Isolation Can be Deadly

769 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Frankenstein by mary shelley essay introduction

In Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, readers get to take an inside look at Victor’s (the protagonist) life compared to the monster’s life after he is brought to life. In Frankenstein, the bad parenting theme is quite apparent. There are very few “good” parents in the midst of what seems to be quite a few “bad” parents, including Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the monster. Victor comes from a loving and caring family, while Frankenstein is left alone with no one to care for him. If one is left isolated with no one to care for him and talk to him, he will get frustrated and will want to get revenge from society, which may mean becoming evil.
The story begins with describing Victor’s life in Geneva with his loving family and his cousin Elizabeth. After the death of his mother, Victor moves and goes to attend the University of Ingolstadt. Because he is now isolated from his family, Victors interest in science is heightened. In fact, he becomes obsessed with trying to discover the secrets of life and how to create it. He spends months on research, isolating himself from everybody and everything only focusing on his research to bring new life into the world. “I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit” (32).
When he finally finishes his research, he is able to bring his creation- the monster, to life. When Victor sees his own creation, and what he has brought to life, he panics. He realizes he has made a huge mistake. “…But now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (34). But rather than dealing with that mistake, he abandons it, leaving the monster for dead. The way Victor abandons his creation, is the prime example of bad parenting in the s...

... middle of paper ...

...eart” (95).
Complete withdrawal of human connection and isolation for long periods of time can lead to permanent scarring of emotions and can even lead to madness as seen in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Without someone to talk to or share your feelings with, you become less human as time goes on and turn to other sources, whether it be drugs, an obsession with something you’re interested in as Victor was in science and life, or violence, as portrayed by the monster. Family, whether it be blood or not, is an important part of sculpting human characteristics, and can keep us from becoming monstrous and evil.

Works Cited

Mcintyre, Stella. "Bad Parenting in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein." By Stella Mcintyre. N.p., 23 Apr. 2009. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein 2nd ed. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. A Norton Critical Edition. New York: W.W Norton, 2012. 4-156. Print

Show More
Related

  • Tragic Hero in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Corruption In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    249 Words  | 1 Pages

    There is also corruption within the lack of relationship between Victor and his creation that leads to death, revenge and internal hatred surrounding them. Being there for a child or creation at birth and throughout their childhood is another critical responsibility of being a parent or creator. At the time of the monster’s creation, Victor abandons him and leaves him alone to suffer the first moments he is experiencing the world, which causes the monster to feel very empty and outcast from the start, without even knowing he is a “monster”: . “It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate.” (87). Mary Shelley’s use of the word “desolate” really captures the exact emotion

    Read More

  • Comparing Frankenstein, Origin of the Species and Decent of Man

    1402 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press, 1999.

    Read More

  • Victor Frankenstein’s Isolation

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everything starts to change once Victors ambitions become his life. He leaves to study at Ingolstadt, where his destiny begins to unfold. This is when Victor’s isolation begins. The search for the secrets of life consumes him for many years until he thinks he has found it. For months, he assembles what he needs for his creation to come alive.

    Read More

  • Blind Ambition in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. Edited with an Introduction and notes by Maurice Hindle. Penguin books, 1992

    Read More

  • Frankenstein and the Sorrows of Young Werther, Mary Shelley

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. The 1818 Text. New York: Oxford UP, 1998.

    Read More

  • S Mistreatment Towards Physically Disabled Children In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1818, Mary Shelley wrote the novel of Frankenstein. The novel shows examples of abandonment, illustrated by the relationship between the Monster and Victor Frankenstein, and additionally foreshadows current events. The novel also describes how Victor Frankenstein, the creator, left his creation as nothing. The Monster did not have anyone to depend on in his life growing up like many children in today's society. Victor was not a good parent to the Monster and like in today’s society some parents, children are being rejected and abandoned.

    Read More

  • Why Is Curiosity Important In Frankenstein

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    Victor is so enamored at the idea of creating life. He spends months studying at Ingolstadt and then in isolation working on his own creation, the monster. "After so much time spent in painful labour, to arrive at once at the summit of my desires was the most gratifying consummation of my toils. But this discovery was so great and overwhelming that all the steps by which I had been progressively led to it were

    Read More

  • Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

    3231 Words  | 7 Pages

    Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. Edited with an Introduction and notes by Maurice Hindle. Penguin books, 1992

    Read More

  • Victor as the Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because of Victor’s need for fame and desire for power leads to Victor becoming a monster. Victor begins his quest to bring life to a dead person because he does not want anyone to feel the pain of a loved ones death. At first he is not obsessed with his project. As he moves along in the project he thinks about what will happen to him. "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me." (Shelley 39) He realizes that he will become famous if he accomplishes the task of bringing a person back to life. The realization that he will become famous turns him into an obsessive monster. He wanted to be admired, and praised as a species creator. He isolates himself from his family and works on the creature. “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I deprived myself of rest and health. 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 156) By spending most of his time inside on his experiment, he has no time to write or contact his family. He puts fear within his family because they fear for him.

    Read More

  • Who Is Victor Frankenstein Poor Parenting

    1571 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the tale of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a reader must pay attention to what the author’s message is. There are two sides of this novel, the monster's side and Victor Frankenstein's side. Frankenstein's past and family history can foreshadow not only his flaws but also the events of how he leads himself to his own downfall. The reader has to ask themselves, are all the event present in this novel Victor's fault or are they all a result of poor parenting. Mary Shelley shows how poor parenting can completely change a person's life, or in the books case Victor and the monsters life .Without a doubt Victor's poor parenting skills are at direct fault for both of the characters downfalls.

    Read More

  • Who Is Victor Frankenstein A Tragic Hero

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    Victor initially approached his work full of excitement—his eagerness to develop a breakthrough discovery keeping him blind to the horrifying reality of his actions. Victor states how he was moved “in the first enthusiasm of success”, assuming his attempts in gaining control over the cycle of life would benefit humanity in some fashion and “pour a torrent of light into our dark world”(p.54). He began his research when he analyzes how “the corruption of death succeed[s] to the blooming cheek of life” during his nightly visits to “vaults and charnel houses”(p.52). Due to these moments of lucubration, he had an epiphanic moment, where he “became dizzy with the immensity” of his discoveries (p.52). After Victor had completed the vision that held such a tight grasp around his mind, the moment of true realization came to him. “The beauty of the dream had vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart”(p.59). He then proceeded to run from his creation, the finished product of all his hard work. This scene of unforecasted abandonment was the catalyst of pain, suffering, and misfortune that would soon be inflicted onto his unnamed monster. The monster has been cruelly forced to understand this new life and new world without any sort of guidance, and because of that, the monster develops and thrives off of its hatred for its creator, thus tipping over the dominos of misfortune in not only Victor’s life, but the lives of all those closest to him. When someone fails to take responsibility for their own actions and mistakes, it paves the way for future mishaps to become even more destruction, thus causing pain and misery, not only to themselves, but all those around

    Read More

  • Science in Not Going Too Far

    1968 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shelly, Mary. "Frankenstein." The Presence of Others. Editors Andrea A. Lunnsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York. Bedford St. Martin's, 2000, 233.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Abandonment Essay

    1980 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein shows how a child’s feelings of abandonment, can have an effect on a child’s upbringing into adulthood. Victor Frankenstein a young scientist interested in the study of chemistry, creates the monster as a scientific experiment. After he creates the monster, Frankenstein becomes fearful and disgusted over his creation. He runs away from him and mistreats him as a result. The monster now abandoned does not have anyone in his life to understand him. The relationship between Victor Frankenstein and the monster in this novel parallels how Mary Shelley felt growing up without her mother. Therefore, similarities can be drawn between Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein and the feelings of abandonment through the

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Family Relationships

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through Mary Shelley’s book, Frankenstein, she demonstrates the importance of familial bonds and what consequences could happen if there is no type of family relationship through the monster and Victor Frankenstein.

    Read More

More about Isolation Can be Deadly

Open Document