Bloom claims that Victor was a "moral idiot" (Bloom) when he shirked his responsibilities. Victor's actions reveal that he is a completely selfish individual, incapable of being aware of anyone else's existence. The monster undergoes a radical transformation in the novel, from a being with no sense to a being completely aware of himself. He is more aware of himself than Victor could ever be and this allows the reader to identify with him on a more personal level. It is his sense of self that makes him human and Victor's selfishness that makes him seem inhuman. The irony is what brings Bloom back to the Romantic mythology of self. Bloom successfully proves his points in this essay. He could have used more quotations from the text itself but the essay is strong enough without them. Bloom's examination of the novel in the broader spectrum of the Romantic Movement is interesting and compelling. When we look at the novel this way, we have a greater sense of what Shelley attempted to convey in the novel. While Victor did not set out to do anything bad or create anything evil, he did and evil became of every effort he put forth. Bloom compares this to Satan in Milton's nature will allow" (Shelley 38), we know that something has gone terribly wrong. Victor becomes consumed in his own dream and sadly, does not stop to think of the unintended consequences. For this reason, Bloom points out that it is fitting that the monster would survive Victor. He does so because he is the one that "possesses character" (Bloom), according to Bloom. This sense of self is something that Victor never enjoyed and had he experienced it, his life might have turned out completely different and with a much happier ending.
Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. "An Excerpt From a Study of Frankenstein: or, The New Prometheus." Partisan

Review. XXXII. 4. 1965.

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. The English Poems of John Milton. London: Oxford University

Press. 1926.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Bantam Books. 1981.