Surprise!

Although many argue Victor, the creator, is at fault for all the deaths of his family members, it seems that a lot of people seem to overlook the fact that the wretch was the one who murdered these innocent people. Yes, Victor is his creator and if he had only given the love and care to this once naive being, he would be different, but one cannot place all the blame on this one person. It is like saying a parent is responsible for all the actions of her son. Are his parents truly at fault for everything he does? No, not everything because the son has a mind of his own; he has a choice to make in every situation he is in.

The wretch is guilty of the murder of Victor’s youngest brother. The monster kills this pristine child who is not at fault for anything that has happened to him. Many believe that he slaughtered the boy by accident, however, the creature says, “I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph; clapping my hands, I exclaimed, ‘I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable ; this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him” (144). He clapped his hands, indicating his happiness and triumph. He killed this little boy not out of ignorance, but intent of pain. He knew what he was doing. The wretch had a choice to kill William.

At the end of this novel, the wretch gives a speech to Walton telling him how he murdered Victor’s friend. He says, “Think you that the groans of Clerval were music to my ears? My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy; and when wretched by misery to vice and hatred it did not endure the violence of the change, without torture such as you cannot even imagine” (222). The monster murdered Henry and yet he is saying he could barely stand to do so. If he did not want to commit the act, then why did he do it? It is just so hard to imagine that he had murder someone. No one told this beast to go on killing sprees. Is this really the innocent being that everyone sees him to have been? It seems the blood on his hands beg the differ. In fact he could have just looked for a life of loneliness or solitude, but he chose this life of carnage.

There is not only a responsibility of a parent to care for his child, which Victor fails to do, but there responsibility of an individual. The wretch is a creature of the world, even though he was not brought out naturally and was not treated right; he did not have to murder anyone. No one was forcing him to kill Elizabeth, Henry, or William. He chose this path in life. Victor could have possibly made a difference in this creature’s life, but what’s done is done. Victor could not change his role in the wretch’s life, it was too late. However, the wretch could have selected a different way of carrying out his revenge. He is to blame for all the deaths in this gothic novel.

-Kathleen :)