Analysis / Frankenstein

Both Victor and his creation think of guilt as worse than victimhood."The tortures of the accused did not equal mine; she was sustained by innocence, but the fangs of remorse tore my bosom, and would not forego their hold.""Justine died; she rested; I was alive. The blood flowed freely through my veins, but a weight of despair and remorse pressed on my heart, which nothing could remove it."- Victor on Justine's trial and execution."Blasted as thou wert, my agony was still superior to thine; for the bitter sting of remorse will not cease to rankle in my wounds until death shall close them for ever.”-The Creature on Victor's death from the cold.They both view their own guilt as worse then victimhood. Quantity of emotional pain is something we can't objectively prove one way or the other, but it's basically someone who's indirectly caused deaths and also hid the truth under oath to avoid consequences which caused an innocent person to get executed and someone who's directly murdered people. If you ask them if they feel guilty about what they've done: they'll both say yes. If you ask them why they feel guilty: they'll both say a list that includes all their victims, but then ends with "made myself feel like a bad person which is obviously worse the rest of this stuff". That's a strange parallel.