Frankenstein

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Recommended: Critical analysis on the desire for humanity in mary shelley's frankenstein

In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explores a wide range of themes concerning human nature through the thoughts and actions of two main characters and a host of others. Two themes are at the heart of the story, the most important being creation, but emphasis is also placed on alienation from society. These two themes are relevant even in today’s society as technology brings us ever closer to Frankenstein’s fictional achievement.
First, let’s examine the alienation from society suffered by Frankenstein’s monster. The cause of his ostracism was his horrific physical appearance. It was so bad that people would not even allow him the chance to speak or get to know the person behind the hideous face. Shelley is criticizing the importance appearance plays in defining our roles as members of society. The monster knows all too well how people will receive him and so tries to appeal to a blind man, the only type of person who could be dependent on him. Sadly for the wretch, the blind man had others on whom he could depend as well, and upon seeing him caused a stir. His one chance at gaining acceptance thus ruined. This causes his anti-social behavior, a problem we deal with presently.
Alienation from society causes violent lashings out at the world that rejected him. We have seen this recently with the school shooting at Columbine. The two boys responsible for the bloodshed claimed that th...

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