Is man "at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?" (104). In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein acquires the power to "give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man" (38). In Victor's eyes, this astonishing breakthrough in science should "unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation," (33) and "pour a torrent of light into our dark world" (38). However, things go awry. Horrors of murder, pain, anguish, and despair soon plague the lives of all the characters in the novel. Frankenstein's creation becomes a monster that vows "eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind" (126). Yet who is the primary cause of all this terror? Who is to blame for the innocent deaths: the creature or the creator? Although the creature has the power to exercise his will in murdering innocent people, the creator is ultimately at fault. Victor creates the monster with the wrong motives, designs him to be "hideously deformed and loathsome" (105), and does not give him the "love and fellowship" (204) every being desires and needs. .
Early in the novel, Victor's ambition earns him much recognition among his science colleagues. Advancing rapidly, Victor's imagination is "too much exalted by [his] first success to permit [him] to doubt of his ability to give life" (38) to a human being. However, his obsession for success blinds him from the possible effects and consequences of such a creation. Instead he sees only that "a new species would bless [him] as its creator and source," (39) and that "many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to [him]" (39). Selfishness takes a firm hold on Victor, and his motives become that of power. Victor has a perfect scenario drawn out in his mind of what his creation will be and do. He is so wrapped up in the possible creation and all the glory it will bring that he fails to rationalize the outcomes or weigh the consequences before he acts.
