993).

The Godly nature is manifested differently in the two characters. Victor Frankenstein has the power to create but does not have the power to kill. Victor fails in his first mission to ultimately kill his own creature when it requested him to create for him a companion. After the death of his father, Victor Frankenstein follows the creature to the North Pole in a mission to kill it. However, his second mission fails again. On the other side, the creature possesses the power to kill. The monster successfully revenges by killing Victor’s brother – William and goes ahead to kill Victor’s best friend. Victor Frankenstein has the power to create but lacks the power to kill, whereas the creature does not have the power to create. The creature had to go back to Victor to beg him to create a companion of its kind. However, it has the power to kill (Shelley, Casaletto & Brilliance Audio (Firm), 1993).

Both Victor and the creature are intelligent. Victor Frankenstein is a scientist who possesses unique scientific knowledge. “ After days and nights of incredible labor and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter”, says Victor. The monster is also intelligent. It identifies those close to Victor and uses them for revenge. The creature identifies the family and the close friends of Victor as his weak point and uses them for revenge. The creature, which at last stages is declared as a demon can easily identify William, victor’s brother, his fiancée, and his close friend, whom he uses in his revenge mission. The creature’s intelligence is also evident in its ability to read. Frankenstein’s monster finds itself reading books like ‘ Paradise lost’ (Shelley& Hindle 2003).

According to Shelley, Casaletto & Brilliance Audio (Firm) (1993), both the creature and Victor are capable of love and affection. The two have a great desire of family and companion. Victor, apart from his family and friends, he has a fiancée whom he loves so much. Elizabeth Lavenza is the love of Victor’s heart, and they have even planned to marry and set up a family together. On the other side, the creature also has feelings. After been abandoned by the creator, it goes ahead to look for him. The creature wants Victor to create for him a female companion, whom he can live together. This means that the creature is capable of love. The creature declares itself as unfortunate and deserted. it lacks relations and friends to love. The two are also unforgiving and would stop at nothing other than revenge. The whole tale is based on revenge between Victor Frankenstein and the Frankenstein’s monster.

Another similarity between Victor and the creature is the element of hatred. The creature has been isolated by human beings and develops great pain. The ‘ monster’ takes out its anger and frustration on its creator – Victor and begins the revenge mission. Failure of Victor to create a companion builds more hatred, and the creature avenges by strangling Elizabeth, Victor’s fiancée on her matrimonial bed on the eve of their marriage. Victor develops hatred towards the creature, which at one point he declares it as a demon. This hatred engages Victor in a mission to kill the creature. Both Victor and the creature are driven to revenge against each other because of the hatred between them. Ironically, the creature is filled with sorrow when it receives the news of the death of its creator; Victor Frankenstein. At the end of the story, the two end up in a lonely world, all suffering from loneliness. The creature is the only of its kind, and has no companion since the beginning of its life. Victor Frankenstein on the other side remains lonely after the death of his relatives, his fiancée Elizabeth Lavenza, hence lives a similar life with that of the creature (Shelley& Hindle 2003).

However, the creature is different from Victor in a number of elements. Victor Frankenstein is a normal human being, born of a human nature with a father and mother. He also enjoys a strong bond in the society amongst his family and friends. Victor Frankenstein even has a fiancée by the name Elizabeth Lavenza, whom they have staged marriage together. On the side of the creature, it is made from scientific innovation, composed of chemical compounds and brought into being through a scientific skill. The creature is one and the only one under the sun, without a companion. At one point, the creature complaints of been isolated by the society. It is ugly and does not seem to take humankind. It lives in its “ own world”, with none of its kind existing. It cannot socialize with human beings because it’s unique (Shelley, Casaletto & Brilliance Audio (Firm), 1993).

Victor Frankenstein has a woman who loves him. Instead, he alienates his woman – Elizabeth Lavenza and embarks on scientific innovations outside Geneva. At one point, Victor Frankenstein father and Elizabeth’s parents’ question him whether he still loves his fiancée or has sought the love of his heart elsewhere. On the side of the creature, it has no mate. The creature, however, desires nothing more than a companion. Elizabeth is a natural human being. The creature’s mate, whom he had requested Victor Frankenstein to create for him could have been another abomination against God. Elizabeth and Victor Frankenstein are in love. However, there is no basis whether the creature could for sure fall in love with the companion he was requesting Victor to create for him (Shelley, Casaletto & Brilliance Audio (Firm), 1993).

The story ends up in a sad death of Victor Frankenstein, after suffering from Pneumonia. This marks the end of this main character. However, the creature’s destiny is not clarified. The creature vows to burn itself to death and flees to the northernmost hemisphere of the earth. This creates suspense and leaves the audience in a dilemma whether the creature later died or it still exists up to date.