Saturday, October 2, 2010
Revenge vs Common Sense
Victor had lost his family, his loved ones at the hands of the monster. Something, he Victor had created. His hatred and need for revenge caused him to become a demon, a monster himself. He held rage and realized that things had to come down to the death of either himself or the monster. He knew there had to be a confrontation, a one on one smack down. Winner take all. Victor knew that he must get more than even with the monster. "Let the cursed and hellish monster drink deep in agony; let him feel the despair that now torments me" (Shelly 140). "I swear to pursue the daemon, who caused this misery, until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict."(Shelly 140). Wasn't it revenge that directed the monsters rage and murderous acts? Didn't hate act as a motivation to get even. What made Victor any better than the monster? It could not be a do as I say and not as I do situation. Lets face it, Victor had no excuse for his actions the monster was just that, a monster.What else should you expect from him? The monster was causing Victor much labor, much agony on his journey to find the monster. He was winning the battles by leaving notes and marks on trees. This inflamed Victor and gave him a push of entergy, a second wind of determination to find and kill the monster.The monster was smart and cunning. He even teased Victor by leaving food along the trail for him. "You will find near this place, if you follow not too tardily, a dead hare; eat and be refreshed" (Shelly142). The monster wanted to make Victor suffer as much as possible before he killed him. "Come on; my enemy; we have yet to wrestle for our lives; but many hard and miserable hours must you endure. until thay period shall arrive" (Shelly 142). The monster had a plan and a good one at that. It played on Victors mental and physical state of mind. Victor should have used common sense and gave up the chase. He could not . He was driven forward by his hatred and his need for revenge. He played God when he created the monster and played God it seeking the monsters death. After Victors death the monster tries to explain that he suffered first and in greater depth than Victor did. He did not enjoy killing but was driven by a deep force inside him, a thirst for vengance that only killing could quench. "The completion of my demoniacal design became an insaliable passion. And now it has ended; there is my last victim" (Shelly 154). The monster said he was through killing. This reader thinks differently. Does a leopard ever change its spots. The monster would have killed again and again. Each time someone crossed him or angered him they would have felt his rage, The only thing that could have changed Victor or the monster was forgivness and neither one held that in their heart.
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I tend to believe the ‘reason’ for Victor and The Monster’s choices goes deeper than just vengeance and retribution. While Victor certainly presents it as his motivation in his talks with Walton, I think Victor knew in his own heart that he was a monster too. As for The Monster’s motivation, I do not believe he had any intention of ever killing Victor; in fact, I believe The Monster had an instinctive need for Victor to be close to him. When they meet in the mountains, The Monster asks of Victor, “How can I move thee? Will no entreaties cause thee to turn a favorable eye upon thy creature, who implores thy goodness and compassion” (Shelley 66), trying to sway Victor to accept him. While The Monster certainly was feeding off of Victor’s misery, I think that is because it was the only way The Monster could elicit any kind of response from Victor; an extreme example of vying for attention.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that the monster would have continue killing people. I think that at the end of the story he was ready to die. At the beginning I believed that the monster had a great need for companionship and acceptance. Then later, he decided that he had been robbed of these precious things and decided to make Victor accountable for his crimes. I think he showed his true intentions when he said “ fear not that I shall be the instrument of future mischief. My work is nearly complete. Neither your’s nor any man’s death is needed to consummate the series of my being, and accomplish that which must be done; but it requires my own”(Shelley 155). This is the monster feeling that the only resolution now is his own death.
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