I think that his guilt is destroying him from the inside out. He becomes bedridden many times with a sickness that Shelley insinuates to as guilt. I feel that this recurrence happens as a result of hearing about what his "creation" has done to his loved ones.
No matter where Victor goes, his guilt follows him. Knowing that he was the creator of the creature that killed his brother and then that, in turn, causing the death of Justine. So pretty much, he's the one that caused this whole problem and he has to watch Elizabeth in distress and realize that it is all his fault. Because of all this guilt that he is carrying around, he finds himself wanting to be alone and not having to deal with emotions of everybody else since he has plenty of his own. As the story develops, more aspects of the death of his brother are snowballing to make one huge problem that all leads back to Victor, showing his distress and his incompetence to do anything about it at this point. He thinks about taking his own life, but then realizes that would only make the problem bigger, because it would cause Elizabeth to grieve even more.
Victor's sickness is used as a way to visually depict what occurs within Victor, so the reader can fully understand the visceral guilt and plaguing emotions he carries towards his fateful act of creating another human being, without the consent of the true Creator. As his health fails initially from the moment he first embarks on his mission to give life, his downward spiral into a drained, shadowed form of himself is a direct metaphor for the moral confusion he sinks into as he puts the creature together.
I think that Victor's sickness is used to measure the amount off torment and guilt that is in Victor, by doing this Shelley is able to engage the reader and help the reader make a direct correlation between Victor's sickness and his inner torment. This recurrence of guilt and sickness keeps happening because Victor is constantly reminded of all the pain that his creation has caused his family and loved ones.
I believe his guilt is one part of the overall theme of the novel. The novel questions if it just for us to step in and become the creator, to take the place of God. Time and time again the monster is compared to Adam. Later on, the monster even desires for a woman counterpart, "an Eve". The guild Victor shows towards his creation is the opposite of what God felt towards His. Victor creates a monster and regrets it, knowing it has killed and destructed. God called his creation good. Throughout the 6 days of creation He says over and over that He saw that it was good, including man. Even when man sinned, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son - never giving up on his creation. The opposite stands true for Victor who gave up nearly immediately on the wretched being.
Beyond the death that the creature caused and the guilt that those deaths inflicted upon Victor, there is another cause of his guilt. “I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me, but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me.” (171) The creature makes Victor feel guilty for being the horrible monster that he is. So the creation of the monster is making him him feel guilty in every aspect of his situation.
I believe that Victor's sickness has to do not only with the theme that seems to reoccur in the book, but also what seems to have been a theme with victors emotions himself. I agree with ellen, that as his health becomes more of an issue it also alludes to the issues with the creature.
I agree with you Cole on the fact that the creature is the main reason for Victor's sickness due to the unforgotten guilt that has come with the creation of this monster, Victor throughout this novel is consumed with guilt caused from the catastrophic events that occur one after the other most of them done by the creature but the other reason I think for his illness is due to his anticipation to wed his one true love Elizabeth ( "My dear father, reassure yourself. I love my cousin tenderly and sincerely. I never saw any woman who excited, as Elizabeth does, my warmest admiration and affection. My future hopes and prospects are entirely bound up in the expectation of our union. -pg. 150).
Because Victor unrelentingly dwelled upon his inner guilt, he soon realized that "this state of mind preyed upon my health, which had perhaps never entirely recovered from the first shock it had sustained (77)." All of that remorse and regret for what he's done was transferred into harmful strains on his mind and body which would continue to stack on his illness. Shelly shifts Victor's inmost suffering into physical ailments so that the reader can fully grasp the misery of his situation. Victor's compounded physical and mental breakdown grants the audience a way to really sympathize with his suffering.
From the moment that Victor's creation had come to life, Victor's guilt overcame him and he fell ill. This illness that Shelly describes helps the reader to full understand all that Victor is experiencing and going through as he comes to terms with the fact that he is brought to this world a horrible monster. This guilt follows him as he understands that not only did he create something hideous on the outside, but on the inside as well. His guilt seizes him again as he realizes that his monster killed his little brother William and in turn Justine and caused Elizabeth so much pain and strife. It all comes down to the fact that Victor holds himself completely responsible for all the crimes that the monster commits and in turn he believes himself to be the destroyer of his own life.
Victor hated the being he created from the first moment it began to live. The very existence of his creation never brought him an iota of fulfillment, despite the amount of work and time it demanded. The guilt of creating this being overwhelmed him, and his guilt resulted into an illness. Victor blamed himself for every misfortune and grief that his creation caused or brought upon his family because he created him, and he felt like he indirectly did anything the being did.
I agree with Ellen on the reason she gave for why the author used Victor's guilt to result into illness repeatedly. Mary Shelley used the recurring plot device of Victor's guilt affecting his health to show how much Victor struggled internally with the circumstances around him, and how guilt-ridden he was. She also used the illness to reveal how much his creation's misdeeds weighed on him.
His illness demonstrates his very big vulnerability to a guilty conscience. A guilty conscience signifies a "wrongdoing" or something evil that he has done. What's amazing about this is that he fails to recognize throughout the entire book that what he has done to nature is something he cannot revoke, and that just because aspiring to do a greater good to human kind does not mean that the creator will go off scott-free or the result will go hay-wire and do the opposite. Perhaps Shelley is telling us that the creator does suffer consequences of what is created? A matter of free-will becomes prominent when another individual is created (if the created is inherent with the power to make choices for him/herself). Just because the intent of the creator was to do everyone good, the created might do otherwise. It is proven that the monster did start to view the world and his own choices in his own way and dealt with them differently than his creator, Victor, expected. This reminds me of God's creation of humankind; God created humans even though we were inherently flawed (or became flawed; whichever you believe).
Modern science has hypothesized that stress can cause cancerous cells. Would guilt not do the same to a person 200 years back? Guilt is not just an emotional appeal on events, it consumes a person and every single nerve impulse sent through the body. Just like smiles release endorphins, guilt can prove to be a formidable illness to ones body as well. I believe Victor could have easily avoided this downward spiral (as Ellen said) had he not been so naive and prejudice in his rejection of the creature. We later on find out that this creature was just a misconceived soul with equal knowledge as anybody else. All he required was guidance in life and Victors guilt and prejudice confined him from guiding the creature.
Just as a little simile that helps illustrate a purpose behind Victor's fevers and sicknesses and whatnot - he is like a thermometer. The higher the mercury rises, each notch reached signals a warmer "moral hotspot" - or point of moral contension in his soul/mind over his actions that he has yet neglected to address. Fevers worsen unless given proper care and attention. He ignored his physical wellbeing as much as his moral/emotional/spiritual wellbeing. They are parallel studies, as evidenced in the climax of his toils when he collapses at Henry Clerval's feet, incoherent and utterly ill on page 47ish. His mental anguish was equal to his physical infirmity. So, his moral thermometer was off the charts.
I think Ellen's simile is spot on. I know from personal experience that not being able to release internal regret culminates and builds over time, eventually resulting in severe psychological sickness. Not only does Victor neglect his physical health, as Ellen points out, he also neglects his emotional health. By never confronting the guilt inside of him and instead internalizing it, Victor is tormenting himself and significantly damaging his health.
I think this effectively demonstrates Shelley's intent with this reoccurring theme. She demonstrates that one must confront their mistakes, their guilt, and their regrets, rather than internalize them, in order to resolve those internal conflicts.
I think that his guilt is destroying him from the inside out. He becomes bedridden many times with a sickness that Shelley insinuates to as guilt. I feel that this recurrence happens as a result of hearing about what his "creation" has done to his loved ones.
ReplyDeleteNo matter where Victor goes, his guilt follows him. Knowing that he was the creator of the creature that killed his brother and then that, in turn, causing the death of Justine. So pretty much, he's the one that caused this whole problem and he has to watch Elizabeth in distress and realize that it is all his fault. Because of all this guilt that he is carrying around, he finds himself wanting to be alone and not having to deal with emotions of everybody else since he has plenty of his own. As the story develops, more aspects of the death of his brother are snowballing to make one huge problem that all leads back to Victor, showing his distress and his incompetence to do anything about it at this point. He thinks about taking his own life, but then realizes that would only make the problem bigger, because it would cause Elizabeth to grieve even more.
ReplyDeleteVictor's sickness is used as a way to visually depict what occurs within Victor, so the reader can fully understand the visceral guilt and plaguing emotions he carries towards his fateful act of creating another human being, without the consent of the true Creator.
ReplyDeleteAs his health fails initially from the moment he first embarks on his mission to give life, his downward spiral into a drained, shadowed form of himself is a direct metaphor for the moral confusion he sinks into as he puts the creature together.
I think that Victor's sickness is used to measure the amount off torment and guilt that is in Victor, by doing this Shelley is able to engage the reader and help the reader make a direct correlation between Victor's sickness and his inner torment. This recurrence of guilt and sickness keeps happening because Victor is constantly reminded of all the pain that his creation has caused his family and loved ones.
ReplyDeleteI believe his guilt is one part of the overall theme of the novel. The novel questions if it just for us to step in and become the creator, to take the place of God. Time and time again the monster is compared to Adam. Later on, the monster even desires for a woman counterpart, "an Eve". The guild Victor shows towards his creation is the opposite of what God felt towards His. Victor creates a monster and regrets it, knowing it has killed and destructed. God called his creation good. Throughout the 6 days of creation He says over and over that He saw that it was good, including man. Even when man sinned, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son - never giving up on his creation. The opposite stands true for Victor who gave up nearly immediately on the wretched being.
ReplyDeleteBeyond the death that the creature caused and the guilt that those deaths inflicted upon Victor, there is another cause of his guilt. “I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me, but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me.” (171) The creature makes Victor feel guilty for being the horrible monster that he is. So the creation of the monster is making him him feel guilty in every aspect of his situation.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Victor's sickness has to do not only with the theme that seems to reoccur in the book, but also what seems to have been a theme with victors emotions himself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with ellen, that as his health becomes more of an issue it also alludes to the issues with the creature.
I agree with you Cole on the fact that the creature is the main reason for Victor's sickness due to the unforgotten guilt that has come with the creation of this monster, Victor throughout this novel is consumed with guilt caused from the catastrophic events that occur one after the other most of them done by the creature but the other reason I think for his illness is due to his anticipation to wed his one true love Elizabeth ( "My dear father, reassure yourself. I love my cousin tenderly and sincerely. I never saw any woman who excited, as Elizabeth does, my warmest admiration and affection. My future hopes and prospects are entirely bound up in the expectation of our union. -pg. 150).
ReplyDeleteBecause Victor unrelentingly dwelled upon his inner guilt, he soon realized that "this state of mind preyed upon my health, which had perhaps never entirely recovered from the first shock it had sustained (77)." All of that remorse and regret for what he's done was transferred into harmful strains on his mind and body which would continue to stack on his illness. Shelly shifts Victor's inmost suffering into physical ailments so that the reader can fully grasp the misery of his situation. Victor's compounded physical and mental breakdown grants the audience a way to really sympathize with his suffering.
ReplyDeleteFrom the moment that Victor's creation had come to life, Victor's guilt overcame him and he fell ill. This illness that Shelly describes helps the reader to full understand all that Victor is experiencing and going through as he comes to terms with the fact that he is brought to this world a horrible monster. This guilt follows him as he understands that not only did he create something hideous on the outside, but on the inside as well. His guilt seizes him again as he realizes that his monster killed his little brother William and in turn Justine and caused Elizabeth so much pain and strife. It all comes down to the fact that Victor holds himself completely responsible for all the crimes that the monster commits and in turn he believes himself to be the destroyer of his own life.
ReplyDeleteVictor hated the being he created from the first moment it began to live. The very existence of his creation never brought him an iota of fulfillment, despite the amount of work and time it demanded. The guilt of creating this being overwhelmed him, and his guilt resulted into an illness. Victor blamed himself for every misfortune and grief that his creation caused or brought upon his family because he created him, and he felt like he indirectly did anything the being did.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ellen on the reason she gave for why the author used Victor's guilt to result into illness repeatedly. Mary Shelley used the recurring plot device of Victor's guilt affecting his health to show how much Victor struggled internally with the circumstances around him, and how guilt-ridden he was. She also used the illness to reveal how much his creation's misdeeds weighed on him.
His illness demonstrates his very big vulnerability to a guilty conscience. A guilty conscience signifies a "wrongdoing" or something evil that he has done. What's amazing about this is that he fails to recognize throughout the entire book that what he has done to nature is something he cannot revoke, and that just because aspiring to do a greater good to human kind does not mean that the creator will go off scott-free or the result will go hay-wire and do the opposite. Perhaps Shelley is telling us that the creator does suffer consequences of what is created? A matter of free-will becomes prominent when another individual is created (if the created is inherent with the power to make choices for him/herself). Just because the intent of the creator was to do everyone good, the created might do otherwise. It is proven that the monster did start to view the world and his own choices in his own way and dealt with them differently than his creator, Victor, expected. This reminds me of God's creation of humankind; God created humans even though we were inherently flawed (or became flawed; whichever you believe).
ReplyDelete-Sam
Modern science has hypothesized that stress can cause cancerous cells. Would guilt not do the same to a person 200 years back? Guilt is not just an emotional appeal on events, it consumes a person and every single nerve impulse sent through the body. Just like smiles release endorphins, guilt can prove to be a formidable illness to ones body as well. I believe Victor could have easily avoided this downward spiral (as Ellen said) had he not been so naive and prejudice in his rejection of the creature. We later on find out that this creature was just a misconceived soul with equal knowledge as anybody else. All he required was guidance in life and Victors guilt and prejudice confined him from guiding the creature.
ReplyDeleteJust as a little simile that helps illustrate a purpose behind Victor's fevers and sicknesses and whatnot - he is like a thermometer. The higher the mercury rises, each notch reached signals a warmer "moral hotspot" - or point of moral contension in his soul/mind over his actions that he has yet neglected to address. Fevers worsen unless given proper care and attention. He ignored his physical wellbeing as much as his moral/emotional/spiritual wellbeing. They are parallel studies, as evidenced in the climax of his toils when he collapses at Henry Clerval's feet, incoherent and utterly ill on page 47ish. His mental anguish was equal to his physical infirmity. So, his moral thermometer was off the charts.
ReplyDeleteI think Ellen's simile is spot on. I know from personal experience that not being able to release internal regret culminates and builds over time, eventually resulting in severe psychological sickness. Not only does Victor neglect his physical health, as Ellen points out, he also neglects his emotional health. By never confronting the guilt inside of him and instead internalizing it, Victor is tormenting himself and significantly damaging his health.
ReplyDeleteI think this effectively demonstrates Shelley's intent with this reoccurring theme. She demonstrates that one must confront their mistakes, their guilt, and their regrets, rather than internalize them, in order to resolve those internal conflicts.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletefuck you bitch im high right now so fuck it!
ReplyDeleteps. suck my dick