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An Essay On Child Abuse
The role of environment in child personality development
An Essay On Child Abuse
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Throughout history, many have debated whether an individual's behavior is a result of DNA inheritance or developed through the environment they have grown to experience. One side believes that an individual inherits their behavior through nature which is DNA just like how it determines the child’s eye color, type of hair and the possibility of diseases. The other side argued behavior is developed through the environment in which they have experienced through the years. John Locke explains that at birth, a child is born with a blank slate and as they grow their mind is filled with experiences. The question arises whether the creatures’ horrendous behavior was a result being born a monster or his experience of being abandoned constantly. This …show more content…
Parenting can be a tough job and not everyone is fit for the position which can result in abusing the child emotionally and sometimes even physically. As for Victor Frankenstein, his initial response to his child was out of the ordinary. His screams of horror terrified the creature instantly as he was confused what he was born into. Normally, children are welcomed into the world with tears of joy and happiness because the parents are glad to continue onto their life with a small human being. Whereas Victor neglected his creation and wanting nothing to do with the creature. His response to the creature was not to care for it with joy but rather abandoned the apartment along with the creature. The creature even goes out of his way, struggling to walk like a one year old child seeking for his parent. When he stumbles upon him, Victor makes it clear he does not want to see the creature ever again in his life. Due to this, the creature becomes evil resulted from the constant neglect that Victor imposed on him, emotionally abusing him during his first years of life on this universe. Victims of those who spent their childhood being neglected by their parents causes “long-term difficulties with behaviour and mental health development,” which was definitely seen in his change of behavior and resorting to horrendous acts (Odhayani). Since Victor …show more content…
When the creature left the city of Ingolstadt and the surrounded villages, he decided to live in the forest where he is isolated from the outside world. Living in the forest did not have benefits of survival as there was insufficient amount of foods and shelter. His only way of surviving was by seeking shelter in a hovel outside of home and stealing food from them without noticing him. Soon he realized the family had struggled financially and feels terrible for stealing food so he decided to gather resources and even does chores. These actions were done from kindness of his heart but never wanted to reveal himself to this family. The De Lacey family became an important figure to the creature because of the endless love and care they had for each other which he hoped to receive in the future. Surrounded by family that became a positive impact, despite their daily struggles, the creature felt “sensations of a peculiar and over powering nature; they were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never experienced before,” and found peace and happiness from being surrounded with this family (Shelley 114). From this family, he learns how to speak and read since he previously had struggled with sensations of emotion and physical features such as to walk. The creature overhears that the family
Moreover, the Monster learns history and social systems from Felix’s instructions to Safie, and becomes a rational, deep thinking being. All these actions of the Monster apparently show that nurture outweighs the nature of the Monster. Also, the story of the De Lacey family draws the significance of how nurturing determines one’s personality and characteristics. “The patriarchal lives of my protectors caused these impressions to take a firm hold on my mind; perhaps, if my first introduction to humanity had been made by a young soldier, burning for glory and slaughter, I should have been imbued with different sensations.
Every parent has their own opinion on the best way to raise a child. Victor Frankenstein, however is a perfect example on how not to raise a child. Unlike Victor’s parents, he was not a good caretaker of the creature that he created. Victor’s parents were compassionate people not only to their children but to the poor and the rest of their family as well. Victor can recall his childhood as being grateful for what he had and for the way his parents treated others. Victor's monster on the other hand, would not describe his first months of being alive as anything close to happy. Not only was victor fortunate enough to have had such caring parents, he also had his best friend Clerval and his adopted sister, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was there to comfort
... was not in the creatures nature to act how he acted. For example on chapter 16 The creature retells how he saved a girl but got shot for helping another human being he states “I rushed from my hiding-place and with extreme labour, from the force of the current, saved her and dragged her to shore.” This is important since this is proof that the monster was born with good emotions like everyone else but only developed his hatred because of neglect from his creator and being shunned by mankind. Another quote would be on the same chapter he says “ Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind”. This proves that the creature has faced pain throughout his life and when he tries to be nice faces pain anyways. Therefore due to the many examples provided above one can conclude that nurture indeed influenced the creature.
At first, Victor views his monster as a beautiful creation but later when he first lays eyes on the monster he starts to fear and rejects the monster and no longer took interest in the monster. Frankenstein pays no attention to the Monster what so ever, and the Monster becomes jealous and angry at his creator. The Monster starts to take action and starts to go crazy/ berserk and later on in the novel begins to kill Victor’s family. The Monster kills Victor’s little brother William out of jealousy and confusion. The quote on page 58 states,” William is dead!
The novel’s support of tabula rasa is easiest to see through the creature’s emotional development. The creature himself is of the opinion that he became who he is through his relations with his surroundings. His development also has many parallels to a child’s; after being created, he “could distinguish nothing; but,
In the novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, the relationship of external apperence and internal feelings are directly related. The creature is created and he is innocent, though he is seaverly deformed. His nature is to be good and kind, but society only views his external appereance which is grotesque. Human nature is to judge by external apperence. He is automatically ostracized and labeled as a monster because of his external apperence. He finnaly realized that no matter how elequintly he speaks and how kind he is, people will never be able to see past his external deformities. Children are fearful of him, Adults think he is dangerous, and his own creator abandons him in disgust. The creature is treated as a monster, therefore he begins to internalize societies view of him and act the like a monster.
It is reasonable to say that one's personality is formed through the sum of their experiences, especially their interactions with others. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor’s creature ventures into the world knowing nothing and no one, learning what he can as he attempts to make contact with the people he encounters. However, he quickly learns that his horrid appearance and the fear it inspires prevents him from peacefully interacting with them. After being shot while attempting to save a little girl from drowning, he hides in a makeshift shelter, gleaning what he can about the world only from observing the Delaceys, a small peasant family. It is their interactions that guide the development of his character. As the creature’s first true
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic science fiction novel written in the romantic era that focuses on the elements of life. The romantic era was sparked by the changing social environment, including the industrial revolution. It was a form of revolt against the scientific revolutions of the era by developing a form of literature that romanticize nature and giving nature godliness. This element of romanticized nature is a recurrent element in Frankenstein and is used to reflect emotions, as a place for relaxation and as foreshadowing. Frankenstein also includes various other elements of romanticism including strong emotions and interest in the common people.
If a child is subjected to neglect or abuse at a young age, they will likely have a different view of the world than children who have loving parents. The creature, just like a child, lacked a parent, a father figure, someone to look up to, someone to guide him. The creature doesn’t even have a name. Ashley Lancaster (2008) from the Midwest Quarterly states that “Shelley further disconnects the monster from reality because Frankenstein never gives his creation a name, reinforcing the monster’s lack of identity and connection to society.” (p.134 para.1) His first experience with Victor was rejection. This is what set the pattern for his life. The night he was created he reached out to Victor just as baby would to their mother or father and Victor was frightened and ran away. In fear and disgust of what he created, Victor abandoned the creature, leaving him to fend for himself. With no one to love the creature or care for him he spent his first days in the forest and he states has he’s telling his tale, “I knew, and could distinguish nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept.” (Shelley p.70) He was only aware of his surroundings at that time and he later goes on to
According to research, children who have been abandoned by their parents at a young age are 25% more likely to experience delinquency during their teen years(). Victor is considered the monsters guardian; someone who nurtures and cares for the monster in his early years. Victor, however, finds his creation ugly and dismisses himself from caring for him. The monster immediately has hatred for the human race as Victor, the monster’s only insight into the human race, demonstrates selfishness and maltreatment to him. At one point in Frankenstein, the monster feels as though “[he is] malicious because [he is] miserable. [Is he] not shunned and hated by all mankind? [Victor, his] creator, would tear [him] to pieces and triumph… why [should he] pity man more than [man] pities
“... factors other than genetic and biochemical ones, including poverty, job and family stability, stress, and social isolation are influential.”(Raingruber). A person’s physical makeup is not the only factor of their nature , life stressors are also included. In Frankenstein’s monster’s situation he didn’t really have genes that were passed to him; therefore, some examples of the “nature” that impacted him would be social isolation and lack of education. "...we appear to inherit the building blocks of personality from our parents; and then our interactions with our social environment create the personality that we develop."(Franzoi 483). While children are young they start learning how to make since of their emotions and turn them into their personality. How people interact with others and situations as they get older, further creates and changes their personality. The monster never learned how to interact with people. So at first, he interpreted the reactions toward him as hateful and rude. This in turn, made him angry, because he realized he would never be able to fit in, and he sought to find a way to change people’s minds by educating himself and even raising a child to understand and like
Mary Shelley in her book Frankenstein addresses numerous themes relevant to the current trends in society during that period. However, the novel has received criticism from numerous authors. This paper discusses Walter Scott’s critical analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in his Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Review of Frankenstein (1818).
The creature begins his journey with many similarities to a child - he has no experience with human emotions of hate or anger, but in his first interaction with his creator is one full of fear and distrust. “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”, during this unfortunate introduction, was also when the creature realized he was doomed to be rejected time and time again (Shelley 42). Frankenstein’s “desire” became his worst nightmare, the disgust he felt was towards himself, although at the time he projected it on his own creation. He was a brand new person that “learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses”; his first experience someone similar to him
Nature has always been an essential part of art and literature. Society and people’s relationship with nature is also an intricate part of British literature, especially in Romantic period. Nature has been inspiring and stimulating countless author’s imagination throughout the history. Magnificent views of nature, nature’s greatness, and its overwhelming beauty and power have always been author’s favorite themes for their creation...... until the British industrial revolution started in the late 1700s, and continued to accelerate until the beginning of the 19th century.
We as a society are the ones responsible for the transformation of the once child-like creature into the monster we all