Frankenstein is a book about a person creating a monster. Within the book, Frankenstein, the creator of the creature, had isolated himself to the point where he becomes more anxious until he reaches a point of relief as he watches nature. Due to his appearance, the creature was forced into isolation. Being unloved and disowned triggered his need for acceptance and love. The surroundings caused both characters to be obsessive to one’s attention once it’s given. Because of the isolated setting, the surroundings caused both characters to be obsessive to one’s attention once it’s given. The surroundings cause both characters to be obsessive to one’s attention once it’s given, so it caused them to be destructive when that attention is lost.
After visiting multiple
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professors and colleges, Frankenstein developed a theory where life can be artificially made.
Because of that theory, he spent years by himself within closed doors away from his family. As he is indebted to his work, he saw “summer passing and going into fall”. After a period of time, his letters to his family begin to falter as he isolates himself even more. However, when it comes to his father or Elizabeth, his lover, he is in need of their attention due to not being near people for a very long time. The setting within his own solitary confinement caused him to be emotionally unstable because he hasn’t been around people for a long period of time. Because he hasn’t been around people for so long, Frankenstein became ill after he met his Father when he was suspected of murder.
As the creature interacts with people, the creature faced harassments. When the creature had isolated himself within a forest, he found himself near a family. As he watches the family filled with enjoyment, he begins to develop emotions he had never felt before. Later on, he attempted to speak to the old man, but then got turned away from the son and daughter with a look of disgust because of the way he looks. The creature was abandoned again, but
still gave humanity one last hope. The creature gave humanity another chance, so he had helped a girl from drowning. Instead of getting an appreciation for helping the girl, the creature got shot by a man because the man had believed the creature was hurting the girl. The creature could’ve killed the man for shooting him, but ran instead. The creature was unaccepted once again, so he became obsessive for one’s attention. When the creature met a boy in Geneva, he grabbed the boy and tried to force the boy to accept him. When he found out the boy was related to Frankenstein, the creature had killed the boy and became a real monster. Once the creature had met with his creator, he begged the creator to create another creature like him so he won’t be lonely. When the creature had destroyed his newly suppose lover, he had sought to ruin his creator’s life. The creature didn’t want to kill the creator because he wants the creator to feel the same lonely feeling that he felt. The creature could’ve killed his creator, but he decides to kill his creator’s loved ones to propose a torturing mechanism for not creating his spouse. The physical contract of the monster and humans causes his moral traits to shift from acceptance to obsession. After being repeatedly alienated into the mountains, the creature became mentally ill and became physically violent in order to have someone to talk to. The creature became a monster when almost every encountered caused him to look differently, but if he was treated differently, he would’ve been morally different. After being isolated for so long, Frankenstein and the creature became obsessed to a point where they became mentally or physically ill. Because they were in a solitary setting, it caused them to be obsessed with one’s attention.
In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the Creature executes extreme and irreversible acts due to his isolation from society. Although the Creature displays kindness, his isolation drives him to act inhumanely.
The creation’s actions are influenced by his desire to make an impact upon Frankenstein. His decision to move to Geneva, his continuous contact with the human population when he could just as easily go off and live in nature, and the way he lives his life with killing and tormenting, all in hopes of having an influence upon Frankenstein. For example, at the end of the book, a large portion of the creation’s life motivation is to lead Frankenstein across the world, having him endure perpetual torment. The creation says, “I have devoted my creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love and admiration among men, to misery; I have pursued him even to that irremediable ruin” (185, Shelly). The creation turns this into sort of a game, every time Frankenstein is close to quitting the monster provides him with a clue or resources. In a type of sadistic way, the creation coerced Frankenstein into finally spending some father son time. This lack of attention provided by Frankenstein causes the monster to act out. This is mirrored by God’s negligence of Adam in the book of Genesis. The desire for a father’s attention is directly mirrored by Frankenstein and it seems as though Mary Shelley was commentating on the importance of a father’s presence in the life of their children. The novel Frankenstein implies that the concern and attention of one’s parental
Isolation in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, has several themes imbedded in the text. One major theme is of isolation. Many of the characters experience some time of isolation. The decisions and actions of some of these characters are the root cause of their isolation. They make choices that isolate themselves from everyone else.
As Frankenstein is enroute to his pursuit of gaining more knowledge, he states, “I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed” (Shelley 41). Frankenstein’s decision in allowing his intellectual ambitions to overpower everything else in his life leads him to be blinded to the dangers of creating life. He isolates himself from his society when creating the monster, letting himself be immersed in his creation while being driven by his passions, allowing nobody to be near him. The fact that he allows this creation of a monster to consume his total being reveals how blinded he is to the immorality of stepping outside the boundaries of science and defying nature. His goal in striving to achieve what wants to in placing man over nature makes him lose his sense of self as all he is focused on is the final product of his creation. He starts to realize his own faults as after he has created the monster, he becomes very ill and states, “The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him” (48). His impulsive decision to make the monster leads him to abhorring it as it does not turn out to be what he has expected. Because he chooses to isolate himself in creating the
All the events and misfortunes encountered in Frankenstein have been linked to one another as a chain of actions and reactions. Of course, the first action and link in the chain is started by Victor Frankenstein. Victor’s life starts with great potential. He comes from a decently wealthy family whose lack of love towards each other never existed. He is given everything he needs for a great future, and his academics seem to be convalescing.
Much like Walton, Frankenstein was alone in his childhood because he was an only child. Over time he acquires a fascination for science and begins to educate himself. “I was, to a great degree, self-taught with regard to my favorite studies. My father was not scientific, and I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness, added to a student’s thirst for knowledge” (Shelley 38). Frankenstein leaves his family at an early age to further his education. He has little to no contact with his family during this time, unless it’s by his terms. Frankenstein buries himself in his studies causing him to have few friends. By learning about his ways, it is obvious that he chose a life of solitude on his own. Though Frankenstein is comfortable being by himself, he does have one close friend, Clerval. This friendship is like the relationship Frankenstein has with his family, as it’s only a relationship when he wants it to be one. Even then, Frankenstein doesn’t confide in Clerval about the troubles he’s having with his experiment. Frankenstein chose to set his laboratory “in a solitary chamber, or rather cell, at the top of the house” (Shelley 52) in Ingolstadt. Due to the fact of his scientific experiments he believes it’s best for him to be alone in this time, even though he hasn’t seen his family in a while. Even with him choosing to be isolated, he insists that the reason he is isolated is because of the Creature. “I must
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main theme revolves around the internal and external consequences of being isolated from others. Being isolated from the world could result in a character losing his/her mental state and eventually causing harm to themselves or others. Because both Victor Frankenstein and the creature are isolated from family and society, they experienced depression, prejudice, and revenge.
Isolation is often a result of choosing to seek refuge in solitude, however, in many cases, it is a result of brutality from a surrounding environment. In Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel, Frankenstein,a gruesome and painful story serves as a cautionary tale in order to prevent another from a similar downfall. Although Victor Frankenstein is the narrator for the majority of the novel, the audience learns of the destruction that has followed his decisions as well as the forced estrangement upon those he has encountered. In Frankenstein, Shelley uses relatable characters that reflect the harsh superficial aspects of society.
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main theme of the story was isolation. Both internal and external consequences were the cause of being isolated from society. Frankenstein began to feel depressed after the creation of the monster and decided to isolate himself from his friends and family. Frankenstein kept his creation a secret from everyone because he was afraid of the consequences. Ironically, Frankenstein was the main problem for all of his sufferings. He thought that he could keep everyone safe if he were to not tell them about the monster, however, everyone died because he wanted to keep everyone from the truth. The creature also suffered many consequences from being isolated. He wanted to be part of a family, and feel
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley portrays an individual in a unique situation trying to overcome daily interactions while being faced with inconceivable misfortunes. Created by Victor Frankenstein, who set out on a journey to bring life to scrapped pieces of waste, he was then abandoned and left to fend for himself in a world he was abruptly brought into. After being abandoned by his creator for his less than appealing looks, this then sparked his inevitable desire for revenge. Eventually leading to the destruction of those associated with his creator. Knowing that he will never fit in, the monster began to act out in hopes of getting back at his creator for what he did. His vulnerability due to missing guidance and parental figures in his beginning stages of life contributed to his behavior. The books and article Family Crisis and Children’s Therapy Groups written by Gianetti, Audoin, and Uzé, Victim Of Romance: The Life And Death Of Fanny Godwin by Maurice Hindle, and Social Behavior and Personality by Lubomir Lamy, Jacques Fishcher-Lokou, and Nicolas Gueguen support why the monster acts the way he does. The monster’s behavior stems from Victor’s actions at the beginning of his life and therefore is not to blame. The creature in Frankenstein is deserving of sympathy even though he committed those murders because the lack of parental guidance, lack of family, and lack of someone to love led him to that. All in all his actions were not malicious, but only retaliation for what he had been put through.
Throughout the year Professor Prudden has been teaching us the idea of the individual and when and how it came about. We have studied The French Revolution, Scientific Revolution, Colonialism, and Reformation, all stressing what made this time period important to the individual. We finished the class reading the novel Frankenstein with does a great job of demonstrating a man or “monster” creaking his own being. We have already determined that an individual is; the habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant. Mary Shelley demonstrates individuality through Frankenstein and leads to his internal isolation and loneliness. She shows that uniqueness is the most important aspect of individualism not only through Frankenstein but Victor
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, one of the key themes is loneliness. For many, most of their time is spent with people, whether it is friends, family, coworkers, or strangers. Many of the characters in this book break that norm and spend countless hours alone. Having time to reflect and think about everything. Sometimes, the characters are still lonely, even with people, and sometimes friends around them.
Victor Frankenstein is originally a happy character that loves to learn and read a large variety of books. He was a fiery individual who sought to understand all knowledge; regardless of how practical the information was. Evidence of this is when his father tells him not to worry about fictional writers like Cornelius Agrippa. Yet, Frankenstein states, “But here were books, and here were men who had penetrated deeper and knew more. I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple” (21). Frankenstein embodies the movement in science to understand everything, and that is not necessarily a good thing (Storment 2). Frankenstein only understands that this train of thought is bad when he reaches the pinnacle of knowledge and produces the creature. The fruits of Frankenstein’s labor end up costing him the lives of his friends and family, as well as his own sanity. The feeling of guilt thrives in Frankenstein because he knows his work was the direct cause of the chaos in his life. In Frankenstein’s case, his goal of total enlightenment led to his pitiful demise. Frankenstein’s creature was not originally a monster. He is born with good intentions and is a gentle- although atrocious looking- being until he learns of the sins of the human race. The ultimate factor in the creature’s progression from harmless to
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein is a novel narrated by Robert Walton about Victor Frankenstein and the Monster that he creates. Frankenstein grew up surrounding himself with what he loved most, science. He attended Ingolstadt University where he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, but being involved in academics was not enough for him. Frankenstein wanted to discover things, but did not think about the potential outcomes that could come with this decision. Frankenstein was astonished by the human frame and all living creatures, so he built the Monster out of various human and animal parts (Shelley, 52). At the time Frankenstein thought this creation was a great discovery, but as time went on the Monster turned out to be terrifying to anyone he came in contact with. So, taking his anger out on Frankenstein, the Monster causes chaos in a lot of people’s lives and the continuing battle goes on between the Monster and Frankenstein. Throughout this novel, it is hard to perceive who is pursuing whom as well as who ends up worse off until the book comes to a close.
Frankenstein is unable to find a balance between his ego and Id. He is driven by his Id and gets caught up in his work, meanwhile losing himself in the process. Eventually his Id is what leads to his loneliness. He becomes detached from his family and friends and gives into his desires. Instead of appreciating what he has he gives into what Freud would call his pleasure principle. This principle wants to please every impulse as soon as possible without regard to