Dejah Havard
ENG 160W
9/30/18
Dreams Rough Draft
The dreams that are created are usually based on something that one takes an interest to when growing up. Whether it be a hobby or educational dream, a person typically wants to make sure that their dreams are met. Dreams can become an obsession when you spend too much time attempting to figure out how to accomplish the said dream. Typically, people become obsessed with their long-term dreams because they create a path that you can follow to do something that you want. For example, may people discover what jobs they would like to have when they are in high school. This becomes their dream job and they base their next decisions on what would get them closer to meeting that dream. Picking out a college, getting internships, doing research on what the job entails etc. This is a form of healthy obsession. A person is concerned with what steps they must take to become the thing they want to be but, they do not let it take over their lives. They are aware that other short and long-term dreams can be created along with still striving for the job dream. When the dream begins to be the only thing a person is concerned about is when it gets dangerous. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the two main characters display a growing obsession for their dreams. The balance between their dreams and reality is a challenge throughout the novel.
In the case of Victor Frankenstein, his original obsession came from the discovery of lightning (Vol I.23-24). This is when he knew he wanted to study this topic in when he was to attend Ingolstadt in four years. For four years he studied very old versions of natural sciences, so he knew about the ability to conjure up the dead (Vol I. 23) but he wasn’t sure how possible it was until he met Krempe. Professor Krempe seemed to encourage Victor to push the laws of natural philosophy to its limits. He convinced Victor that his study of alchemists was “a burden to his memory with exploded systems and useless names” (Vol I. 27). This made victor go all out into the natural science and allow his life to be revolve around it. He never visited home, forgot about the people who cared about him. In chapter three Victor says, “in other studies you go as far as other have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in a scientific pursuit there is a continual food for discovery and wonder” (Vol I. 30). This mindset that he has created for his-self caused him to create an excuse to continue studying the unknown, creating things that the ones before his would never dare. This obsession with not only the study of natural sciences and education but, an obsession of not understanding when enough is enough. That caused him to create a life that took after him regarding the ability to balance a dream.
Once Victor created the monster, he came back to reality and realized that he had indeed created a monster. After an unfortunate first encounter with the monster he was then sent out into the world by himself to only discover that he was an abomination (Vol II. 91). His obsession then became known, he wanted to be able to fit in with humans. The monster never displayed any healthy obsession because he was the cause of an unhealthy obsession, though he taught himself many things when learning how to adjust into the real world, he was never able to fully grasp what was appropriate and wat was not. For several months, the monster studied a family that he found while wondering in the woods (Vol II. 73). Though he learned many new and useful things, the monster began to take a liking to the family he was stalking and wanted to be a part of their lives. This backfired when he was chased away by the children of the old man (Vol II. 94-95). Though the monster should have received a notion that humans will not accept him for who he is, he believed that he was disliked because as humans we are taught to fear the unknown. With the monsters new found ability to problem solve, he decided that he would kidnap a young child and raise it to not be aware of that fear (Vol II. 100). Being able to kidnap a child to make it his friend would be deemed impossible to any other person but, the monster would have the same mindset as victor. He would believe that any untried option would be a good option until proven otherwise. The child that he chose to take was the son of his creator, Frankenstein, and out of anger the monster kills the boy and decides to go see Victor (Vol II. 100-101). When the altercation that happens between the monster and Victor, as the reader, a similar obsession that the two have is made known. They both are very obsessed with each other.
All of volume III in the book is about one character wanting to kill the other therefor ending this cycle of obsessions that they have. This pathological longing to be able to kill the other living being showed just how much they were affected by each other. The monster did not have any family that wanted him but, Victors fiancée was concerned about their relationship because victor was gone for over two years. He forgot about the important things like fulfilling his mother’s dying wish of marring his cousin, Elizabeth. Elizabeth assumed that because Victor was always gone and no longer seemed happy that he no longer wanted to marry her (Vol III. 134). Though this would be the logical thing to think, Victors real problem was his obsession with this monster that he created and now wants dead. He allowed the monster to control his life and he lost a lot of people and things that he cared about because of it (Vol III. 139). What really makes the whole obsession pathological is that even on his death bed, he informs Walton of where the monster was and wants him to kill it (Vol III.157). Though he has informed Walton about all the things that he went through and lost trying to kill the monster he still allows it to take over his final thoughts, creating him to not only be a hypocrite but also another victim of the monster.
