Nature Vs. Nurture in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein A child’s development plays a big role in who they become later in life. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it becomes obvious very quickly that nature versus nurture shows up in the creature’s development. He is abandoned by Victor Frankenstein, his creator, and is forced to fend for himself, in order to live as a normal human. He learns nearly everything from nature and is very amused at all it has to offer. But as much as he wants to be like everyone else, the creature is far from normal. He was created from a plethora of body parts that Victor stitched together and was then placed into a bath. Using electricity from lightning, the creature was brought to life. Scared and disgusted with …show more content…
himself and his creation, Victor flees. He leaves the creature alone, with no explanation, other than his journal which holds information about all of his experiments. Later, it is shown that the creature is unable to distinguish right from wrong easily because he was never taught. He has to experience elements from both nature and nurture to learn about who he needs to become. Frankenstein’s creature is basically a newborn baby trapped in a grown man’s body.
From his “birth”, he was very clumsy and made Victor feel very threatened. He is viewed as a grotesque monster that is inhuman and unnatural. This makes his survival very difficult. All he wants is the love from his “father” and an explanation of who or what he is. In Chapter 4, Victor says ¨How dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to be greater than his nature will allow”(31). This statement can be referred to the creature, who wants to learn and grow, but his nature won't allow him to do so. In general, the creature has good nature. He wants to have a family, friends, and to be loved. He has the desire to learn and be treated like a normal human, but no one wants to accept him as one. He is mesmerized by nature, like how fire can be used for warmth and food, but can also be harmful. Because he is brought back to life, stitched together from a bunch of different dead people and doesn’t have the memory from his past lives, the nature portion of his development seems to be left in the …show more content…
dust. Even when the creature does good things, people still see him as a nuisance.
When he rescued the child from drowning, he was greeted with violence. When he gathered firewood for the poor family and showed himself to them, they hit him with a stick. As much as he tried to do good, he was treated horribly unfair, making him think that good deeds could possibly be bad. This harms his development because he sees people doing awful things to him, turning him into the monster that everyone views him as. He was “born” wanting to do good things, but it is nearly impossible when no one recognizes him for his good behaviors. Differentiating from good and bad is a struggle for the creature when all he wants is to be nurtured and
accepted. There have been many studies and arguments throughout history that contemplate whether a person’s formative years dictate what they become later in life. Nature versus Nurture argument comes up a lot through this topic. Does a child inherit their personalities, characteristics and affect their social advancement, or does the environment they are brought up in influence this? I believe that both nature and nurture play big roles in a person’s development, since everything is not inherited. Nurturing plays a bigger role in development. Scientists have found that our environmental influences “can interact with our genetic makeup, which can be good or bad for our health”. It is extremely important that a child receives the nurturing part in their formative years because it can impact their lives later. It is said that we fully develop our personalities by age 7. This means that every experience a child faces between birth and age 7 shape their entire life. In Victor Frankenstein’s Creature’s development, he has no one to teach him right from wrong, except outside forces that treat him poorly. This makes distinguishing between the two very hard. No matter how much good he does for others, he gets no positive recognition for it. Once someone develops like this, it is very difficult, if not impossible to reverse their behaviors. Nature versus Nurture debate may still be going on, ever since 1690, but it is apparent that how a child is treated during their formative years continues with them for the rest of their life. If a child is abused or neglected during these influential years, their mental and emotional health is affected. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creature basically raises himself. Victor Frankenstein, his creator, abandons him after realizing his creation was a mistake. This confuses the creature and makes him want to earn the love of his “father”, Victor. In his formative years, he is treated very poorly, which shapes his personality to become a harsh monster that everyone sees him as. This directly proves that nurturing plays a bigger part in a child’s formative years and dictates who they become.
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.
American psychologist and well renowned author Jerome Kagan states “Genes and family may determine the foundation of the house, but time and place determine its form.” The topic of nature vs. nurture is highly known to the English literature community and is classified as a major aspect of gothic works. In the novel Frankenstein the author Mary Shelley uses the monster’s constant rejection from society to demonstrate that an individual’s traits are affected more by their environment and their surroundings than by nature.
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “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” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
Victor is so engulfed by his work that he is unaware of what is going on around him. He “bore onwards [with his work], like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success” and he wants to “pour a torrent of light into our dark world" (Shelley 55). Blinded by his yearning for making new discoveries, Victor thinks that his knowledge of the sciences will be enough for him to be successful. However, he does not understand that in order to create an auspicious relationship between him and his creation, he needs to have knowledge of society as well. Once his creation is animated, Victor is unable to see that all the creature wants is to be loved and accepted. The creature craves the maternal love that Victor denies him. From the beginning, Victor is unable to realize the significance of his creation. He describes how the creature’s “yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath... [and] his hair was of a lustrous black... [and] his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips” (Shelley 58). He immediately focuses on the negative features of his creation, and does not even attempt to learn the positive qualities. If Victor uses more social skills, rather than his knowledge of the sciences to manage his creation, all of the destruction the creation causes could have been
The creature later went on a journey looking for his creator, he wanted partner to be with him since he was the only one of his kind plus the people hated him. He wanted a partner whom he could live with and not feel alone in this world. When they first encounter themselves victor was amazed by his creation but once again victor did not wanted to see.” Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence, which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants
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.
His ambitions are what isolate him and bring to life a creature whose suffering was unfairly conveyed into his life. The creature is isolated from everyone, including his creator. He had no choice, unlike Victor. Finally, as the story starts to change, the creature begins to take control of the situation. It is now Victor being isolated by the creature as a form of revenge.
This presents Victor showing unfair judgement towards the creature that he made “There can be no community between you and me; we are enemies” (55). This is unfair to the creature because he was born against his will and already Victor claiming to the creature that he has no community; a home. This is also unjust because Victor shows his hatred towards his creation that they are enemies before even giving the creature a chance to show himself and show who he really is and can be. Victor and his poor character towards his family and close friends make him more monster than the creature he had created “I could cope with the sullen despair that overwhelmed me: but the whirlwind passions of my soul drove me to suddenly leave” (51). With his family having hardship during this time and Victor knowing that and knows he needs to be there decides to chase his passion and leave without giving much thought. Victor knowing that his family problems and hardship are happening because of him doesn’t tell them what’s going on or what's happening in his current situation leaving them with no answers. This makes Victor a bigger monster because of his poor character he has towards his family and his poor statements towards the creature, a being that he
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.
Nature versus Nurture is the name of a long running debate on whether an individual’s behavior is determined by their genes or by how they were raised. John Locke famously held the view that humans had a “blank slate”, which means that human’s personality and character traits are determined by a person’s environment and what they experience. But, many argue against this: for instance, twins are raised similarly, but can have completely different personalities. The real question is this: are people born monsters, or do they become monsters? In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein and in Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, both authors provide a clear warning of what makes a monster: society’s superficial nature creates monsters, and
Frankenstein's creature has not been raised the same way a typical person is. Frankenstein creates his creature for all the wrong reasons. He creatures his creature with hopes to "'banish illness from the human fame and render man invulnerable to any but violent death' and before its completion, imagines his monster as representing human perfectibility" (A3 2). Frankenstein creates his creature strictly for fame and recognition. After finally seeing his finished his product, he is
During infancy, children need caregivers to teach and give them attention in order to learn kindness, empathy, and compassion properly. Without this attention, incomplete or aberrant relationships form. The creature is a prime example of this phenomenon, incapable of forming connections and unable to distinguish clearly between good and evil. By abandoning the creature in the beginning of the novel, Dr. Frankenstein begins the creature’s downhill