Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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We as humans want to be with each other. We actively pursue this goal be finding friends and significant others. While a moderate amount of solitude can be good we crave togetherness with others. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein isolation is a key theme in the novel. The creature created by Victor Frankenstein is driven into isolation from society based on people’s fear of him. Both the creature and Victor experience first hand the effects that isolation have on the creature's actions. Thus Frankenstein shows very clearly how lifelong isolation keeps someone from developing a moral compass and in turn makes them do wrongful deeds. The creature is isolated from all of society but unlike most people he was not raised by a parent or anyone who had parental influence on him. This made it difficult for him to understand why people were afraid of him and left him alone. Thus he didn’t know right from wrong or how to act properly. Children without a lot of parental interaction in their life are more likely to commit crimes. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein states that he was, "Unable to endure the aspect of the being I created, I rushed out of the room and continued along time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep"(Shelley 49). Victor brings life into a being that he work so long to make then he abandons him. According to Lee Zimmerman the monster is “A classic case of a battering parent who produces a battered child who in turn becomes a battering parent: the creature's first murder victim … is a small child whom he wishes to adopt"(Zimmerman). The monster not having parents would have had to rely on Victor to teach him about the world. Victor proved to be a horrible parent when he abandoned his creature with... ... middle of paper ... ...&iPin=ETL0001&SingleRecord=True.>. - - -. “Isolation.” Bloom’s Literature. Facts On File, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. . Papalla, Diane E., and Sally Wendkos Olds. “The Family and Personality Development.” Human Develpoment. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 1992. 155-169, 172. Print. - - -. “Social-learning Theory:Observing and Imitating Models.” Human Development. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 1992. 213-14. Print. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. N.p.: Tom Doherty Associates, 1988. Print. Zimmerman, Lee. “Frankenstein, Invisibility, and Nameless Dread.” Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, New Edition, Bloom’s Modern Critical Views. (2003): n. pag. Bloom’s Literature. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. .

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