Loneliness In Frankenstein

Becoming isolated with today’s society is usually a frightful thought. However, with video games, television, and cell phones, isolation from society does actually happen. But, what about when there was hardly any technology: could someone still become an outcast? One example would be Victor Frankenstein during the 1700’s, isolating himself due to his pursuit of knowledge, as he creates a monster, and consequently is punished by attempting to act as God. Mary Shelley, in the book Frankenstein, describes of how a person could inevitably become isolated due to the valuable, yet dangerous, pursuit of knowledge, and furthermore, one’s appearance. Shelley successfully describes these ideas through the clever use of allusion, symbolism, and various

themes.
Throughout the book, Mary Shelley alluded her characters to commonly known stories, mainly to the biblical character Adam.

Right at the beginning of the story, Shelley alluded to the book, “Rime of Ancient Mariner”, where Victor played the role of the Mariner, where he felt compelled to share his story with anyone who would listen, became the true murderer of his family, and also brought an unavoidable curse upon himself, and therefore, the remainder of his family. This first allusion foreshadowed the future events of Victor’s wretched story, as the Mariner in the story stumbled upon an unfortunate curse by killing others. Another allusion was where the creature expressed his loneliness to Victor, as he miserably continued his petty life. He compared himself to Adam, being the only one of his kind, and had no real connections or links to humans and their society. “Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel." (70 ). The creature had attempted to appeal to Frankenstein’s sympathy by comparing himself to Adam, as there were no others of his kind. By referring himself to Adam, Victor’s guilt had increased, and he then felt obligated to at least hear the creature’s story. One final allusion was where the monster had dreamed the most happiest dream of his life, where he had another just like him, and all was well; until the creature woke up. "But it was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone” (95).

This dream of his had been the final blow to his sanity, he awoke with anger and sadness, knowing that he had no other’s like him to share his life with. The allusion back to Adam and Eve, where Adam at least had Eve, had proven to the monster that there was nobody to love him, and so a thought had crossed his mind that Victor must create another creature so he will finally be loved by another. Though there were many more allusions throughout this book, these three had been the most important throughout the story, as they would foreshadow future events, and also cause more misery to either Victor or the creature, thus making their lives more sorrowful.
Symbolism, which creates true meanings of characters, places, and events, was portrayed many times throughout “Frankenstein”. One such example was near the beginning of Victor’s story, when a strike of lightning had struck the tree outside their house. This brilliant light signifyed knowledge, where he suddenly understood that his path in life should involve the study of electricity. “I at once gave up my former occupations …. I betook myself to the mathematics, and the branches of study appertaining to that science” (24). This sudden realization of what Victor desired to pursue undoubtedly led to his life’s many misfortunes, as “the last effort made by the spirit of preservation to avert the storm” (24) was regrettably unacknowledged. Another symbol commonly used through this story is ice. Ice symbolizes isolation, like how the monster is treated horribly by the human race due to his appearance, so he decides to reside to the icy mountains, where there were no other creatures there to manifest hatred to him. Also, when victor feels guilty for the death of William and Justine, and becomes miserable, he chooses to take a trip to the icy Alps to isolate himself, where he then coincidentally runs into the path of his creation. Symbolism not only can be events or places, but also the names of characters, such as the names Victor and Justine. The name Victor could have been chosen to ironically symbolize being “victorious”, where Victor is clearly the complete opposite. Justine was chosen to symbolize “justice”, where she was unlawfully brought to justice with the unfortunate death of William. Even though everyone knew of her innocence, she had given up all hope, and decided to confess to a murder she did not commit. With the death of Justine, Victor now realizes that he is the true murder of both William and Justine, and spirals towards insanity and guilt.
Shelley’s final literary tool used was tone.

Many different tones were utilized in this story, which all portrayed the overall message of this book. One major theme depicted in Frankenstein is the consequence of irresponsibility in the pursuit of knowledge. This theme was carried out by Victor, as he pursued his path of knowledge to create life in death. This irresponsibility therefore led to his miserable destiny, where his life will be cursed by the creature he had created. Another major theme illustrated through the monster’s point of view is the consequence of society’s rejection due to unattractiveness. The creature was harshly judged of his appearance through every encounter of the human race he had. Victor, his creator, even fled from his horrid complexion, which after reading Victor’s journal entries throughout his creation, led the monster into Shelley’s next theme about the destructive power of revenge. Soon after gaining the knowledge of speaking and reading, he discovers notes over his creation by Victor, leading him into swearing vengeance on Victor’s entire family and friends, hoping that he will be as miserable as the creature was when discovering everyone’s hatred toward him. However, the monster’s act of revenge not only harms Victor, but also himself, and many others in his

path.
Though this book may be fiction, many of the themes, ideas, and symbols correspond into today’s harsh society. Mary Shelley does an excellent job by not only telling an intriguing, famous story, but also by relating Frankenstein to today's world through her use of allusions, symbolism, and many various tones throughout the story. The judgemental aspect of human beings can unfortunately lead to isolation, and quite possibly revenge, as Shelley portrays in her book.