This is it folks, our last blog assignment. Sorry for the delay in posting this week's question.Our wonderful Franken-blogosphere is about to close its doors. But before we say goodbye, lets revisit our discussion last Friday about the Creature and whether he is a victim or a perpetrator. We likely won't have time to delve into another debate before the end of the week, but I don't want to dismiss your thoughts on the matter. So....read the question below and consider your group discussion topics to help you focus on this key issue from the text.
Even though the creature seems to learn compassion and reason from the cottagers, he still--in the end--vows to make humans suffer. Why? Do you still think he is a victim? And to help you practice for your annotation test, support your answer with textual evidence!
On a side note, we haven't talked too much about the role of women in the story. This question, though not required but feel free to answer in your post and I encourage you to do so, might also help you prepare for the test. Think about the role of "mother" in the novel. The usual role of the mother in bringing life into the world is negated (voided) in Frankenstein. Do you think this motif is important?
13 comments:
I think that the creature is a victim in the end, even though i was on the perpatrator team. I really think that it is not his fault that he is semi violent. I think he is very confused on why he is so different from everyone around him, that is why he wanted a lady creature to go along with him. I understand that it was bad to kill william and henry and cause the death of justine, however i dont think his intentions were to kill them. In the reading from page 120-134, victor metions several times the quote made by the creature, "i will be there on your wedding night." this shows that the creature feels that victor is so obliged to make a lady for him that if he doesnt, he will hurt someone. that is why i think he is a victim, because he was never taught how to give someone an approprate consequence for something they did to him. He automatically thinks he is supposed to kill them because thats all he knows how to do.
The cottagers do not know that the creature is there watching them and although he learns from them when he finally confronts them, he does not get a good response. He gets chased away like in every other public place that he has been. He is a victim because he has know one to show him the ropes, no parental figure to tell him the difference between wrong and right. Victor deserted the creature which enraged him. He is a victim of abuse just because he looks different. The only way he knows how to react to this abuse is violently. He has no one to talk to and no one close to him so he can perform these violent acts without worrying about his family
I think that the creature is still a victim. Not only is it portrayed in the movies, both comedy and drama, but I think that in many scenes throughout the book, he's portrayed as innocent as well. Its hard being the outcast and, and the creature is constantly being rejected by humans. More and more as he grows in knowledge, he wants to be more human like and wants to be accepted. But after every encounter with humans he's been feared, and attacked. His own creator didn't want him! it even says on page 76 "..., although I eagerly longed to discover myself to the cottagers, I ought not to make the attempt until I had first become a master of their language; which knowledge might enable me to make them overlook the deformity of my figure..." the creature when sating this really here and through that whole page talks about how he wants to be accepted into the human race. That’s why he wanted the lady creature, so that he could have companionship and fell like there if he couldn’t fit in, at least, he could have someone else that wouldn't fit in with him. So, when Victor betrayed his trust and didn't make him a lady creature, yeah of course killing Henry was drastic, but his a creature, you can't view him the same way you view an average person. He hasn't learned life lessons yet, things that we learn as we grow older. You can't blame him for being angry, and he was never taught how to control his anger, to him both times he was angry, he killed, it relieved the stress for him. He was never properly taught how to cope with emotions as us human beings are from our experiences and parents. So after being rejected by all humans, he doesn't know what to do except be angry all the time, and vowto make these people who cause his suffering and can't look within him, to see his personality, suffer.
I think that this motif is important because the creature does not having a mother to show him whats wrong and whats right and to teach him impulse. The accurance of the mother motif, though if very important, becuase William, had the picture of his mother, that the creature took after he killed him. On page 97, when the creature is describing the murder he says "For a few moments i gazed with delight....but presently my rage returned: i remembered that i was forever deprived of the delights that such beautiful creatures could bestow." You can interpret this part in many different ways, but in refering to the mother motif, then i think that he can be experience the pain of never being able to have the warmth of a mother. This angered the creature. but again, puts him in the victim category, because, hes motherless.
i think that the creature is a victim because after victor had created him he left him to survive on his own in the world. the creature tried to make a living and stay out of Victors life but, when he met victor there was so much hatred towards him that he threat victor.Like Jessica said on pages 120-134 the creature mentions several times that he was going to be there on victors wedding night. All the creature wanted was happiness like everyone else in the world had. The creature is also a victim because victor didnt think about his actions. Yes, the creature learned compassio nand reasoning but, he couldnt forgive victor for the pain he gave the creature.
I think that even though the creature seems to learn compassion and reason from the cottagers, he still--in the end--vows to make humans suffer because of how they have treated him. People either ran away from him in horror or wanted to attack him when they saw him because they judged him solely based on his deformed appearance. I believe that the creature is still a victim because he didn't have an authoritative figure when he was younger. This person could have set guidelines for him to follow or show him how to behave appropriately with others. Victor was not in his life to explain to him about the correct way to treat others because he abandoned him. The creature said, "(...) I recollected my threat, and resolved that it should be accomplished. I knew that I was preparing for myself a deadly torture; but I was the slave, not the master of an impulse, which I detested, yet could not disobey" (153). The creature killed Victor's loved ones and eventually caused the death of Victor because that was the only way he knew how to deal with his rage. He didn't know a better method to deal with his anger because he was never taught how by anyone. He didn't have any power over his emotions and actions and could not defy them because they took control over him. I think that the motif of "mother" is important in the novel because Victor brought the creature into the world due to the fact that he was his creator. I believe that the role of "mother" is negated in the book because it shows how the creature ended up being so evil since he didn't have anyone in his life to love him. Victor did not fulfill this role because he did not take care of the creature like a parent to a child.
Even though the creature seems to learn from the cottagers logic and reason, I feel that he doesn't try to make humans suffer on purpose. When Victor was created he was born with a blank slate. As soon as Victor abandoned the creature he had no idea what the idea of morals is(what's right or what's wrong to do). Even though the creature killed multiple people in Victor's family I feel he's a victim because all he wanted was to be loved by someone and feel a love obligation the that person, but when his promise was broken he was never taught how to react to things that don't go his way so he resulted in killing people to express his feeling. In addition, when he was created, he never had a mother figure by his side to love and care for him. This also shows how the creature was thrown into a complex world on a blank slate. If he new what love was like he would have thought twice before committing those foolish acts. On page 151, Victor admits that he himself was a poor creator by not creating the creature a female creature and broke promises to the creature. This relates back to the beginning how the creator never took the time to teach the creature morals, let alone show an obligation towards him. So even though the creature killed people he is still a Victim as its demonstrated that his creator, Victor, failed to teach the creature and be by his side.
I think that the creature is a victim because Victor left him to learn to live all by itself. The creature had to learn how to find food (and survival skills), communication, and to have the basic knowledge all by himself. This was because his creator basically ran away from him thinking that he had no obligation to it. The creature has to also learn 'people skills', and when Victor tries to be in the creature's life, it is scared and doesn't know what to do, since it was never cared/ loved for before. Therefore, I believe that the creature threatens him in self-defense and because of his hatred. I definitely agree with Jessica quote, showing the threat given to Victor by the creature. There are so many reasons for why this was said, such as the creature being mad that Victor didn't fulfill his promise of creating a female creature, and victor's lack of love and responsibility to the creature.
I think after reading the book, i still believe the creature is a victim. After thinking about the question, I just thought about how he had no one to look up to as a role model in life and just did everything off the top of his head, not knowing right from wrong. When he kills people like william i thought that it was just like him not knowing right from wrong, but when he killed elizabeth, i figured that, that was probably out of revenge. He seems at the end of the book that he becomes more knowledgable and understands more concepts of life but then still makes some wrong actions along the way. All in all though, i do find the creature to be a victim because of his upcoming in life and having no one to teach him.
I think that even though the creature seems to learn compassion and reason from the cottagers, he still--in the end--vows to make humans suffer because he feels a sense of rejection once he realizes that he would never be accepted by society due to his horrid appearance. I think that the rejection the creature felt eventually developed into feelings of hatred towards mankind resulting in the reasoning skills, which he had previously learned from the cottagers, to be overshadowed by his rage. I feel that the creature is not a victim because he had the ability to make good decisions and listen to his conscience. Additionally, I feel that despite the fact that the creature did not have an adult figure to look up to for guidance, he understood that his actions were cruel and vicious. He comprehended that taking the life of another human being was an evil crime to commit but continued commiting these horrid crimes due to his need to seek revenge on Victor, his creator. Walton said, "(...) If you had listened to the voice of conscience, and heeded the stings of remorse, before you had urged your diabolical vengence to this extremity, Frankenstein would yet have lived" (153). I feel that the creature is not a victim because he was not forced to perfom the evil crimes that he committed and they were solely based on his own decisions. The creature did not take into consideration the severity of his crimes because he was only focused on making Victor's life as miserable as possible. He ignored his conscience and disregarded the evilness of his actions because his sole purpose was to make Victor feel the loneliness and isolation he felt from his existence. Moreover, I feel that the role of "mother" in the novel is important because the creature was not given an opportunity to feel nurtured and cared for by Victor, his creator. The creature began his existence with no sense of stability in his life and did not experience the normal bond a mother has with her child due to the fact that he was abandoned by his creator and created scientifically rather than naturally. I feel that the role of "mother" was negated in the novel because the creature had to create his own survival techniques in order to survive on his own in the world. He was not protected against all of the evil in the world because Victor did not take on his role as the creator of the creature by loving and caring for him. Finally, I feel that the role of "mother" was negated in the novel because the creature had no sense of belonging in the world and felt alone due to the fact that Victor abandoned him.
I think that the creature is still a victim because the reason that he vows to make humans suffer is because they treated him horribly. The creature had to go through life always being made fun of and no one ever wanting to be around him. The townspeople were disgusted to look at him and chased him out of town. The creature had to live like an animal because humans wouldn't accept him for the way he looked. I think that when he killed william and framed justine he didn't really know any better, but when we went on to kill henry knowing that it would upset victor and then kill elizabeth because he just wanted to see victor suffer. He was angry and the way people treated him, and I think he's a victim because no one ever gave him a chance. He vows to make humans suffer as retaliation for the horrible way they treated him. When he threatens victor with "I will be there on your wedding night," he is doing it just to upset victor, but he was never taught to handle his feelings any differently, so he reacting with violence.
i think that at the begining the creature is a victim, but during the second half of the book the creature is a perp. He is alone and scared at the begining and didnt know that murder was wrong when he killed william. After that, though, it was obvious he killed for revenge on victor, which makes him a perp. To prove this, at the end of the book, the creature feels remorse for what he has done, and kills himself. Showing remorse proves that he knows what he did was wrong. even though he wasnt brought up in a traditional manner, he became a sophisticated being who deserved a fair chance in society. a human persay.
I agree with pretty much everyone else, I think the creature is a victim, and that he really couldnt help his situation much. I dont think he knew what he was doing, or that he knew that he was hurting people when he killed them. This is a direct result of him not having a "parental figure" around to tell him right from wrong. The creature is just like a kid, if there is no audlt figure around to help upbring them, theyre most likely going to end up doing something bad in their lives. There are exceptions however, but the creature was not one of them. I think he needed a lady creature for someone to relate to, I kind of know how he feels, being in a new school and not knowing or talking to anyone, and it helps a lot to have someone there to sympathize with you; so I can see the creature's want for another being like him to talk to and have company because it does get lonely.
The creature, although on the outside might seem like a monster, on the inside he is truly a victim. To the people he is definitely a monster, but because we know his background and where he is coming from we know that he is the victim. He learned all of his good and bad emotions from the villagers. When he was rejected by his friends he felt different. He was filled with rage and anger and needed to get revenge. He was rejected by all of humanity and was left to die with nothing but himself. If that isn't a victim i dont know what is.
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