After reading Part One of the book “Frankenstein”, I have come to wonder why Victor Frankenstein becomes afraid of his own creation. If I were to create something, whether it is art, a recipe, or anything, I’d be proud of my accomplishment, even if it didn’t come out exactly as I planned. There has to be something more than the creature’s yellow eyes ( appearance, rather) that scared him.
The book describes some reasons as to why Victor would want to create the creature. For instance, Victor strongly believed in the words of Cornelius Agrippa and other “out-dated” scientists frowned upon by his professor. He probably came to his discovery of reanimating the dead by their ideals and wanted to prove his professor wrong about their significance. Victor could have felt he could contribute to history of science by applying what he discovered that “so many men of genius” (pg 80) could not do before him. Also, Victor’s creation of the creature could also be a response to his mother’s death. Experimenting on the creature could promote him to bring his mother back to life.
Even still, with these good reasons, it does not explain why he becomes afraid of his creation. Was the creature different from what he had expected? Did he become aware or afraid of the consequences the creature could entail? Was Victor not yet ready to take on the responsibility of the creature? Was he afraid he was going to be hurt or killed? Or maybe the creature reminds him of something he didn’t like in his past that the book doesn’t (or has yet to) describe?
So, I really don’t think the creature’s appearance is the cause of Victor’s fear of him. I think there is something beyond his appearance, something deeper, that maybe Victor doesn’t even know yet.
This is an interesting question. I do think the novel provides some clues, especially in the first few paragraphs of Chapter IV. It’d be a worthwhile experiment to detect the precise moment when Frankenstein’s attitude shifts.