Loss of Goodness

“She was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair.”

-p 186

And with Elizabeth’s death ultimately comes the death of benevolence. One of my group’s themes is that of benevolence. Victor and his creation both have encountered several people who displayed benevolence toward them. In the end, however, these people’s benevolence always disappeared. In the monster’s experience, the family’s benevolence dissipated with the monster’s revealing of himself. In Victor’s case, however, benevolence disappears from his life. In each case, as benevolence disappears from their life, the monster and Victor choose to decrease their own benevolence. It seems that Victor’s and the monster’s benevolent feelings only originated from others’ benevolence. This differs from Henry, Elizabeth, and Victor’s father, whose benevolence came from their own kindness. Victor and the monster only mirrored benevolence, yet their internal intentions are not rooted in good.