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Brandon Morris

“Throughout the novel the boundaries between good and evil are continuously blurred,
leaving the reader with moral uncertainty
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Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein presents good and evil in an ambiguous way because the reader is never fully
able to determine between the two
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Instead, this view seems to change depending
on who is narrating the story, due to Shelley’s use of the framed narrative
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Walton’s narrative acts as an introduction to the novel introducing the
main themes of isolation and quest for knowledge of the unknown
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Considering this, Walton is not considered to be good or evil but his narrative
grants an unbiased view on Victor’s story
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For example, in Victor’s narrative, the
reader feels empathy for him because he has lost everyone he has ever loved to the “wretched”
Creature, who is shown to be incoherently evil
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With the multiple narrators, it is hard to determine who is good
and who is evil; Shelley causes the reader to continually change their opinions throughout the novel,
redefining what is good and evil
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Therefore,
is it right to state Victor is the antagonist and the Creature the protagonist? Again no necessarily,
Victor’s initial intentions are to find a way to create life from death, and gain ‘Godly knowledge’
which is the cause for his actions
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All three characters are trying to gain
knowledge in some shape or form, and it is the reason for their downfall
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Like previously stated, the evil
does not lie within the characters but through the isolation they both endure
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e
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Through his isolation, Victor forgets the
impact it has on those closest to him, only focused on increasing his own hubris and egotistical
desires
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In terms of the
Creature, his abandonment, down to his creator, is the sole reason for him to take vengeance, by
resorting to murder
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Shelley shows the education of
the Creature in two ways: through reading of several books (e
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Paradise Lost) and observation of

Jan ‘13

Brandon Morris
the De Lacey family
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Regarding the De Lacey family, he begins to help them
out through providing them with wood, although, when he reveals himself to them he is chased
away because of his “hideous” appearance
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” Therefore, I believe it is right to
state that the reason for both Victor and the Creature being ‘evil’ is because of the isolation they
endure
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I believe Shelley is trying to put across the idea that humanity are both good
and evil, and that no one person can be purely good or purely evil

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