Who am I? What defines a person or an object? What is an identity? Merriam-Webster defines identity as "a distinguishing character or personality of an individual" ("Identity"). Nationality, family, gender, socioeconomic level, accomplishments, downfalls, personality, and physical appearance are qualities that characterize Americans. When each of these characteristics are viewed together, a unique individual is formed. However, in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's creation is not identified by all of these characteristics. He is not defined by many of them because they do not exist in his life. The domestic void in the creature’s life creates a barrier between him and the rest of civilization. Victor’s creation continually asks, "Who was I? What was I?" (86) and society answers with "wretch" (35) and "monster" (37); it is these responses that give the creature identity.
Every human being has a national identity and heritage, yet the creature does not posses this privilege. When a person is born, they are born into a family rich in a national culture and ancestral heritage; this composes part of the person's individual identity. People find pride in their ancestral identity. Yet, when the blind man in the De Lacy family asks the creature, "Are you French?" (90), the creation responds, "No" (90). This establishes the fact that the creature has no place of birth that would give him an identity of a particular country. He is created in a laboratory, not delivered from a mother's womb. Without a set of parents, he does not have biological ancestors from which he can adopt a cultural heritage; he is all alone. The fact that the creature does not have this ancestral connection, creates a boundary between him and huma...
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...lop a relationship with his creator, Victor, yet Frankenstein does not see the creature as his some. All humans, even his creator, view him as a "wretch" and "monster," based solely on his external appearance. Without a "relation or friend upon earth," (Shelley, 90) he is alienated from the human world and lacks a domestic connection to anyone. The only way he can exist in society is if people can see past his physical looks and know what a kind creature he truly is. However, how can this be expected when his creator does not even want to touch this "monster."
Works Cited
Curran, Stuart. Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus. 26 April 2000.
"Identity." Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 2000. 28 April 2000.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Norton. 1996.
Investigating Osmosis In A Potato Introduction: "Osmosis is typically defines as the flow of one constituent of a solution through a membrane while the other constituents are blocked and unable to pass through the membrane. Experimentation is necessary to determine which membranes permit selective flow, or osmosis, because not all membranes act in this way. Many membranes allow all or none of the constituents of a solution to pass through; only a few allow a selective flow. In a classic demonstration of osmosis, a vertical tube containing a solution of sugar, with its lower end closed off by a semi-permeable membrane, is placed in a container of water. As the water passes through the membrane into the tube, the level of sugar solution in the tube visibly rises.
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and the creature he has given life to can be explained by applying psychoanalytic criticism. This explanation will look specifically at Victor’s Oedipal complex, the developmental issues of the creature, and the id/ego/superego dynamics between Victor and the creature.
Before beginning the explanation of how an identity is formed, one must understand what an identity is. So, what is identity? To answer this, one might think of what gives him individuality; what makes him unique; what makes up his personality. Identity is who one is. Identity is a factor that tells what one wants out of life and how he is set to get it. It tells what kind of a person one is by the attitude and persona he has. And it depends upon the mixture of all parts of one’s life including personal choices and cultural and societal influences, but personal choices affect the identity of one more than the others.
“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly explores the concept of the body, life, ‘the self’ and most of importantly humanity, which is repeatedly questioned throughout the novel. The definition of humanity is the quality of being humane or in other words someone that can feel or possess compassion. Despite all the facts against the “monster” in “Frankenstein” he is indeed what one would consider being human. Humanity isn’t just about ones physical appearance but also includes intellect and emotion. Some people argue that the “monster” is not a human for he was not a creature that was born from “God” or from a human body. That being said, the “monster” is not only able to speak different languages, he can also show empathy - one of many distinct traits that set humans apart from the animals. Both the “monster” and his creator, Victor, hold anger and feel a sense of suffering throughout the novel. Victor is a good person with good intentions just like most individuals, but makes the mistake of getting swept up into his passion of science and without thinking of the consequences he creates a “monster”. After completing his science project, he attempts to move forward with his life, however his past – i.e., the “monster” continues to follow and someone haunt him. While one shouldn’t fault or place blame on Frankenstein for his mistakes, you also can’t help but feel somewhat sympathetic for the creature. Frankenstein just wants to feel accepted and loved, he can’t help the way he treats people for he’s only mimicking how people have treated him, which in most cases solely based on his appearance. Unlike most of the monsters we are exposed to in films past and present, the character of the “monster” ...
Investigating Osmosis in Potato Chips Planning Introduction: the definition of osmosis is the movement of water particles from a weaker solution to a stronger solution through a partially permeable membrane. Aim of investigation: I am trying to find out how external concentration of liquid surrounding a potato chip affects it - does it increase or decrease in mass etc. Method, diagram and equipment: Diagram of experiment Equipment · 5 Boiling tubes · weighing scales · sucrose solution · cork borer · a knife · white slate · potato Method: for my experiment I will: 1. place 3cm depth of distilled water into a boiling tube and label A 2. place 3cm depth of weak sucrose solution (0.25 Molar) into a boiling tube and label B 3.
not to squeeze any water out of the potato other wise it would of made
An Investigation Into the Effect of Sucrose Concentration On Osmosis in Potato Chips My aim is to investigate the amount of osmotic activity between a potato chip and different concentrations of sucrose. The following affect the rate of osmosis: Temperature The warmer most things are the more quickly particles move, therefore increased temperature will increase the rate of osmosis. So, if a potato chip is in a highly concentrated solution the water molecules will quickly leave the chip because of the increase in temperature or if the chip is in a high water concentration the water molecules will go inside the chip. Time The longer you leave the potato chip in the solution, more osmosis will occur, so the greater the change in mass in the potato chip.
The Effects of World War One on British Women “Without The First World War British Women Would Not Have Gained The
The court must not charge Victor Frankenstein with attempted murder because his intended victim does not fall within the protected class of the murder statute. Being fails to satisfy the scientific and legal requisites of human personhood because it acts like an animal more than a human, it wasn’t born naturally, and it has multiple sets of DNA, therefore it should be seen as an alien. Although Being does exemplify emotion and understanding of human nature, it cannot scientifically or lawfully be considered a Human Being. Therefore, Victor is just trying to turn off a form of Artificial Intelligence that has run awry.
These stay the same all the way through the experiment and are the fair test rules. In this experiment that are that the amount of sugar solution used must always me 10.0ml. This is to be placed into the test tube. The solution needs to always be at the same temperature. We will make sure that all experiments are at 20 degrees centigrade before we start the experiment. The size of the potato sample that we place into the solution also needs to be kept constant. A mass of 2.5-2.6g is sensible. The diameter is fixed as the potato cork borer always measures to the exact same measurement. We also needs to make sure that the potato is left in the solution for the same time, 30:00 minutes.
Identity-“Ones personal qualities.”Identiy is something only he or she can fully define. My uncle says I am affectionate,cheerful, and calm. My grandmother sees me as slim, pretty and sweet. My dad described me as perky, cheerful and happy, my mom says beautiful, gentle, and self-conscious. These adjectives describe me accurately, yet they are only abstract versions of me. Adjectives cannot begin to describe me and I aknowlege these descriptions for what they are, a condensed translation from my outward self to the world. It is impossible for anyone to understand me completely because nobody has experienced the things I have. My mother has never cherished a raggedy doll named Katie and my father never spent hours upon hours making collages and scrap books for his future children. My uncle never hid in the back of a pick-up-truck and traveled four hours to New York and my grandmother has never walked hours in the rain looking for the Queen of England. My identity is something only I can define.
Viktor Frankenstein’s chosen isolation and his ignorance for those who care for him as well as his own creation make him the true monster. In contrast, the creature’s wish to attain to achieve friends and social interactions almost make him more of a human than Viktor Frankenstein.
There are millions of words across the globe that are used to describe people and uncover their identity, but what is identity? How can you begin to describe something that varies so greatly from one human being to another? Can you create a universal meaning for a word describing human concepts that people often fail to define for themselves? Of course there isn't one definition to define such a word. It is an intricate aspect of human nature, and it has a definition just as complex.
Through out the story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the creature shows more of a friendly side. He gets judgments of people he meets along the way and they react with violence when the only thing he want is for humans to accept him. When people see him they the wrong idea about him. The creature was gooing through the flrest and sees a little girl drowning and her dad got the wrong expression. “she continued her course along the precipitous sides if the river,when suddenly her foot slipped,and fell in the rapid stream….but the man saw me draw near,he aimedbhis gun,which he carried,at my body and fired” (Shelley). Eventhough the creature tries to fit in and help people he always gets a bad reaction from people and ends up getting hurt.
Mary Shelly's Frankenstein was an inspirational novel about a creator a monster and a lot of killing. Many people may think that the overall purpose of the book is not to judge a person by their appearance, however the overall theme of the book Frankenstein is revenge. The monster sets out to kill all of victors family because Victor abandoned him soon after creating him.