Character Analysis of Frankenstein (Essay Sample)

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Character Analysis of Victor Frankenstein
Predominantly, in Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelley brings to the readers’ attention the devastating effects of the pursuit of dangerous knowledge by a modern scientist, on an unsuspecting society. Sanders (2) says, "Victor Frankenstein shows the anxiety people have about death, the tendency to deny death’s existence, and a commanding wish to triumph death." Authors use characters differently to convey a host of ideas. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the character of Victor Frankenstein as evident in the book, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. Character analysis focuses on the behavior of Frankenstein, whether he changes in the course of the story, how he helps develop the plot, how he contributes to the theme, and what other characters think about him. It draws an overriding theme that Shelley depicts the perils that come with pursuit of dangerous knowledge.
First, Victor Frankenstein is the book’s protagonist and an outgoing character. Victor’s enthusiasm is evident as a young boy. He grows up in Geneva and develops an interest to read the ancient works of science (Bloom and Shelley 11). The background that he gains as a child serves well to prepare him for what he was to study in the university. Here, Shelly depicts a character that understands his talents at a young age, and works to develop that in which he believes. Besides, Victor Frankenstein exhibits a high affinity to exploratory science, which raises his fascination with the secrets of life. The idea of making a creature then springs and emerges to change his life forever. Nevertheless, nothing overshadows the fact that he is a fact-finding character with some of the best capabilities in science.
Furthermore, Shelley uses Victor to show the extent to which the pursuit of individual goals have devastating effects on everyone with whom we relate. In Victor’s initial plans, he envisions a creator that would live with humans and be a normal being. Nevertheless, the sight of the monster frightens even its creator, Victor (Knudsen 22). In effect, Victor flees from the monster and it comes with grave consequences. In particular, the monster kills Victor’s best female friend, his brother, and wife for revenge. The monster believes that Victor and the entire humanity disregards him despite his attempts to study and be like a human being. Here, Shelley shows that humans should be wary of the consequences of the pursuit of knowledge. It is out of Victor’s curiosity that all these happen. Worse still, Victor dies out of misery because he cannot get revenge for his friend and family (Sanders 10). These are life’s realities that Shelley brings to the readers’ attention through the character Victor.
Also, Victor’s life changes a lot in the course of the story. During childhood, he grows up in Geneva showing glimpses of interest in science and reads some ancient alchemist’s works. In addition, Victor has kind parents who lavish him and even adopt some children (Shelley 4). As seen, he is more indulged, which makes him look selfish as a child. In fact, he grows to be stubborn and unyielding in terms of many aspects. Victor’s greatest focus is science and he studies virtually everything about science. The initial change comes when he goes to the university. Initially, he still believes in alchemists and doubts his professor. With time, he develops interest in, and understand what the professor says; this knowledge leads to the creation of the monster. The ordeal does not strike him at first, and he seems oblivious of the consequences of his scientific explorations (Knudsen 11).
What surprises readers is that Victor flees from the monster and abandons it. He seems unconcerned with the consequences of his clutter until the monster embarks on a revenge mission. Another aspect of change happens when Victor encounters the monster and the monster convinces him to make a female monster. The monster is persuasive and Victor feels obliged to meet his demands. Even so, this does not happen as Victor realizes the consequences of having two monsters. In the final stages, he decides to dump the female being’s parts into the sea. Simply put, the life of Victor Frankenstein transforms many times in the book. He changes from an enthusiastic scientist to a down-trodden being who cannot even define the reason for his existence (Sanders 20). It must be noted that readers feel a little disappointed when Victor Frankenstein dies out of this misery.
As a protagonist, Victor Frankenstein contributes to the plot and themes in different ways. First, he is the character around whom the story revolves. Shelley uses Victor in varied aspects and circumstances to convey the meaning of the text. Even in cases where the monster is the character of concern, she still mentions Victor in many passages. This is usually the role of a protagonist. On readers’ perspective, we can say that Victor is the character we ‘love to hate.’ Readers develop a feeling that Victor is a selfish and stubborn character who deserves everything he gets. At the same time, we appreciate his pursuit of science and the ability to make a living being. The point is that readers love and disdain Victor in equal measure (Sanders 34). His initial decision to abandon the monster does not augur well with the future.
However, he gains readers’ sympathy when the monster unleashes its revenge. To an extent, we even imagine that he could make a female monster and help stop the monster’s killings. The worse that happens after Victor’s decision not to make the monster a partner comes as no surprise, considering what the monster did in the past. But still, readers cannot help but feel compassionate towards Victor Frankenstein for his ordeal and how he had to pay for his scientific enthusiasm.
Moreover, Shelley uses victor to create and develop the theme of dangerous knowledge and sublime knowledge. Success in science usually comes at a price. In most cases, living beings are used to test scientific discoveries, and whether animals or humans, the decision is often debatable. Shelley’s Frankenstein revolves around the pursuit of knowledge (Marsh 6). In victor, Shelley presents a character with an intention to surge beyond usual limits and access the deepest secrets of human life. The pursuit of knowledge is evidently dangerous for Victor and everyone with whom he relates. Walton learns from Victor’s cases about the pursuit of knowledge. We can deduce that an unobserved pursuit of may lead to death. Besides, Victor develops the theme of sublime nature. Here, there is a focus on the effects of nature on an individual’s moods. Beaten by the death of his brother and friend, Victor heads to the mountains to life his spirits (Marsh 13). There is a chance for spiritual renewal when one interacts with nature. Even so, the power of the natural world does not help to comfort Victor. He realizes that the monster’s pursuit will continue irrespective of where he hides, and for that, he seeks to kill the monster himself.
In addition, Victor helps readers understand other characters as much as the characters help us know more about him. We know about the monster’s life through ...