Refer to the arguments (quote at least one directly) that VF and the Creature offer for and against making a female companion. Can you think of any additional reasons for or against making a female companion? Whose side do you feel more sympathy for? What do you think VF should do?
Post your response here, then be sure to read your classmate's postings, as well. Respond to at least ONE member of the class -- someone who disagrees with you, that is... When you respond, please begin your response, "In response to ____________'s comment,"
If you have questions, send me a quick email. karri_landeis@bismarckschools.org
The Monster says that he is "...shunned and hated by all mankind..." including his creator. He cannot be accepted, therefore cannot be happy; unless, of course, Victor creates a companion for him, with whom he would live "...harmless and free from the misery I now feel." The Monster needs a being like himself to peacefully and contentedly live in a human's world. If Victor refuses-which he does-the Monster will be extrememly unhappy and destroy all Victor holds dear.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the monster could easily make Victor’s life miserable- like the monster says he will if Victor refuses to make the him a mate- so Victor should be frightened of the creature (the monster could definitely take him). Victor has treated his creature terribly; because he created him, he should be responsible to nurture him. However, Victor does not want anything to do with his creation. Victor completely abandons his monster making him trapped in a miserable, lonely life. The monster tells Victor, “I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator would tear me to pieces, and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?” Victor owes the creature some happiness because of the misery and torment he put him through by not raising him.
ReplyDeleteThe monster's need for companionship is completely understandable. Any human has a basic desire for love and affection; because the monster is exiled and shown nothing but hatred from all mankind, it is only natural that he should want (and should have!) a mate. His self-hatred is caused by the repeated denial of any positive interaction with a human. He says that "...when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification. Alas! I did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity." When he requests his mate, he believes that "...man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me." Therefore, by the creation of a mate for the monster, Victor would save the public from any more havoc wreaked by the monster; and the monster would have the life that he is just as deserving of as any normal human.
ReplyDeleteYES! Victor OWES it to the monster to create the monster a female who love him, and a female he can love in return.
ReplyDelete"What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate; I demand a creature of another sex, but as hideous as myself; the gratification is small, but it is all that I can receive, and it shall content me. It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another. Our lives will not be happy, but they will be hamrless and free from the misery I now feel. Oh! My creator, make me happy; let me feel gratitude towrads you for one benefit! Let me see that I excite the sympathy of some existing thing; do not deny me my request!"(148, Monster to Victor)
"His words had a strange effect upon me. I compassionated him and somtimes felt a wish to console him, but when I looked upon him, I saw the filthy mass that moved and talked, my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred. I tried to stifle these sensations; I thought that as I could not sympathize with him, I had no right to withold from him the small portion of happiness, when was yet in my power to bestow." (149-150 Victor thinking to himself)
I believe these two quotes say it all. The monster knows that Victor is the only one who can give him a companion, and even Victor knows that he OWES it the monster to give him a mate. Victor created this monster out of his own selfishness, desire for knowledge, and his own curiousity. The monster did absolutely nothing to deserve what has happened to him, all the blame is to be placed on Victor. Also, there is no reason to think that the monster will go back on his word to remove himself and his mate from society, the only person who has gone back on his word is Victor. One last quick point is to also look at the fact that Victor was given Elizabeth as a "present". That is important to note, especially since Victor himself has the power to give the monster love.
-Amber
The monster, in a way, is human like all of us. We seek out companionship and aren’t meant to be alone. The “human” side of the creature feels the same way. He wants a companion to fill the void of loneliness. The creature “. . . is malicious because I [he] is miserable.” He fills his void with revenge and hatred towards those who are accepted. If Victor creates a companion for the creature, a huge need is met! The creature’s need of love, in a sense. “. . . did I [Victor] not as his maker owe him [the creature] all the portion of happiness that it was in my power to bestow?” said Victor, and I completely agree. Victor should do something for the creature to make up for abandoning him and not wanting anything to do with him. I’m not sure if I completely believe the sincerity of the creature when he talks about his demand for another creature of opposite sex, “the gratification is small, but it is all that I can receive, and it shall content me.” He also talks about how “. . . neither you nor any other human being shall ever see us again.” How would Victor determine if the creature was telling the truth? But at the same time, what does he have to lose? The creature is just going to keep devastating Victor’s life if he doesn’t do this one task. Create the companion!
ReplyDeleteThe monster’s request for a mate is something that anyone can relate to. No one deserves to never know the feeling of compassion and love. The monster has never received those feelings and has led him down a path of hatred and revenge. Victor has wronged the monster on so many levels. It’s only right of him to create the monster a mate.
ReplyDeleteThe monster states that “I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?” Society will never learn to accept the monster. Without acceptance the monster will never learn compassion and only experience hatred and exile. The monster had no cruel intentions (well at least at first). Victor’s actions toward the monster only fueled the monster’s act to kill. If the monster was given a mate he would lose the drive to commit evil towards man. The monster has shown potential of good and he is displaying that potential again by stating he will leave man alone if he receives his request. Victor’s first intention of his creation was to help mankind; not harm it! It’s time that Victor follows that intention. If he doesn’t, it will only hurt him and others around him.
There are many reasons why Victor should create the monster a female companion. For one, he owes it to him. The monster compares himself to Adam. He says, "Like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence." The monster understands that Victor created him, and did so without taking his "human" side into consideration. The monster expresses emotion also, and just like humans he requires to be loved and cared for. The monster suddenly realizes the creator's pure hatred for him. If Victor would just create the monster a female companion, the monster's emotional needs would be met and he would no longer resort to violence and anger; Victor's problems would be solved. The monster called Victor an "unfeeling, heartless creator!," so I think he owes it to him to create a female companion. The monster just plain comes out and says that if he creates him a female companion, he will monitor the progress and simply run away with her far away, forever leaving Victor's presence. That is ultimately what Victor wants, so this would kill two birds with one stone. I also think that there is definitely a feeling of karma within Victor. In the bad thing that he has done, the least he could do is grant him his harmless wish to make him happy. Victor feels obligated and recognizes that it is his responsibility to take care of his "creation."
ReplyDeleteIn my eyes, Victor owed it to the creature to create him a female. Victor worries of his creature now having an accomplice in crime, yet even the creature states "I was malicious, because i am miserable. Was i not shunned by all mankind?" Because of the creature's loneliness, he went mad with hatred, yet if Victor made him a companion, the creature argues that he would move away to South America to never again be seen by human eyes.
ReplyDelete" If you consent, neither you nor any other human being shall ever see us again...". This should be all the reason Victor needs to make a mate for the monster. If he would do just this one thing then the monster would be out of Victor's hair for good, and all his "misfortunes" would be gone. Victor needs to understand that the fault lies in him that his creation went berserk because he abandoned his creation. The monster just wants one living being to understand him, and he would return those feelings "... an hundred and an hundred fold...". If he had that then the monster would "... for that one creature's sake, I[he] would make peace with the whole kind!". However, the monster knows he cannot have this so he makes a "reasonable" and "moderate" request for Victor to make him a mate. He believes it to be Victor's responsibility to do, at least, this one thing for him because Victor is his creator, in essence his one and only parent, and isn't it every parents job to give the child they have brought into this world a fighting chance at life?
ReplyDelete--Robyn M.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Rachel's comment, while I do understand the creature's predicament, it cannot necessarily be believed that the creature will become docile just because he has a companion. The creature was subject to irrational bouts of rage with people that had done him no wrong, but simply shared ties with Frankenstein. One example is him murdering William. As Victor Frankenstein said himself: "You swear...to be harmless; but have you not already shown a degree of malice that should reasonably make me distrust you? May not even this be a feint that will increase your triumph by affording a wider scope for your revenge." The companion may help the creature feel that he has a better chance at enacting his revenge against humanity, instead of pacifying him.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Katelyn's comment...
ReplyDeleteYes, Victor owes his creation love. But forcing Victor to create a mate for the monster, is equivalent to a father being forced to find a wife for his son. (Though, I would like to point out the incestuous theme repeated in Mary Shelley's works found in Victor creating a daughter as a mate for his son.) Victor does not owe his creation the love of a female, but the love of a father.
And though the monster promises to leave, there is no evidence that he will hold true to his word. His moods and expressions change as swiftly as the weather. His volatile nature cannot be trusted. The question of how to procure transportation to South America is raised as well. If the creature and his female are subjected to human mistreatment on the way to their own Eden, they may never make it. The creature has reacted to depravity of acceptance upon his own life, however, he has yet to see someone he loves subjected to the same rejection. If the female was somehow injured -or killed- the response would be catastrophic. His attachment could prove -and has proven in De Lacey's case- to be his downfall.
This is Jen's response :)
ReplyDeleteIn response to Matt’s comment…
Yes, Victor has wronged the creature and yes, the creature does deserve happiness, how do we know that the creature will learn compassion. The mate may hate the creature for having a hand in bringing her into this world. That would only add fuel to the creatures fire and he would become even more angry. The creature would become want to kill Victor and other people even more. Is that a risk Victor should take for maybe the creature finding compassion? I don’t think so.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa's post:
ReplyDeleteIn response to Amber’s comment…
I agree with you in the fact that Victor owes the creature love. In fact, if Victor hadn’t abandoned the creature in the first place, the pain of rejection and exile from society would be far less cruel for the creature, knowing that he had the love of a father/mother figure. However, the love Victor owes the creature is just that: the love of a parent. Both Victor and the creature cannot expect, by creating a mate, that alone will fill the void Victor created when he left the creature to his own devices. The love and guidance of a parent that is needed in the early years especially is crucial to the formation of how a person is to become, and the creature was denied that. Creating a female companion won’t comply with
what Victor should have done for his creation, because nothing replaces the expectations and, more importantly, the love of a parent.
In response to Leslie's comment...
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to tell if the creature is telling the truth, because even the creature doesn't know the outcome of living with his companion. The worst that could happen is that Victor and his family could be killed anyways, because he is a temperamental being. He kills William, a completely innocent child, simply for being related to Victor. I doubt that his relationship will really go well with the companion, or she may persuade him to take up arms against the human race. Or perhaps having more of the monsters could create some sort of disease or the creature could learn the method to create life himself. There are a whole range of possibilities. The best thing that Victor could do is actually acknowledge the harm he has done, and actually take responsibility. but we all know he won't.
In response to Karly's comment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this creature should have been nurtured by Victor. However, Victor failed him in this. Because of Victor's lack of nurture to the creature, and its exposure to human cruelty, it has become a being that can only hate and take delight in evil; you can see this in the way it describes the murder of innocent William. How can such a creature truly know love and share it with a companion? Victor is right in his refusal, as creating a mate would only exacerbate the problem.
I wonder if the monster wanted a female to love or a female to subdue his sexual desires; even though Mary Shelley never mentioned anything about the monsters sexuality.
ReplyDelete