Examples Of Dehumanization In Frankenstein

In the 1818 text of Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, various forms of human exploitation and oppression lead to the dehumanization of two major characters in the novel: the creature which Victor Frankenstein brings to life, and Victor himself. The creature is deemed an outcast just by his very existence. Victor oppresses his creation solely based on the creature’s grotesque features. Although the creature shares qualities, feelings, and emotions that categorize him as a human, Victor’s oppressive behavior and rejection of the his creation immediately lead to the creature’s dehumanization. Victor is driven by human exploitation, and treads on the laws of nature as he successfully attempts to cheat death and create an artificial being.

Through his desire to obtain glory and the ultimate scientific discovery, Victor separates himself farther away from human society and begins his own dehumanization process.
Victor’s obsession with defying God’s natural order of the world, and his thirst for glory are what serve as the beginning of his character’s dehumanization process. Victor’s thirst for knowledge is best exemplified when he state that “no one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success. Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world” (27).
Victor becomes obsessed with finding a way to cheat death, and by doing deprives himself of what makes everyone human in the first place: connection with other humans and sharing his emotions openly.

In the beginning of the novel, Victor shares with Captain Walton that “I have lost everything and cannot begin life anew.” Throughout the novel, Vitor’s work slowly takes over more of his life, so much so that by the end of the novel his only desire is to kill the being which he created. Victor’s oppression of himself begins with the rejection of creation, which he is immediately rejects due to the creature’s inhuman appearance. Victor states: “I was seized by remorse… to a hell of intense tortures…deep, dark, deathlike solitude. I, not in deed, but in effect, was the true murderer.” The use of words like “tortured” and “seized”, only further suggest that Victor’s own creation completely took over over his life, to the point that he began to hide himself away from the world for fear of humiliation and shame. Harsh words like “deep, dark” and “deathlike” also serve as evidence for Victor’s mental collapse. In reality, there is no true purpose to Victor’s creation, other than to achieve glory and status in the scientific world. Therefore, the unnatural being which he constructs can be deemed unnecessary and danger to society. Victor has blatantly defied the natural order of the world, and in the end his creation also serves as a danger to society when to creature

unleashes his wrath on Victor’s family. However, Victor obsession of human exploitation blinds him from reality and natural workings of the world; his own creation represents Victor’s process of dehumanization and his ultimate downfall. He becomes more oppressed as he falls farther away from the real work. His own self-oppression is evidence when Victor is described becoming “emaciated with confinement” (53), his growing “pale with study” (53). As much as Victor blames his misery on the creature, his source of oppression is completely by his own hand, describes himself “as "a miserable spectacle of wrecked humanity... intolerable to myself" (153). And ironically, nature serves as Victor’s safe haven throughout the novel. One of the most intriguing similarities is the use of nature as a safe haven and hideaway for both characters. Victor states: “What became of me? I know not; I lost sensation, and chains and darkness were the only objects that pressed upon me. Sometimes, indeed, I dreamt that I wandered in flowery meadows and pleasant vales with the friends of my youth…” (138). Victor prefers isolation, and avoids the consolation of people by retreating to nature. Even after his sister Elizabeth’s death, he rejects human contact and his obsession with nature grows the more he shuts out all of humanity. Nature is a constant stability for Victor, one that he knows will always be there - unlike the family members he loses.
Victor Frankenstein's oppression of the creature also serves as the creature sources of dehumanization throughout the novel.

Although the immediate rejection of the creature serves as the basis for his dehumanization process, the creature’s alienation from society is confirmed when it is constantly referred to by the pronoun “it”, and called “monster” and “wretch” by his creator. These words immediately marks the creature as inhuman. In truth, the creature is rejected by his creator for no other reason that his unnatural features, which causes the creature to become void of any real human emotions from another human being. Because of this, the creature begins to learn on his own, and like Victor finds solace in nature. For the monster, nature is his only place of acceptance. Because of his grotesque outward appearance, he is shunned by towns and villages and must escape to the mountains for protection. Nature serves to humanize him. While the cold temperatures of the Alps serve Victor as solace, the monster finds comfort in the forest during spring. The creature states: “Half surprised by the novelty of these sensations, I allowed myself to be borne away by them; and, forgetting my solitude and deformity, dared to be happy.” In nature, the creature begins to educate himself; one crucial turning point for the monster’s pursuit of new knowledge is when he finds the book “Paradise Lost” while in the forest. The monster compares himself to that of Adam and Eve and

discovers that he is both a demon and human. Knowledge serves as another form of humanization for the monster, even though in this case he discovers he may be more like Satan, for “many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me.” It is clear that the creature is not completely inhuman or represented of an animal because he is capable of human connections and emotions, and can think for himself. However, Vitor’s rejection and oppression of the creature solidifies the idea that creature is unloved and unwanted, without any hope of becoming a regular part of society. As the creature continues to educate himself, he begins to long more and more for human connection and family. However, the closest thing the creature has to a family is the “father” figure which rejects him. The creature even request his creator to construct for him a female mate, which Victor initially agrees to do (insert quote here. However, fearing what wrath two “monsters” would bestow on earth, Victor kills the second creation and dumps it in a lake. This serves as a crucial turning point in the the first creature’s dehumanization. If Victor had been more of a father figure, sharing love and compassion for his creation - and providing a mate for the creature - the creature may have been able to feel a real connection with the rest of society. There is chance that the creature might even have been accepted into society if they had seen him with a family of his own. Void of any human contact, the creature in turn lashes out against Victor and murders several members of his family. By the end of the novel, the creature’s dehumanization process is complete when his only purpose in life is seeking out his creator and unleashing his wrath on him. Victor oppression of his creation 0 his failure to provide love and support - is the sole cause of the creature's dehumanization.
After the creature has murdered several members of Victor’s family - including his bride to be Elizabeth - Victor is driven with madness and unstoppable urge to kill the creature augmentas within. Victor begins to share the same inhuman qualities as his creation, as he must take revenge for the loss of his family members by hunting down the creature and killing it. And much like the creature, Victor feels utterly alone in the world. The text also alludes back to Paradise Lost again, when Victor states: “I was cursed by some devil...and carried about with me my eternal hell.” This line suggests just how much Victor and the creature are like each other in their inhumanity. Both sees themselves as outcasts. Both have undying hatred for the other.