Thursday, October 25, 2012

Frankenstein Paradise Lost Question 5

The last line of 284:264, Satan resigns that it is: “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”  In what ways is this statement a truth for either Victor or the Creature?

31 comments:

  1. This statement is true for the creature. He "reigns in Hell" by the way that he goes around killing Victor's friends and family. In doing this, though, he lives in a world of hatred. He has power over Victor because of the way he kills people close to him, so he is the ruler of Victor. However, if the creature leaves Victor alone and admits defeat he would be "serving in Heaven" because he would be obeying Victor, but living in peace. The creature would rather be killing Victor's family and friends, and hurting Victor by doing it, than leaving him alone and never having any contact with Victor. The creature feels the need to have power over Victor instead of being alone in the world and having no one that accepts him.

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    1. I would agree with you Mikayla because the creature doesn't serve anybody and he has very few morals. The creature is like the ruler over Victor because on page 166 the creature states "Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my creator, but I am your master;-obey!" The creature holds a power over Victor because he takes away everyone that Victor loves. In a way Victor serves but not in heaven; in hell. The creature feels it's better to reign in hell then serve in heaven because he can never be loved and accepted, so he seeks revenge on the people that take this away from him.

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    2. I agree with Mikayla because Victor does serve under the creature because he is afraid what he will do to him, therefore he obeys him. If the creature served in Heaven, he would simply be doing what others tell him to do, and he has been rejected too many times to do this.

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  2. This phrase is significant to the book because it describes how the creature acts. Even though the world may not be perfect, it is still peaceful. The creature could very easily be able to just live by himself, being a servant in Heaven, but instead he decides that it would be better to rule in hell. He does this by destroying the peace that the world has. He kills William and Elizabeth, and that results in the deaths of Justine and Victors dad. He does this all just to demonstrate his power and prove that he is in control.

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    1. I agree with Mitchell because the creature probably could've eventually found some accepting of him, but instead, he tries to take control of the situation by killing Victor's family. He could have done any number of different things, like first off, made the idea of making another creature more appealing to Victor, but instead, gives him an ultimatum saying if you don't do this, I'll make you suffer for it. This made the creature feel in control which is exactly why the creature thought it was better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven; they just both liked being in control.

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  3. This quote is significant to the novel because it can be referred to how the creature behaves. He does what he wants; tries to gain acceptance and make friends, and goes wherever he feels he needs to go. However, his treatment from villagers and Victor himself make him sad, and eventually, angry and destructive. This is why he killed William, Justine, and Elizabeth. He grew tired of being alone. In his case, reigning in hell means having control and inflicting pain if that's what's necessary, rather than serving in heaven where Victor and the villagers would treat him inappropriately.

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    1. I agree with Riley on the reasoning of his killings. The creature honestly just feels alone. He has no one and he has no one to treat him in a good way, so he resorts to only doing evil. He kills because he is angry at life and the people in it. He could possibly of not had any of these feelings, had he been treated a little better by his creator. The deaths of these people could have been prevented. He chooses to live the life of reigning in hell now, because its just a little easier for him.

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  4. This quote is significant to the novel because it can be referred to the way the creature behaves. The creature does what he wants; he moves around trying to make friends and tries to learn to be a human. He tries to make friends. Instead, he is rejected by Victor himself along with the villagers, causing him to become sad, and eventually angry and destructive. This is why he kills William, Justine and Elizabeth. He grew tired of being along, and Victor didn't do anything about it. This is his way of reigning in hell; he is in control. He is killing, which is a sin, which is why people get sent to hell. He would rather have it this way than to serve in heaven; to have Victor and the villagers treat him inappropriately.

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    1. I agree with you because the creature whatever he feels like after he is rejected by society. The creature does break the ten commandments by killing everyone Victor has ever loved.

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  5. Victor is a slave to the moral constraints of his society. From a very young age, his father taught him to stay away from the books he found most interesting. Very few of his professors believed in his pursuits and often disregarded his ideas. Victor’s intellect and curiosity was truly his sentence to hell. He had a life of peace and serenity, surrounded by those he loved. He did not know the hungers of poverty or the hatred of being an outcast. Victor could have easily neglected his passion and interest in reanimating dead tissue, however, Victor wished for power and glory. The only way he knew how to be glorified was to make a scientific discovery that would alter the human race. He could not simply serve in heaven as an outstanding and moral citizen. He wished to be the creator and play God. In doing so, he lost all that was dear to him. Left in misery and drowning in loneliness, Victor could rule in hell, but never see the light of heaven,or his family.

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    1. I agree with Micaela in that Victor chose his own fate by pursuing his academic interests. He could have found other topics to study, but persisted in researching immortal life and reanimation. By choosing those topics, he turned away from Heaven, because they were not moral. He chose Hell because he was greedy and proud, and those qualities cost him everything.

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    2. I agree with this statement and would further continue to say that Victor created the hell he is sent to, like Satan. He was the one who created the creature causing this hell he is in, so he brought it upon himself. Satan also brought Hell upon himself when he attempted to conquer Heaven.

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  6. The statement is true for Creature. Creature is in Hell because of Victor. Victor made the creature very ugly and abandoned him to be on his own. Even though creature is free to do what he pleases, he simply can not do whatever he wants. He can’t do what he wants because all of the human people reject him. They reject creature because of his looks and how big he is and all creature wants is to be loved. After Victor abandoned creature, creature thought he could easily make companions, but he was wrong. Creature makes Victors life Hell by killing his closest family members. Creature would rather live in Hell making Victors life miserable than live in a Heaven where he has no body to talk to.

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    1. I agree with Mikaela because I think that the creature is trying to make Victor's life a Hell for him as well. The creature doesn't feel like his life is fair because of the way everyone treats him just because he looks horrifying. He has no friends and no loved ones, and he wants to make Victor know what that feels like. Destroying Victor's life is the only thing the creature knows how to do.

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  7. This quote seems to relate more to the creature rather than Victor because Earth is like a type of Hell to the creature. Satan was thrown out of heaven and looked down upon by God and the angels. The creature also knows what that is like because he is rejected by all of mankind. They have different reasons for being rejected, but both are the outcast with no friends. They have no friends so in addition they have no love or social aspect in their life. Because of this their only instinct is to create fear and hate. Just like the creature said "If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear" (Pg. 148) Neither of them know what love or happiness is. The creature's only experience with love was when he was observing the DeLacey family, but in the end was rejected by them. Satan was able to feel God's love but rejected it completely, who in return, was rejected himself. Each of them are isolated and alone, and reign over their own type of Hell.

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    1. I agree that the quote relates more to the creature than Victor. Victor doesn’t know how it feels to be looked down at by a society. Victor grew up with the perfect family and the creature was abandoned. He is shunned from mankind. Satan and the creature are miserably alone in their hells. Both end up revelling in their revenge against their creators.

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  8. The phrase “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” is true for the creature in how he is living his life. The creature has been shunned multiple times from humans including his creator, Victor. He is tired of being nice to people who only to try to kill him in the end so, like Satan, the creature rebels against humanity. He goes on this revenge massacre against Victor and “reigns in Hell.” Also like Satan, the creature would rather have power over Victor and be isolated from society than be in society, but have to look from a distance. The creature would rather “reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”

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  10. This phrase is significant to the creature because it describes how how he's feeling and why he acts the way he does. The creature has been let down by so many people in his short lifetime and has been so lonely that he decides to make others suffer the way he does. Since the creature has accepted the fact that he is not good looking and no one likes him, he decides to "reign in Hell" because he has nothing to lose from his actions. This is a lot like Satan in Paradise Lost. The two both want the same outcome from the actions, they just go about it in different ways.

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    1. I agree with this. If the creature had been accepted he'd have "served in heaven" because people wouldn't judge him for the way he looks. I think he'd be happier serving in heaven, however, because he wouldn't feel the pain and vengeance he feels.

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    2. I agree with Kaitlyn. The creature has never had a positive relationship with a human. The creature knows he is a monster, and he decides to act like a monster as well. The creature decides to “reign in hell” just like Satan

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  11. The phrase "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" is very similar to a quote that the creature says, "If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!" Because Satan is forced to rule over Hell, he decides to make the best of his given situation and seek revenge against God. The same applies to the creature. As Victor and mankind abandon the creature, he vows to make Victor pay and learns to resent humans. The creature chooses to put his power to use instead of wallowing in his self-pity, much like Satan.

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  12. “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven,” is an apt quote to describe Victor’s feelings towards the end of Frankenstein. When he decided to destroy the body of the she-creature, he chose hell over heaven, and believed it was the right choice. Heaven for Victor would have been complying with the creature’s demands and creating the second creature. The creature would have stopped threatening his closest family and friends, and gone away forever. However, if Victor had chosen Heaven, he would have been forsaking mankind. A second creature might very well have been born evil, and spread ruin and destruction upon the world. Victor couldn’t risk that possible outcome, and so chose not to serve the creature’s demands. In doing so, he condemned himself to an eternal hell of torment by the creature. But, as Victor believed, choosing personal misery was the right thing to do, if it meant he could spare the human race from the threat of another monster.

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  13. This statement relates very strongly to the creature and the way his life is. He is looked at as a "satan" to humanity, so he just doesn't even try anymore. He would rather reign in hell. So he decides to go against humanity and all rather then try and make peace with them. This describes his actions and the reasons for his killings and hate for mankind. He has accepted the fact that no one likes him and treats him badly. He doesn't try because he also is aware that god is on humanities side and is the good of the world, and he is looked at as evil so he sides with Satan and reigning in hell. It is almost easier for him in a way to just be able to do his own thing on the side of evil, whether then try and do good on heavens side with god.

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  14. The creature can relate to this phrase due to his feelings caused by humanity. He only wants to be accepted by humans but they only hate him so this causeshim to hate all of humanity and walk the path to hell. The creature doesn't want to try and be a good Samaritan he just wants to make Victor feel the same way he does by killing everyone Victor loves.

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  15. This statement is true for the creature. The creature learned how to act like humans. However the creature will never be accepted or loved as one. The creatures time in the DeLacey household let him see what human life could be like. Yet every time the creature tried to interact with humans they are horrified and treat him with disgust. So the creature decides to torment Victor, his creator. The creature could leave Victor alone but instead he kills Victor’s family and friends. The creature’s hell is that he is a monster and he reigns in his hell by not only having the appearance of a monster but also acting like one too.

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  16. I agree with Kaite because, much like Satan's fall from Heaven and decent into Hell, the creature is cast away from those who he attempts to care for and who he seeks companionship. The monster's torture, however, is more of a mental Hell rather than the physical Hell of Satan. As Kaite stated above, the monster makes the best of his Hell and uses it to fuel his need for revenge, much like Satan's hatred for God and Heaven.

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  17. The creature realizes that he cannot live in the human world. He was rejected by humans and, thus, kicked out of his ideal heaven. So, he wishes to reign in his hell of seclusion by having Victor create a female creature. Like the creature, Satan realized he could not rule in Heaven, and chose to rule in Hell as opposed to just living in Heaven.

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  18. This quote is significant to the creature because it mirrors a quotation said by the creature himself: "If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear." I think this is a very important similarity to recognize between the two characters of Satan and the creature. Because Satan is cast into Hell, he decides to make the best of a bad situation and rule Hell in his own manner, while seeking revenge upon God. Very much so, the creature receives no love from anyone he seeks it from. Therefore he decides to turn his efforts upon getting the revenge of his creator Victor. Both decide to put their efforts into a more appropriate use.

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  19. This quote holds true to the creature because, as he compares himself to, he is very similar to the fallen angel in certain ways. He wanted to be a part of something, and be loved, but Victor and other people weren't giving that to him, so he decided to take drastic measures. I don't think he necessarily wanted power, rather affection and eventually, from Victor, a companion. When he realized he wouldn't get it by being kind, he decided to make Victor's life a living hell until he listened to him and fulfilled his demands. In this way, he thought it was better to "reign in hell", and by being the monster everyone expected to be, that he might get what he wanted.

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  20. I don't agree with the quote that Satan made for the Creature or for Victor. Hell isn't a pleasant place, and you don't "reign" there. You are in eternal suffering and complete isolation. Frankenstein and the creature both experience hell- like circumstances in their lives. They never truly experience heaven after the creation incident. I think Victor would rather be in hell because he would feel more comfortable with all the regret he has. He feels like he has ruined hi life and many others. The creature may also feel comfortable in hell because he has never been shown the love from anyone and he doesn't know how to accept it.

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