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The nature nurture debate
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Dekyri Mims English Composition II Frankenstein Application Essay August 10, 2016 Nature vs Nurture The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues within psychology. So what exactly is the nature versus nurture debate all about? In Robert Plomin and C.S. Bergeman article, Nature and Nurture: Behavioral and Brain Sciences, they believed that “Nature refers to all of the genes and heredity factors that influences who we are as a person from our physical appearance to our unique characteristics” and “Nurture refers to all the environmental variables that impacted who we were, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture” (Bergeman). In her novel Frankenstein, …show more content…
The nurture argument clarifies that people are not born with a yearning desire to neither be good or evil, but is raised within the surroundings that they’re given. Meaning that the creature was capable of developing into either of the two, however his environment was the ultimate factor that determined his outcome. Because of his hatred towards his creation, Victor verbally abuses and emotionally handicaps it at each encounter. Take the creature birth for example at that moment the creature could since that Victor was filled with disgust toward him which led to the creature feeling of neglect. By doing so, the creature became mentally as well as emotionally handicapped, because the only person he thought he could rely on rejected him. This sadly devastated the creature mentally effecting his way of thinking; in addition to, how he was supposed to go about in an environment that he wasn’t yet accustomed to. Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein, is considerably a door opener for children who are being mistreated and suffering from neglect by their parents in today’s society. The consequences of neglect are generally increasing, and can often have negative effect on the child’s development. In The impact of childhood abuse and neglect on adult mental health: A prospective study, the authors suggest that “Parents are expected to provide for the emotional needs of the child. Which neglect may negatively impact the child’s ability to understand social relationships; as well as, the neurological development that negatively affects the normal brain function to process the information” (A.V. Horwitz 192). Meaning that the child would be mentally unable to face the challenges that society would give to them causing self-doubt; as well as, driving them to mad with rage, because they would feel that they’re unable to handle the standard norms of
Today, there are children around the world who are treated badly and abused by their parents. The monster, created by Victor Frankenstein, was raised very poorly; he did not receive love nor care and never was able to experience these feelings for himself. The moment he opened his eyes, he faced neglect- just as
In Frankenstein, various themes are introduced. There are dangerous knowledge, sublime nature, nature versus nurture, monstrosity, and secrecy and guilt. I chose a main theme as nature versus nurture. Nature is some traits that a person is born with, and nurture is an environment that surrounds a person. The novel indirectly debates whether the development of individual is affected more by nature or by nurture through Victor and the Monster.
“I now hasten to the more moving part of my story. I shall relate events that impressed me with feelings which, from what I was, have made me what I am” (Shelley 92). Frankenstein’s Creature presents these lines as it transitions from a being that merely observes its surroundings to something that gains knowledge from the occurrences around it. The Creature learns about humanity from “the perfect forms of [his] cottagers” (90). Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein offers compelling insights into the everlasting nature versus nurture argument. Her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote, “Treat a person ill, and he will become wicked.” Shelley believes that the nurture of someone, or something, in the Creature’s case, forms them into who they become and what actions they take. While this is true for Frankenstein’s Creature, the same cannot be said about Victor Frankenstein.
In a world full of novelty, guidance is essential to whether a being’s character progresses positively or negatively in society. Parents have a fundamental role in the development of their children. A parent’s devotion or negligence towards their child will foster a feeling of trust or mistrust in the latter. This feeling of mistrust due to the lack of guidance from a parental figure is represented in the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his creation in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. The creature created by Frankenstein was shown hatred and disgust from the very beginning, which led to its indignant feelings toward his creator and his kind.
The theme of nature vs. nurture is highly debated in the field of psychology and is quite a prevalent topic of the novel Frankenstein. Nature vs. nurture is a psychology term related to whether hereditary genes or the environment
Birth, under normal circumstances, is viewed as a blessing; Victor elucidates the event as a catastrophe and labels his child a creature and a wretch. Losing all self-control, he goes into a fit of egotistical rage, describing the painstaking effort, which caused the being into life. His disappointment is evident as he rushes from the room in horror of what he calls a monster. Victor forgets the newborn is not yet a man he can blame for his own imperfections. His ardor goes sour and lacking a support group of family and friends around him who conjugate around every new parent for this exact reason; Victor begins to resent the thoughtful cultivation and aspirations, which he sought for his child.
Victor never even fathomed the actual existence of the creature, somewhat resembling an unplanned pregnancy that was never emotionally and rationally dealt with even after the actual birth of the child. He certainly did not adequately prepare himself for parenthood.
After his creation, Frankenstein’s monster is left in isolation, cursed to endure people’s hatred towards him. This revulsion met by onlookers is merely based on the creature’s hideous looks. The monster is not actually a monster at all. He displays more humanity than many other characters in Frankenstein. The ultimate irony is that the prejudicial belief is what caused the reanimated human to become a monster. In the nature versus nurture debate, proponents of the nature theory believe that a person is unchanging and that one’s experiences do not affect that person’s behavior. If this were true, the monster would not change as a result of his interactions with humans. It is undeniable that the creature does immoral things, but when Frankenstein’s monster saves a little girl from drowning, Mary Shelley takes a clear stance that the creature was naturally noble but became monstrous as a result of interactions with humans.
Are nature and nurture required when creating a person? In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the nature vs. nurture discussion is put to the test by the actions of the main character Dr. Frankenstein's creation: a monster. In the novel Dr. Frankenstein is enthralled with the scientific creation of life and creates what he thinks will be a human but actually turns out to have the makings of a monster. Dr. Frankenstein is terrified by his creation and abandons it by running away and leaving it locked up. The monster breaks out of Dr. Frankenstein's confines and goes into the world to explore in his surroundings and hates his creator for not caring for him. By looking at environmental effects on a child's intellectual ability to learn, and a child's inherent sense of direction it is apparent that at birth the human mind is a blank slate.
Andrew Lustig proposed a great question to the readers of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, “How far should we go in out efforts to alter nature, including human nature? As stewards of God’s creation what are our responsibilities?” (Lustig 1) This question results in theme of nature vs. nurture in the novel. The nature vs. nurture debate is an important topic in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. The two central characters, Victor Frankenstein and the creature that he creates; both, characters were raised differently. The nature and the nurture of their upbringing can be a cause of why they are, the way they are. Victor and his creature are subject to very different nurturing styles. Shelley also incorporates the representations of light and fire. This representation is key to the nature vs. nurture discussion in the novel.
The debate of nature versus nurture has been argued for a long period time. The concept of tabula rasa was popularized by John Locke; it stated that babies are born into this world without innate knowledge. Knowledge and personality are developed through experiences and environment, emphasising the nurture in the nature-nurture split. At first blush, Frankenstein avidly supports the theory but in some other parts it does not.
Philosophers and scientists alike have debated for centuries whether a person’s character is the result of nature or nurture. In the writings of Thomas Hobbes, it is expressed that humans are endowed with character from birth, and that they are innately evil in nature. John Locke’s response to this theory is that everyone is born with a tabula rasa, or blank slate, and then develops character after a series of formative experiences. The idea that true character is the result of experiences and societal interaction is a theme deeply explored throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Through different interactions with the monster, Shelley attempts to express that it is because of Victor’s failings as a parent and creator, because of the monster’s isolation, and because of society’s reaction to the monster that the monster has become evil. The monster’s character is a direct result of how he was nurtured, based on his experiences and circumstances, rather than his being innately evil from “birth.”
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 ...
Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.
The controversy of nature vs. nurture has been going on for many years, and a