"As we ascended still higher, the valley assumed a more magnificent and astonishing character. [...] But it was augmented and rendered sublime by the mighty Alps, whose white and shining pyramids and domes towered above all, as belonging to another Earth,"
- Victor Frankenstein
By declaring something to be the "sublime" doesn't it negate the power of the moment?
If the feeling of a sublime moment is a moment in which we feel small against the backdrop of the universe, declaring the moment to be sublime while it is happening, would take us out of the moment. By defining the moment as sublime, it is no longer a moment of instinct but a moment of reason. Reasoning the experience and defining our placement within the universe negates any fear imposed by the sublime.
"determined at least to listen to his tale. I was partly urged by curiosity, and compassion confirmed my resolution."
-Victor Frankenstein
Does one moment of humanity create a human?
This is the only time Victor Frankenstein shows any humanity towards his creation. Within this single moment, Victor is willing to listen to what the Creature has to say. Victor's nature as a scientist to pursue his curiosity but it is an act of humanity to be compassionate and yet despite this single moment of humanity because he cannot extend compassion to his creature beyond listening to his tale, Victor becomes the monster.
"I found my myself similar, yet at the same time strangely unlike the beings concerning whom I read, and to whose conversation I was a listener. I sympathized with, and partly understood them, but I was unformed in mind; I was dependent on none, and related to none. 'The path of my departure was free'; and there was none to lament my annihilation. My person was hideous, and my stature gigantic: what did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them."
-Victor Frankenstein's Creature
The monster has more self-awareness then Victor Frankenstein or any other character within the story and this moment of refection humanizes the monster. The self-knowing isolation from others, the questioning of ones origin, and the uncertainty of the future are all emotions and feelings that are part of the human experience. The monster did not have Frankenstein's support nor the support of any other friend or family to help him become connected to the world, but despite the isolation of his experience he still strives to connect with it. The act of seeking connection that makes the monster human.
What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate; I demand a creature of another sex, but as hideous as myself: the gratification is small, but it is all that I can receive, and it shall content me. It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another. Our lives will not be happy, but they will be harmless, and free from the misery I now feel.
-Victor Frankenstein's Creature
Misery Loves Company
This sentiment of misery loves company will not work out the way the monster thinks it will. The need to find someone to connect with is a human need but to subject someone to the same misery that is currently being experienced is a selfish act that even humans give into. This type of selfishness makes a monster out of everyone.
I could thus cheat myself into a transitory peace.
-Victor Frankenstein
When Victor was faced with having a companion that was a reflection of his actions he could not admit it to himself and spent a year in denial. Facing the prospect of deliberately creating another one, when he knows what the results will be, forces Victor to acknowledge the fact that he will never be at peace with his actions. This human moment, although not direct at his creation, is a small moment of humanity that Victor doesn't deserve because he is still actively inflicting pain on his creation.
I will revenge my injuries: if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear...
-Victor Frankenstein's Creature
Said every super villain ever.
Despite every human action or feeling that the Creature has felt or partaken in, this shift in attitude marks the Creatures decent into villainy. His conscience dismissal of trying to fit into the world creates the defined super villain that stories are used to seeing even thou Frankenstein was written for the readers to determine for themselves who is the true monster of the story.
"He may be innocent of the murder, but he has certainly a bad conscience." These words struck me. A bad conscience! yes, surely I had one.
-Victor Frankenstein
This is as far as Victor Frankenstein will go in admitting that he is a monster. It is not that he created and abandoned his Creation that bothers him, but the death of others. Yes, these deaths should bother him, but his own actions should bother him just as much. For years Victor's actions, and inactions, have caused pain to those around him that ultimately resulted in multiple deaths and his unwillingness to take responsibility for the pain he is responsible for inflicting makes him the real monster of the story.
Credits:
Created with images by Daniel Kainz - "Forest in clouds and fog" • Akshat Vats - "untitled image" • Peter Forster - "Eye of the Storm" • Tobias Tullius - "After we got up and out of our van that morning we took a little hike uphill and were presented with this foggy view." • M.T ElGassier - "Stay Away" • Federico Bottos - "untitled image"