Frankenstein: Isolation
Jeffrey Smith
English 210
February 7, 2014
Although there are many themes in Frankenstein, the most dominant and easily seen is that of isolation which is evident all through the book. Isolation can best be described as “a state of which the person is or wants to be secluded from companions and is either abandoned or rejected from taking part of everyday society” (erikagsimon.com) or to be “quarantined” ( google dictionary). Most of the characters in this book are suffering from a state of being isolated, which results in the destruction of their lives. Not only can this theme be seen in the characters’ lives, but Mary Shelly also methodically uses it in some of her settings throughout the book.
Victor,
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He turns to the only thing that he can think of to get attention from others, mainly from his “father” or creator, Victor, treating them like he has been treated all of his life and even turning to violence. He begins by killing Victor’s younger brother. After this, he meets up with Victor and pleads for him to create a wife for him so that he will have somebody just like him who can understands what he is going through and someone who will love him. He does not want to live the remainder of his life in isolation. Victor then promises to create the monster a fellow woman and begins creating her in his laboratory then deciding against the idea of this creation. After Victor does not come through with his promise and because the monster is to be forever isolated from society as a result of his creator’s selfish ways, he goes on a rampage killing some of Victors closest loved ones including Henry Clerval and his wife, Elizabeth. Society contributed to turning the “monster” into such a ruthless villain when all he truly wanted was love and compassion his entire life and not have to live isolated from …show more content…
He secludes himself from the entire outside world dedicating himself to his studies. The Frankenstein family try to contact him and write letters; however, he is so interested in his studies he chooses to ignore them. He creates a “masterpiece” which he works on for approximately two years and once complete, runs in fear. From this point forward he fears taking any credit towards being the creator of such a creature. He then decides to seclude himself even more from family and
As Frankenstein is enroute to his pursuit of gaining more knowledge, he states, “I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed” (Shelley 41). Frankenstein’s decision in allowing his intellectual ambitions to overpower everything else in his life leads him to be blinded to the dangers of creating life. He isolates himself from his society when creating the monster, letting himself be immersed in his creation while being driven by his passions, allowing nobody to be near him. The fact that he allows this creation of a monster to consume his total being reveals how blinded he is to the immorality of stepping outside the boundaries of science and defying nature. His goal in striving to achieve what wants to in placing man over nature makes him lose his sense of self as all he is focused on is the final product of his creation. He starts to realize his own faults as after he has created the monster, he becomes very ill and states, “The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him” (48). His impulsive decision to make the monster leads him to abhorring it as it does not turn out to be what he has expected. Because he chooses to isolate himself in creating the
Much like Walton, Frankenstein was alone in his childhood because he was an only child. Over time he acquires a fascination for science and begins to educate himself. “I was, to a great degree, self-taught with regard to my favorite studies. My father was not scientific, and I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness, added to a student’s thirst for knowledge” (Shelley 38). Frankenstein leaves his family at an early age to further his education. He has little to no contact with his family during this time, unless it’s by his terms. Frankenstein buries himself in his studies causing him to have few friends. By learning about his ways, it is obvious that he chose a life of solitude on his own. Though Frankenstein is comfortable being by himself, he does have one close friend, Clerval. This friendship is like the relationship Frankenstein has with his family, as it’s only a relationship when he wants it to be one. Even then, Frankenstein doesn’t confide in Clerval about the troubles he’s having with his experiment. Frankenstein chose to set his laboratory “in a solitary chamber, or rather cell, at the top of the house” (Shelley 52) in Ingolstadt. Due to the fact of his scientific experiments he believes it’s best for him to be alone in this time, even though he hasn’t seen his family in a while. Even with him choosing to be isolated, he insists that the reason he is isolated is because of the Creature. “I must
As he goes off to college, interested in the science behind life and death, he ends up going his own way and attempts to create a living being. Victor “had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body” (Shelley 43). The being Victor has created does not by any means sit well with him. As victor is away from his family and for six years, he is neglectful to them, which only adds to his sorrow and misery. Victor’s isolation is brought upon him because of himself, however his creation, or “the monster”, is isolated from any connections with humans against his will. To start out, the monster would have had Victor there with him, but Victor is ashamed of what he has created, and abandons the monster. The monster is a very hideous being, which sadly is a contributing factor to his isolation. With nobody to talk to at any time, naturally this will be condescending and frustrating. Although the monster is able to
The monster tells Frankenstein of the wretchedness of the world and how it was not meant for a being such as himself. At the end of his insightful tale the creature demands a companion of the same hideous features but of the opposite gender to become his. Victor only has the choice to make the monster or suffer a lifetime of horror his creation would bring upon him. Which the creator ultimately agrees to make the female monster to save the lives of his family but gains a conscious that fills with guilt of all the destruction he has created and creating. When the monster comes to collect the female he tears her apart and the monster vows to destroy all Victor holds dear. The monster’s emotional sense is consumed with rage against Victor, murdering Frankenstein’s best friend. Though when the monster’s framing ways do not work to lead to Victor being executed, he then murders Frankenstein’s wife on their wedding night. This tragedy is the last for Victor’s father who becomes ill with grief and quickly passes within a few days, leaving Victor with nothing but his own regret. Shelley doesn’t give the audience the monsters side of the story but hints that the remainder of his journey consisted of being a shadow to that of his creator. It is at the graves of the Frankenstein family when the creature makes an appearance in the solemn and
Shelley is very good at using the settings in this novel to evoke emotions from the reader. Whilst some of these settings are named areas, there are also some which include mere words that create a depiction of Frankenstein’s emotions and the seriousness of the current happenings. The significance of a setting is very important in a novel because, ‘Setting is the time and place where a scene occurs. It can help set the mood, influence the way characters behave, affect the dialog, foreshadow events, invoke an emotional response, reflect the society in which the characters live, and sometimes even plays a part in the story. It can also be a critical element in nonfiction
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main theme revolves around the internal and external consequences of being isolated from others. Being isolated from the world could result in a character losing his/her mental state and eventually causing harm to themselves or others. Because both Victor Frankenstein and the creature are isolated from family and society, they experienced depression, prejudice, and revenge.
Mary W. Shelly’s classic book, Frankenstein, was written in the early nineteenth century. The setting that is taken place within the story has multiple locations. Amongst these multiple locations are Switzerland, Geneva, the home of Dr. Frankenstein, unknown villages/cottages, and the North Pole which was the exposition of the story to begin with. The style of the classic, Frankenstein, has a different style of writing due to not being written in the proper chronological nature. When Frankenstein, is adapted to motion picture film, the film focuses on the horror of Frankenstein’s monster, however the book is really about romanticism. Stephen Gould intertwines his opinion on the book Frankenstein. His opinion is
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main theme of the story was isolation. Both internal and external consequences were the cause of being isolated from society. Frankenstein began to feel depressed after the creation of the monster and decided to isolate himself from his friends and family. Frankenstein kept his creation a secret from everyone because he was afraid of the consequences. Ironically, Frankenstein was the main problem for all of his sufferings. He thought that he could keep everyone safe if he were to not tell them about the monster, however, everyone died because he wanted to keep everyone from the truth. The creature also suffered many consequences from being isolated. He wanted to be part of a family, and feel
After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster's solitude, the monster is overcome with suffering and sadness. These feelings affected his state of mind and caused him to do wrong things. He did not deserve to see his one and only mate be destroyed.
To begin, the monster longed for human connection so badly, he even begged Victor to create his wife: “You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This you alone can do, and I demand it of you as my right which you must not refuse to concede,” (174). In this quote, the monster asks Victor to make him a companion, which Victor blatantly denies. This eventually leads to
Victor’s loneliness leaves him devoid of purpose and determination, a shell of a human whose essence has been entirely obliterated. Even so, if Victor had not created this unnecessary monster, his family and friends would not have been strangled by his creation. By creating this wretched being, Victor fabricates his own downfall and forces his own seclusion in Frankenstein.
Frankenstein is unable to find a balance between his ego and Id. He is driven by his Id and gets caught up in his work, meanwhile losing himself in the process. Eventually his Id is what leads to his loneliness. He becomes detached from his family and friends and gives into his desires. Instead of appreciating what he has he gives into what Freud would call his pleasure principle. This principle wants to please every impulse as soon as possible without regard to
An idea becomes a vision, the vision develops a plan, and this plan becomes an ambition. Unfortunately for Victor Frankenstein, his ambitions and accomplishments drowned him in sorrow from the result of many unfortunate events. These events caused Victors family and his creation to suffer. Rejection and isolation are two of the most vital themes in which many dreadful consequences derive from. Victor isolates himself from his family, friends, and meant-to-be wife. His ambitions are what isolate him and brought to life a creature whose suffering was unfairly conveyed into his life. The creature is isolated by everyone including his creator. He had no choice, unlike Victor. Finally, as the story starts to change, the creature begins to take control of the situation. It is now Victor being isolated by the creature as a form of revenge. All the events and misfortunes encountered in Frankenstein have been linked to one another as a chain of actions and reactions. Of course the first action and link in the chain is started by Victor Frankenstein.
He is unfamiliar and unwanted with no one to guide him through. The monster came into the world and right away rejected by his creator, this implanted that he is only a disappointment. The monster commits many crimes, for the rejection of people, because there was no reason for people to reject him other than his appearance. He was only accepted, by a man that couldn't even see; this shows how humans are shallow beings. The monster wants revenge, and mostly on Victor, for he isolated him, he will isolate Victor as well. And he is very successful as he murder Victors loved
He had asked Victor to create him another monster as a companion and if he doesn’t keep his promise, then he will be miserable. When Victor goes to England with the intention of creating this promised monster, his friend Henry follows him. After several months, Victor destroys the half created creature and this upsets the monster very much so because he wants this companion. When he kills Henry, the monster distinctly planned it so that Victor would be blamed for the murder. Through all this confusion on who killed Henry, Victor knew all along that the monster did it. At this point, Victor knew that he must return to Geneva to protect his family whom he loved very much (Shelley 181). Since this monster killed Henry, Victor knew that his family was now is in danger. The monster is very happy that Victor is having to suffer because, Victor is now feeling the loneliness that he feels all the time. Though the monster’s character is not evil, the pain he feels is what he wants his creator to feel. His revenge only increases throughout the book because he is only longing for a fellow companion that Victor can only give him, but yet he is choosing not to create it. The anger that is within the monster is only growing and this is increasing the possibilities of him hurting more