Frankenstein Essay Example

Frankenstein Essay: Introduction

Who is the real monster, the one who destroys everything, or the one who covers it? Frankenstein is a gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley, which is about a young scientist Victor Frankenstein and his creation of a hideous monster in an unorthodox scientific experiment. When Shelley started writing this story, she was only 18. After her novel, which includes both the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement, the name Frankenstein has often been used to represent the monster itself. Frankenstein is the real monster also in the novel, as it is seen in his actions and similarities between the monster and Victor Frankenstein.

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Victor’s actions clearly show that the monster is, in fact, Victor’s himself. No one sees the monster except him. It does not accurately mean that Victor made the monster up to cover his murders. He may believe the monster’s existence because it could be the consequence of his delusions and hallucinations. He has symptoms of a common mental disease, paranoid schizophrenia. The actions and the language of the monster and Victor advocate that he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and he struggles with his other personality, whom he claims is the monster. Throughout the novel, Victor is accused of making the monster up several times. Right after Elizabeth’s murder, Victor and some accompaniers gather to search the monster. Victor says that “After passing several hours, we returned hopeless, most of my companions believing it to have been a form conjured up by my fancy” (Shelley, 171-172). The only reason for the people to suspect Victor is their doubts about his sanity. Besides his actions, which show his sanity, similarities between him and the monster also show the real monster.

Numerous similarities between the monster and Victor Frankenstein also show the fact that they may be the same person. In many parts of the novel, they use the same language. They use the same words to define themselves, which shows that they think in the same way. Even Victor says he is the monster when he talks to Henry’s body by saying, “Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life? Two I have already destroyed; other victims await their destiny” (Shelley, 153-154). A monster is generally defined as something inhuman and something which has no regard for earthly affairs. However, in this novel, the monster is described as a human being; the same characteristics, even it’s appearance is defined as scary and weird. Nevertheless, it is still something unnatural. Victor has the same characteristic of a monster, “unnatural” in his obsession to create life and his relationships with people. Shortly his creation, more precisely his expression of his alternate personality, for personal gain becomes something evil which destroys him and everyone close to him.

Frankenstein Essay: Conclusion

In conclusion, the real monster of the novel is Victor Frankenstein himself, as it is understood from his actions and similarities between him and the monster. At the beginning of the novel, one can suppose that the monster is not a part of Victor, and even it is something that is sent to harm him. However, it is something revealed from inside of Victor. It is the alternate personality that shows up as a consequence of his suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.