Moral Values In Frankenstein Essay - 1,641 words

... that remain. (p. 189) Victor's father died of grief. He could not live with the horrors that accumulate around him in the last couple of days of his life: "He was unable to rise from his bed, and in a few days he died in my arms" (p. 189). His love for his family becomes all that he cares about, which in turn causes him and Victor severe pain and suffering. The creature is another character that suffers from the desire to be loved. The creature wants to be loved so much that he digs himself deeper and deeper into his obsession, which causes him great heartache.


He first learns about love when he stays with the family of cottagers' in the first part of his life: "Their happiness was not decreased by the absence of summer. They loved and sympathized with one another; and their joys, depending on each other, were not interrupted by the casualties that took place around them. The more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and loved my these amiable creatures; to see their sweet looks directed towards me with affection was the utmost limit of my ambition. " (p. 126) The creature's suffering first starts when he realizes that it is not normal to have no one in your life to love you. He has no family like the cottagers', nor can he remember ever having someone to look after him: "'But where were my friends and relation?


No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing'" (p. 115). This realization soon makes him want revenge on his creator for not taking responsibility for him, or showing any kind of love and affection for him. His quest to make Frankenstein's life miserable is based on the suffering he experiences because he does not have anyone to show benevolence towards him. The creature's desire to be loved causes a lot of anguish to many of the characters in the novel, including himself; Victor and all of Frankenstein's loved ones. Although wanting to be loved, or having deep love for someone else is an ethical and noble moral, in some cases if there is too much hunger for love, it can cause suffering and misery.


The obsession for knowledge and love in the novel are not the only morals that result in agony and heartache for the characters. The most important moral value that is demonstrated to have too much desire for is ambition. Shelley portrays many of the characters in her novel to be driven towards their goals by extreme ambition, but has them all meet with failure which they can not cope with. Used as an introduction to the novel, it is apparent from the beginning that Robert Walton is an extremely ambitious and persevering individual. In his first letter to his sister, Margaret Saville, Robert writes: I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves and fills me with delight.


Do you understand this feeling? This breeze, which has traveled from regions towards which I am advancing gives me a foretaste of those icy climbs. (p. 15) In this statement it is extremely clear that Robert is filled with anticipation of his forthcoming journey. In Robert's case, his failure is the fault of two things -- the weather and his crew. During his journey to the North Pole, Robert encounters frigid weather, which causes ice to form around his vessel. Although he is not willing to give up, and wants to wait out the cold, he is forced to allow his crew to return to England. As if to show his bitter disappointment in his crew, the weather, and even himself he writes: "The die is cast; I have consented to return if we are not destroyed.


Thus are my hopes blasted by cowardice and indecision; I come back ignorant and disappointed. It requires more philosophy than I possess to bear this injustice with patience" (p. 204). These few sentences are the writings of a man broken by defeat. Robert suffers extremely for he feels as though he has failed. His ambitious attitude towards his journey makes it even harder for him to turn back, resulting in agony and misery.


The creature is another character that experiences great agony due to his strong ambition to be accepted. The newborn creature spends countless days observing the family while trying to learn rudimentary words and actions. The creature obviously has a great thirst for knowledge, although it is most likely for the use of destroying his mortal enemy and his creator; Vic ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: severe pain, victor frankenstein, moral values, pain and suffering, robert walton

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