Hatred and Pain in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Essay Example

In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the thematic relationship of hatred and pain is portrayed as an endless cycle that only leads to consequential destruction through differing views of justice. The foil-like relationship between Victor and his creature suggests that we humans tend to be drawn to act in the name of revenge that we in of ourselves deem to be justice. Throughout the novel, salient principles were passed along by both Victor and his creature, in which the Creature had attempted to capture his revenge for Victor bringing him into a world lacking of altruism, leaving him lonely and subject to human hate while Victor had attempted to capture his revenge for the Creature had killed the many that were close to him in order to propagate how Victor would feel in his position, leading Victor on a journey of hatred and the seeking of justice. A complex paradox can be seen from this cycle of hatred, in which if there is an ideal for justice, there is an ideal for revenge; then that same justice will breed only more revenge and trigger a cycle of hatred. Thus, through the conflicting relationship between those that hold their own sense and perception of justice, pain comes with hatred following it as a result, leading to a path of evident cyclic revenge.

Pain and the evolution of hatred can be produced through negative experiences throughout one’s life, and the experiences that they undergo may shape an ideological hatred or resentment towards a particular conception. Near the beginning of the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley had incorporated the theme of hatred through the interaction of Victor Frankenstein and his creature in the mountains. “‘I expected this reception,’ said the daemon. ‘All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things!’' (Shelley, 83) In this quote, the Creature understands the feeling of the hatred of man being directed towards him given the fact that he knew humans only viewed him for his physical appearance and not for who he truly was, hence, the bias against the Creature itself caused pain and conditions for hatred to develop. Many of the experiences that Frankenstein’s creature had experienced with humans had been negative and destabilizing forces that produced anger and resentment for him, thus explaining his familiarity with man hating the wretched. Earlier on in the novel, Victor had crafted his perspective towards the Creature after its first act of vengeance: “When I reflected on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation. I would have made a pilgrimage to the highest peak of the Andes, could I when there have precipitated him to their base.” (Shelley, 76) This reflects the hatred that had been created from the pain Victor experienced when the Creature murdered Justine and William and it can be said the hatred of one man lead to the hatred of another. The Creature’s sheer anger towards his creator had prompted him to murder one of his creator’s closest allies (loved ones) in an attempt to produce the same feeling of loneliness he felt in nature, away from humans. Hatred is a response to the pain that certain situations create, and pain is caused by this hatred, and thus this cycle continues endlessly.

Pain and hatred can be relative: differing perspectives have a distinct sense of hatred towards a particular concept because they have experienced relative forms of pain. An example of this core principle occurring within the novel Frankenstein is the perspective of the Creature when he had met the Delacey family after learning how to survive in the wilderness without a nurturing force in his life, “For the first time the feelings of revenge and hatred filled my bosom, and I did not strive to control them, but allowing myself to be borne away by the stream, I bent my mind towards injury and death” (Shelley 119). Because of the Creature’s appearance, the Delacey family had rejected him, which was fundamental to the idea of hatred within the Creature as from the fond feelings that he had made toward the Delacey family while spectating them had turned into feelings of anger towards himself, humanity, and his cursed creator. With this flow of anger and pessimistic feelings, the Creature’s hatred towards man and his creator had been personal to him and was sculpted towards the experiences only he had. Another perspective that shares the same case and intertwines with the hatred of another is through Victor’s fear coming to fruition as it is shown through him saying, “The prospect did not move me to fear; yet when I thought of my beloved Elizabeth, of her tears and endless sorrow, when she should find her lover so barbarously snatched from her, tears… I resolved not to fall before my enemy without a bitter struggle” (Shelley, 144). This fear that Victor had with his fiancé, Elizabeth, was created since he knows that the Creature is pessimistic of the fact that he is lonely (no wife was created for him) and the knowledge of what the Creature said: “I will be with you on your wedding-night” (Shelley, 143) , whereby the Creature’s hatred had interjected the feelings of another. Victor’s feelings will eventually plunge into darkness and hatred when the Creature murders his Elizabeth, therefore creating another outlet of hatred for one and an alleviation of pain for the other. This very concept encompasses what it means for hatred and pain to be a never ending cycle because pain and hatred are thus interdependent, and when pain comes around, hatred must follow; when hatred comes around, pain must follow. 

The never ending cycle of hatred throughout humanity is displayed by the idea that an act of revenge by one that seems to bring peace and justice to their distressed and destabilized mind, will cause pain and sorrow to another, followed by a consequential feeling of hatred and act of revenge. This idea can be captured when the Creature reaches his perspective of justice, “The laughter died away; when a well-known and abhorred voice, apparently close to my ear, addressed me in an audible whisper—’I am satisfied: miserable wretch! you have determined to live, and I am satisfied’” (Shelley, 172). From the Creature’s perspective, his distressed and hatred-filled mind had been satisfied from killing Victor’s family; for his plan of revenge had come to fruition and he had seeked justice for himself. This may end one’s hatred for a time, however, Victor’s hatred grows towards the Creature, and thus recreates the cycle that originally started with the Creature. The Creature's pain and sorrow ends when he causes his ‘cursed’ creator the same level of feeling, in which the Creature achieves and obtains his idea of justice that he had wanted for so long: to make his Creator feel as he felt (lonely, sorrowful, and full of pain). From Victor’s perspective, it was shown that: “I was hurried away by fury; revenge alone endowed me with strength and composure; it molded my feelings and allowed me to be calculating and calm at periods when otherwise delirium or death would have been my portion” (Shelley, 171). In which Victor, for how sorrowful he became, was encapsulated by ideas of revenge backed by his additional feelings of hatred. Revenge, in of itself, and the seeking of personal justice was the driving principle that allowed Victor to go to such heights to try and slay the ‘abomination’ that he had created. Hence, due to these differing perspectives of justice, pain and suffering had been afflicted to both sides; both Victor and the Creature had strived to achieve their own way of justice against each other. These conflicting paths of justice lead to a great deal of pain and sorrow that turned into a strong sense of hatred, as both Victor and the Creature dragged each other’s lives into darkness and treachery. 

Thus, the complex nature of the relationship between Victor and the Creature that can be defined as foil-like created the thematic element for a cycle of hatred. The contrasts in both of their characters add to the development of their contradicting ideas of justice for each other which consequently lead to the idea of miscommunication between the two; where one interprets the actions of another and decides to act on their interpretation of the others action. This cycle of hatred is synthesized when pain and sorrow are bred into the mind of one by the actions of another. This pain and sorrow can thus develop into hatred and a sense of vengeance needing to take place in the name of justice in of itself, this act of justice towards another can bring futility for a time, however, this act may start the cycle all over again: where more pain is born.