Friendship In Frankenstein Research Paper

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein shows the necessity of friendship. Throughout her novel, Shelley shows that everyone needs an equal with whom they can talk and share experiences. Frankenstein’s main characters, Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster, all share a desperate desire to have close friends. The idea at the heart of Shelley’s novel seems to be people need each other to balance out our individual negative aspects. As Shelley says, “We are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves-- such as a friend ought to be-- do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures” (24). This also agrees with Shelley’s feministic views; men and women need each other to thrive, and one

cannot constantly put the other down if both are to flourish. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley shows that humans would be incomplete without friendship.
Robert Walton, the first character Shelley introduces her readers to, opens the topic of needing a friend. His constant letters show that he is close to his sister, Margaret Saville. His personality does not seem to be anything outlandish; he simply seems determined and optimistic, saying, “But success shall crown my endeavours. Wherefore not” (19)? Self-centeredness seems to be Walton’s only major character flaw. He says, “One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of knowledge which I sought” (23). Although he expresses a desire to have a friend, Walton appears to be somewhat of an outcast. He laments to his sister, “I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate in my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in my dejection” (18). Walton recognizes that his life will be incomplete without a friend, just like how Shelley asserts her belief that humans are incomplete on their own.
Frankenstein has an undeniably imperfect character.

He has a Faustian need for knowledge; he tells Walton, “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn… my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or, in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world” (33). Frankenstein’s relationship with his monster is somewhat indicative of his character. Although Frankenstein’s eventual treatment of his monster, while certainly not admirable, is too intertwined with his feelings about the murder of William and the subsequent death of Justine Moritz to be a true testament to the quality of his character, his initial reaction to his monster’s existence is an apt judge of his character. His response indicates that he rashly worked on what he considers to be no more than his project, rather than thinking of the implications of attempting to create a new life form in an unnatural manner. Frankenstein’s lack of consideration is a definite character flaw, albeit one that could have been easily prevented by talking to a friend. However, Frankenstein’s biggest downfall seems to stem from the fact that he is also a social recluse. Despite the fact that he has several people who he is close to, including Henry Clerval and his cousin Elizabeth, Frankenstein constantly allows his work to take precedence over the rest of his life, often shutting out those he loves most. He later confesses to Walton, “I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit… my

eyes were insensible to the charms of nature... and the same feelings… caused me also to forget those friends… whom I had not seen for so long a time” (49). Eventually, Frankenstein’s mad preoccupation with his monster and refusal to talk to his friends leads to the deaths of every person that he holds dear. The tragedy of Frankenstein’s life is a powerful exemplum for Shelley’s readers, showing the importance of friends in an individual’s life.
Frankenstein’s monster is Shelley’s most poignant example of the necessity of companionship.

The monster does not know companionship for the entirety of its life. As soon as Frankenstein creates it, Frankenstein flees with horror, leaving the monster alone to aimlessly roam the earth. As the monster tells Frankenstein, “You, my creator, abhor me, what hope can I gather from your fellow-creatures, who owe me nothing? They spurn and hate me” (89). When the monster attempts to talk to the German peasant family that unintentionally taught him how to speak, they attack and fear it. The monster then flees the country and rescues a young country girl, but upon her return, the girl’s father shoots the monster. The monster swears vengeance, saying, “This was then the reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, and, as recompense, I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound, which shattered the flesh and bone” (125). Despite the monster’s initial kind-heartedness, life soon forces it to become cruel. The monster relentlessly searches for Frankenstein, so he can politely ask him to create an equally monstrous wife. When Frankenstein refuses, it swears revenge, saying, “I will revenge my injuries: if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear; and chiefly towards you my arch-enemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred” (129). The monster then proceeds to murder everyone Frankenstein cares about, including his family, Henry Clerval, and

his beloved Elizabeth. Everything the monster does shows the necessity of companionship. Shelley makes it incredibly obvious that, had the monster gained a single friend throughout his life, it would have been content to live its life peacefully. The monster’s life can best be described by what it tells Frankenstein: “I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend” (89). Frankenstein’s monster is a drastic example of the importance of having a friend.
The necessity of friendship is a key component of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Shelley shows the readers progressively more drastic examples of life without friendship. Robert Walton’s sadness resonates with everyone who has ever felt in need of a friend. Frankenstein’s mad experiment to create life and the monster’s murder spree, while not as applicable to real life, show a dramatic caricature of an existence without friends. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein shows the importance of friends in people’s lives.