But even then, he does not fully repent. He still calls the creature a “demon.” He never once says: I am sorry. In the 21st century, Victor has become the archetype for a very modern anxiety. He is the AI researcher who doesn’t consider alignment. The genetic engineer who edits embryos without understanding side effects. The social media founder who builds an algorithm and then watches it corrode democracy.
Then comes the moment of truth. When the creature opens its yellow eyes, Victor is horrified—not by the monster’s nature, but by its appearance . He flees. Victor’s greatest transgression is not creating life. It is refusing to nurture it. He abandons his “child” instantly, leaving it to stumble alone into a hostile world.
In the popular imagination, “Frankenstein” is the green-skinned monster with bolts in his neck. But the true monster—and the far more complex figure—is the man who gave the creature life: . Victor Frankenstein
“I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.”
Yet his fatal flaw is not ambition—it is cowardice . Again and again, he chooses silence over confession. When his younger brother William is murdered by the creature, Victor knows the truth but says nothing. When family friend Justine is executed for the crime, he lets her die. But even then, he does not fully repent
He tells himself he would not be believed. But the reader knows: Victor is protecting his reputation more than his family. The novel’s second half becomes a Gothic chase across Europe. After the creature murders Victor’s bride Elizabeth on their wedding night, Victor vows revenge. He pursues his creation to the Arctic, where he is rescued by Captain Walton—to whom he tells his entire story.
“I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.” He is the AI researcher who doesn’t consider alignment
How a brilliant, arrogant dreamer became literature’s most enduring cautionary tale