Victor as the Monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Throughout this novel, Victor has been pushed towards the villain aspect when he sees himself as the struggling hero. His mindset is a social construct in the way he identifies his emotions and invalidates the many people he had hurt countless times, from repeated mistakes.  Victor Frankenstein is the real monster in this novel, with his constant self victimizing behavior to justify his actions, deceiving lies, and the overwhelming irony of his shallowness. 

A continuous cycle for Victor is the selfish need to put his priorities first, even when it puts innocent lives at stake. The text states “A thousand times rather would I have confessed myself guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine; but I was absent when it was committed, and such a declaration would have been considered as the raving of a madam, and would not have a exculpated her who suffered through me” (Frankenstein 54). When Victor starts to explain more to justify his horrific actions that led to the death of Justine he explains that he was absent. Even after Justinie’s death, he still had the time if he had a good conscience to come forward and give the justice that she deserved. When in the process of victimizing himself Victor says “I have one secret, Elizabeth, a dreadful one; when we reveal to you, it will chill your frame with horror, and then, far from being surprised at my misery, you only wonder that I survived what I have endured” (Frankenstein 140).” Even after Victor knows that his niece, Elizabeth's son was murdered by the creature he created, he still finds a way to increase his hardships for empathy. He wants to be the hero in this novel and craves for attention which he almost always gets. Putting his priorities first, even after two lives, Justine and Elizabeth were taken because he chose to protect himself. 

Unpacking the deceiving lies that Victor constantly is showing throughout the book, he makes false promises that lead fate to corrupt. When finally sitting down and talking to the creature victor starts to say “I consent to your Demand, on your solemn oath to quit Europe forever, and every other place in the neighbourhood of man, as soon as I shall deliver into your hands a female who will accompany you and your exile” (Frankenstein 107). This would be okay if he committed but instead he chose to ignore and pity himself after making a promise to a dangerous creature who has before spiraled and killed. Knowing these circumstances he still chose to make a false promise and he is the root to the deaths of his family. Further thinking into the commitment he has made towards the creature, “I found that it could not compose a female without again devoting several months to profound study and laborious disquisition” (Frankenstein 108).  It did not take long for Victor to go back on his word when he so openly committed to. Victor made this ‘monster’ in theory and knows what he is capable of, and what he can and will do but still chooses to be selfish. Thus, this will lead to the corruption of human lives. 

The overwhelming irony of Victor’s shallowness led to the cause of the creature's internal feelings of hatred towards himself. When examining the creature Victor says “I beheld the wretch-the miserable monster whom I had created” (Frankenstein 35). He made this, he chose how to build him and the parts exactly for him to function. This is so hypocritical that he chose degarde the monster as if this is not a reflection of himself. After the creature was references his struggles victor thought “I compassionate him and sometimes felt a wish to console him; but when I looked upon him, when I saw the filthy mass that moved and talked, my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred” (Frankenstein 106). When trying to become a less judgemental/materialistic person he listens to the pain in his voice b\but when looking at him, Victor’s materialistic complex comes back into play. Wanting to justify his actions is a bold statement, because his pure shallowness resorted to not only hurt people he loved but the concept he made. The internal hatred that the creature had for himself was because of Victor not shielding him from the outside world.

Victor's mindset throughout this novel has been mood killing and overall selfish. As he was pushed to be the hero and craved that attention he turned out to be the villain, from the reader's perspective. Victor demonstrates  constant self victimizing behavior to justify his actions, deceiving lies, and the overwhelming irony of his shallowness. Corrupting the people around him, there are many interactions he has had that ended up in ungodly destruction.