Human interaction is often underestimated in its significance, yet its absence can lead to profound consequences. Through the lens of Victor Frankenstein and his creation, Mary Shelley delves into the complexities of friendship in "Frankenstein," shedding light on the detrimental effects of loneliness and underscoring the importance of human connection. Mary Shelley's examination of the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his monster elucidates the challenges of friendship, accentuating the adverse impacts of isolation and emphasizing the indispensability of interpersonal bonds. One of the difficulties in the friendship between Frankenstein and his monster is the creature's profound sense of abandonment and the resultant feelings of unworthiness. "I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed” (Frankenstein, 69). This quotation underscores the creature's innocence and the unjust treatment he endures, exemplifying the detrimental consequences of loneliness and abandonment. The monster's yearning for companionship and acknowledgment is met with rejection, exacerbating his feelings of abandonment and isolation. …show more content…
"I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on" (Frankenstein, Chapter 15). This excerpt epitomizes the themes of rejection and desolation pervasive throughout the novel, illustrating the profound impact of societal ostracism on the creature's psyche. The monster's existential despair stems from his societal alienation, intensifying his feelings of loneliness and
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, values of society are clearly expressed. In this particular society and culture, a great value is placed on ideologies of individuals and their contribution to society. In order to highlight these values, Shelley utilizes the character of Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein is the main character of the novel, and with his alienation, he plays a significant role that reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values of individualism and use in society. This is done through Victor’s actions of self-inflicted isolation.
In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the Creature executes extreme and irreversible acts due to his isolation from society. Although the Creature displays kindness, his isolation drives him to act inhumanely. The Creature, pushed away from his creator because he is an abomination, and indicates his isolation as the only one of his species. As the Creature gets more comfortable with the De Lacey ’s, he approaches the old man as his children are gone but before he can explain himself, the children come home and see the Creature, “Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me?
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the author’s view concerning the role that human connections play is that humans need others in their lives in order to function correctly. As conveyed by Shelley, isolation and separation from any other beings leads to misery. Not having companions around also leads to a lack of the ability to behave constructively. Shelley’s views are conveyed throughout the novel through the decaying well being of certain characters.
Victor Frankenstein claims, “No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself'; (Shelley, 19). His early life was filled with love and nurturing from his parents, his beautiful and adored companion Elizabeth, and his best friend Henry Clerval. However, after he leaves his home to continue his education at Ingolstadt, he remarks, “I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, continually engaged in endeavoring to bestow mutual pleasure, I was now alone'; (Shelley, 25). Frankenstein no longer feels all the happiness he once felt when he was united with his family and friends. He alienates himself from others because he thinks he is “totally unfitted for the company of strangers'; (Shelley, 25).
Throughout Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein pursues, with a passion lacking in other aspects of his life, his individual quest for knowledge and glory. He accepts the friendships and affections given him without reciprocating. The "creature," on the other hand, seems willing to return affections, bringing wood and clearing snow for the DeLaceys and desiring the love of others, but is unable to form human attachments. Neither the creature nor Victor fully understands the complex relationships between people and the expectations and responsibilities that accompany any relationship. The two "monsters" in this book, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, are the only characters without strong family ties; the creature because Frankenstein runs from him, and Victor because he runs from his family.
Rather, it is others who alienate it because of its grotesque appearance. The monster is quite literally ‘born’ into perpetual isolation beginning with Victor’s abandonment of it. He denies it domestic safety when he flees to his bedchamber. Victor disregards the monster’s utterance of “inarticulate sounds while a grin wrinkled his cheeks,” then escapes its outstretched hand “seemingly to detain [him]” [Shelley 49]. Examining the monster’s body language as though an impressionable infant, its actions can be read as a child-like plea for its father though the absence of speech not yet learned. Instead, its unattractive appearance causes Victor to run, leaving the creature alone with no information about himself or his surroundings. Therefore, Victor’s abandonment is a crucial justification of the monster’s negative experiences with society and nature and actions in desiring community. The monster’s alienation from family is the missing first school of human nature, and the first lesson where he learns he does not belong. The creature leaves into the wilderness to learn about the world and himself on it own, only to understand his interactions are
The element of loneliness and the need for companionship is an important topic in the characters’ lives in Frankenstein. The characters want to have one person they can go to for anything and everything, during the good and the bad times. In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Robert Walton, The Creature, and Victor share the sense of loneliness and all long for companionship. Robert Walton is lonely at the beginning of the story and develops a companionship throughout the novel. The creature is Victor’s companion, but soon develops a desire for a friend. Victor is the most lonely because, Victor longs for the love that a companion could bring to his life. The want for a companion throughout the novel affects the three characters negatively and positively.
Few human experiences are as wretched as facing the fact that one is alone; perhaps because isolation is so easily recognized and dwelled upon when one is without friends to distract from life’s woes. Now consider isolation at its most extreme and ponder what such abject loneliness would do to man. This is the fate of Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Frankenstein is the story of how one man’s experiment has the unintended consequence of making Frankenstein and his creation, the Monster, completely isolated from the rest of humanity: the creator of the unnatural monster dares not relate his tale lest due to his punishing guilt, and the hideous being himself shares neither kinship nor experience with anyone.
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, loneliness is a key theme. There comes a point in the novel where Dr. Frankenstein has to make a decision: to either make his creature an equal woman companion or to refuse his protégé and face the dire consequences. At this point, Frankenstein is knowledgeable that his creation is the murderer of his brother (and indirectly caused the execution of his family friend Justine). He sees just exactly the problems that his creation has caused and how much pain his family is in from suffering these losses. On the other hand, the monster offers peace and a ceasefire on Frankenstein’s family if he obtains what he most desires. This could potentially make his creature less miserably alone, which ultimately could benefit Frankenstein and those who are dearest to him, as well the rest of mankind because the monster would in theory not be harming humans anymore. I personally take the stance that there are too many variables in the creation of life for Frankenstein to be messing with them not once, but twice in one lifetime.
Frankenstein’s creation was a victim of circumstance. One who is brought into the world alone, with no protector to guide him, and is driven to desolation. A person with no mate is miserable, doomed to spend his life without pleasure or company. A man who is thrown out by those he deems his fellow creatures, lives a mean life, alone with infinite misery. Any creature that is demoted to this degree of torment is deserving of our sympathy.
Exile. Behind the word lies angst, behind it lies fear, behind it lies sorrow. To be exiled, outcasted, or abandoned is one of the biggest fear of humanity. For to be alone, one is left with their own thoughts. No one wants to be the fallen angel. The world exile carries with it many different negative connotations. The rest of society does not dare to interact with those exiled. Society does not dare to dance with the devil. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster. The creature is abandoned by Frankenstein. And the creature searches for company and to eliminate the feeling of loneliness he has inside. After scrutinizing Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the creature chases after a normal life, one without loneliness; however, society
Isolation is often a result of choosing to seek refuge in solitude, however, in many cases, it is a result of brutality from a surrounding environment. In Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel, Frankenstein,a gruesome and painful story serves as a cautionary tale in order to prevent another from a similar downfall. Although Victor Frankenstein is the narrator for the majority of the novel, the audience learns of the destruction that has followed his decisions as well as the forced estrangement upon those he has encountered. In Frankenstein, Shelley uses relatable characters that reflect the harsh superficial aspects of society.
In the novel Frankenstein, the monster is deserving of empathy because as a young child he did not have the guidance nor care from a parent or guardian like most people do. He was brought into the world and then cruelly rejected by the ...
However repugnant he was on the outside, when Frankenstein’s creature begins to tell his tale of sorrow and rejection the creature does not seem to be monstrous. Although rejected multiple times by the humans around him when he finds a family in poverty and “suffering the pangs ...
Friendship is one of the most common human desires found all over the world in every different type of people. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this deep-seeded need is explored, especially as it manifests itself in the hearts of three great men. Captain Walden writes to his sister about the loneliness that he is experiencing on his journey at the very start of the book. Then, as the story progresses, a similar want can be found in Victor despite his tightly woven relationship with Henry Clerval. The Creature is constantly denied his lust for companionship demonstrates the horrible consequences of incessant loneliness. His amiable nature combined with his grotesque appearance proves to be a horrific collaboration that serves only in gaining rejection as he is shunned, quite irrationally, over and over again by all living beings. The Creature's suffering could only be abandoned if he were able to encounter an unprejudiced and completely tolerant friend. Shelley masterfully conveys the importance of a kindred spirit and the overall necessity of loyalty between people.