Daemons Nature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

"Most people, whether because of nature or nurture, generally put their interest ahead of others. This doesn’t make them bad people; it just makes them human." Harvard University alumni Steven D Levitt mentioned it in his book self-help book Think Like a Freak. Nature and nurture factors affect future decisions, and the reasoning behind the choices does matter. Whether it leads to morally correct choices or not, it does not necessarily make them less human. Frankenstein goes into detail about Victorschildhood and current life. It leads to the creation of Daemon out of damaged body parts. It goes on to discuss the horrendous events that follow and why they occur. In Frankenstein, Victor is more inhumane than the creature because of how differently their nurture and nature situations affected them. 

Daemons and Victor's upbringing is drastically different. Although they lead to similar choices, they did them for different reasons. In chapter 1, Victor recalls, “I was their plaything and their idol, and something better—their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by Heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according to as they fulfilled their duties towards me.” Victor acknowledges his parent's "duties towards him” yet when it came to his creation: he failed to recognize this. Ultimately leading to Daemon's demise in chapter 24, Daemon recalled, “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on. Even now, my blood boils at the recollection of this injustice.” Daemon knows that Victor saw him as “an abortion” while Victor noted that his parents saw him as “their idol.” All Daemon wanted was the love that Victor had. The first crime Daemon committed was murdering William, Victor's brother. In chapter 8, Ernest retold, "During this interval, one of the servants, happening to examine the apparel she had worn on the night of the murder, had discovered in her pocket the picture of my mother, which had been judged to be the temptation of the murderer.” This ultimately leads to Justine’s execution. Although Justine's blood was on both of their hands, Daemon framed Justine because he was angry at Victor for not providing him with his basic need of love and affection. However, Victor did not reveal the truth because he was afraid people would think he was insane. 

Society played a big role in the advantages and disadvantages they had. That is why throughout the novel it was obvious that Victor was seen as more valuable than Daemon. In letter 4, Wilton observes, “Yet his manners are so conciliating and gentle that the sailors are all interested in him, although they have had very little communication with him. For my part, I begin to love him as a brother, and his constant and deep grief fills me with sympathy and compassion. He must have been a noble creature in his better days, being even now in wreck so attractive and amiable.” Walton notes that Victor is “attractive and amicable” and that the sailors were warming up to Victor before even knowing him because of his manners and looks. A luxury that Daemon will never get to experience. In chapter 13, Daemon wondered, “And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man. I was more agile than they and could subsist upon coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster.” In the end, Daemon struggled with the question “And what was I?” because of how others viewed and treated him, and he soon started to believe they were true. In chapter 24, Daemon revealed, “I shall no longer feel the agonies which now consume me or be the prey of feelings unsatisfied, yet unquenched. He is dead who called me into being, and when I shall be no more, the very remembrance of us both will speedily vanish.” Victor’s last wish to Robert was to have Daemon killed. However, Daemon felt “agony” and guilt for the crimes he committed. Daemons speaking will soon reveal that he was planning to commit suicide because of how guilty and alone he felt, showing self-growth.  

It's known that nature and nurture situations affect the person they become. Although it's thought that being dealt a good deck of cards in life will result in a humane person, that is not always the case. As in this case, although Daemon was not dealt a good deck of cards became more humane than Victor. It is important to remember that staying humane is about learning from your mistakes. If you don’t you will never grow from them.