Frankenstein as Anti-Hero Character Essay

SUCI HANIFAHLITERARY CRITICISM IIEDRIA SANDIKA/MARLIZA YENI8 MAY 2013Frankenstein as Anti Hero CharacterA women who wrote Frankenstein named, Mary Shelley, she was born terrific 30, 1797, in London, England. Mary Shelley came from a rich literary heritage. She was the daughter of William Godwin, a political theorist, novelist, and publisher. Her ideas to write Frankenstein cameon summer of 1816, Mary and his brother Percy visited the poet Lord Byron at his villa beside Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Stormy weather finally forced them exit indoors, while the other guests translate a volume of ghost stories. So t here(predicate), Marys story became Frankenstein when she was only 19 years old.Frankenstein was make in 1818, when Mary was 21, and became a huge success. Many people sceptical that a 19-year-old woman could have written such(prenominal) a repulsion story.The story starts with the letter of a sailor who had trip to North Pole, in the letter to his baby he was talking roug h a sunrise(prenominal) friend, who was strange, calm, but had complicated and mysterious manner story behind. The mans name was captain Frankenstein, skipper told him all of his life story, about his talented childishness, his family, Elizabeth, his best friend Hendry Clerval who taught him about danger and adventure. maestro was a graphic student, he loves science, he intends to now about everything, nature,universe , and excessively the living puppet. And his curiousity about human, drove him into his big achievement in his entire of life, his passion, desire, and mind, conduct him to bring out a human or worse, we can say it a terrific moster.The figure of Victor Frankenstein is very interesting to be analyzed. Mary created him with fearful personality, which can be categorized as Heros singularity but finished his achievement and fatal flaw, that personality is destroyed by himself, in case here described as anti- protagonist. Focus of abbreviation is Victors spiritization in this story, because he passed so many an(prenominal) events with up and downs untill finally he found the way to make his dreaming come genuine, to research about human and made a human-like. So, the side by side(p) chapter allow for discuss especially anti hero, and will extract the evidences andthe codes that put Victor as a Anti-hero.A hero in literary work is a character which has a special power, admirable traits, and good achievement (Begley 1). The power that a hero has must be used for the justice, the human, for the country and the world, a hero must have a special power, physically or spiritually. The action from a hero will impress the people around, being admirer because of their admirable traits, kind hearted, wide-cut of spirit, brave and honest. An absolute example of a hero is Captain America, who make out for his country and human, or Doraemon who has a special ability to use a sophisticated tools to help Nobita, and nobody have it, that spe cial pocket. On the contrary, Anti-hero is standardized with the hero, but he has a fatal flaw that lead him and his night club into misery. Anti heroes usually intuition common values and are inefficient to commit themselves to any ideals. In his writing, Begley adds that anti hero will has about of the personality flaws and ultimate fortune traditionally assigned to villains but beside that alike has enough heroic qualities or intention to gain the sympathy of readers, anti hero can be awkward, passive, or pitiful.Victor in general, apparently has Heros traits. Victor came from a noble family, rich, and high take to be in his society, his father had filled several public situations and positions with honour and reputation. He was a civilized person, his parent loved him so much, he was saving up with a big fullfilment, tenderness and deep conciousness of his parent toward him. He received a lesson of patience, charity, and self-control, he really has a beautifull childhood , as he told to the sailor No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself (Shelly 29). That was several proves that Victor being rise and growth willingly.In Frankenstein, Victor was a round character, round character is a complex character and increases in complexity doneout the story, and the opposite of flat character (Gerald. mental lexicon of Narratology). Because if we identify the character of Victor start from his happy childhood, university environment, but since he created the human-like, the complexity of his life getting worse and worse. He tried to try and beated down the monster toreconcile his mistake, and went back to his hometown to safe his family but ironically he couldnt.The position of Victor as the anti hero is dance orchestra in the blurring line between hero and villain (Begley 2), but through the actions and the way he thinks the reader can judge or induce their opinion about this tragic character. Looking for the clue and action of th e character, ground on the proairetic code by Roland Barthes, which is applies to any action that implies a yet narrative action of Victor in general, we may look the ii bigest act of him The first when he ran away after staring at the monster. Run here means that he tried to free up his regret feeling, hide his fearness. And the second when Victor decide to chase the monster, chasing here absolutely as the revenge, and retaliation for his sinful feeling.The first magazine when Victor find his misery was when his mother died, all this time his mother such an angel to him, but when she died, he seemed like to lose his life, and Elizabeth is the only woman that he loved. When he study in University, he met with Professor M. Krempe and M. Waldman who provided and animate him to start his research, without permission from the preofessor, Victor secretly started to create a human, in his a recrudescement which had changed into private laboratory. One by one the various keys were to uched, and toy his b rightfulness brain, and soul, Victor successfully made up his achievement. Till this part we can say he had reach his purpose, but in position after he stared at his own creature, what was become his dream, was exactly right destroy in a few seconds. As it shown in Victors mind when he finished his creature I matte the bitterness of disappointment, dreams that had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now become a hell to me, and the change was so rapid, the overthrow so complete (Shelley 50). Thisis prove that he was so shake to the thing that he had created, it is not satisfy his sacrifice that he had make for a very long time, but just end up with a horrible creature in front of him.The pitiful life of Victor could be also the evidence that bring him to anti hero, as the characteristic of anti hero, Victor has some of it. He typically distrust conventional values, he thinks and acts in the outsideline of normal people, he likes the diff erent things, just like how much he loves his gods fantacy Cornelious Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, Paracelsus. When I read Frankenstein, it makes a serious catharsis, the emotion of the reader, and how the sympathy feeling suddenly come forth when Victor met his fatal flaw. The last clue is the death of Victors family, started with his youngest brother who had been killed by the monster, then his best friend Hendry, his lovely married woman Elizabeth, and the last was his father. Beside that, the result of his horrible creatures revenge also cause an innocent woman had been punished. This is the biggest fatal flaw that he made, the creature that he created, gave soul, had destroyed and drown himself, his admirable trait was useless, his mind, knowledge, power, instead led him to a tragic end of his life and cause the mental conflict. The teach af Victor after he had drown was so pathetic, as Walton explained to his sister in the letter His limbs was nearly frozen, and his body drea dfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. I never saw a man in so wretched a condition (Frankenstein, P. 16)As far as I concern about Victor Frankenstein position in the story, that is true that he was reaching his achivement which become his purpose of studying and researching, but through his human creation, the monster had caused him in the middle line of hero or anti hero. In case here, based on the evidences that I already explain above, Victor was not a Villain. Because Villain regarded as opponent and never change his mind or his goal, but Victor nowadays changed his mind and felt scare at the very first time he saw his living creatures eyes. Moreover, when he demoralise by the death of the people that he loves, had been murdered by the monster, he changed his mind, refused to make another monster and decided to fight back. This is what anti hero did, after the fatal flaw, depressed, big loses in his life, then ends up ironically with the sadness and sorrow.ReferencesWilf red, Guerrin. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York. Oxford University Press. 1999 Begley, Louis. Defenition of Anti- Hero. 2000Prince, Gerald. Dictionary of Narratology. Accessed on 7 May 2013 Module on Barthes On the Five Code. Accessed on 7 May 2013 The Adaptation from theNational Library of Medicine.Frankenstein Penetrating the Secrets of personality Retrieved from websites www.duluth.lib.mn.us