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Diction and imagery of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
The theme of isolation in Frankenstein
Examples of monsters in literature
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In general , isolation means separation from others or the people around you emotionally or physically or both. Whereas , Rejection is the action of spurning a person’s affections. Both Rejection and isolation are linked with each other. Rejection of a person’s affections or proposal creates sulkiness which leads to the state of isolation of that person. Throughout the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, theme of rejection and isolation is carried on. In the novel ,the three main characters – the scientist : Victor Frankenstein , the ugly creation of the scientist :The Monster , and The Captain Robert Walton. Isolation is something Victor Frankenstein experiences his entire life from childhood to family, scientific work and society Victor …show more content…
left his family and engrossed himself in the study of science, infact he locked himself in room studying and not cared about being isolated . Victor chosed isolation for himself and no one forced him to be isolated. The only reason he gave for being in isolation is because of his creation as he says “ I must absent myself from all I loved while thus employed. Once commenced , it would quickly be achieved, and I might be restored to my family in peace and happiness.” In the Shelley’s novel the character of Victor the oldest son in the Frankenstein family and the novel’s protagonist is a man of science and his thirst for knowledge and powerful eventually lead him to discover “secret of life” and he through the implication of his knowledge he created a not so good looking creature .His prejudice failed to withstand his creature’s ugliness and deserted it. Victor infused with great repulsion says “ The beauty of the dream vanished , and breathless horror disgust filled my heart. ” Earlier Victor kept himself isolated due to his creation and now because he regret his creation and kept it as a secret. Later which persuades victor to stay away from his family in order to protect them from his ugly creation. The theme of isolation has also being depicted through Victor’s ugly creation. Unlike the creator , the ugly creation was forced to be isolated because of its ugliness. The creature’s parent deserted it “unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created , I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep.” Later he once again experiences rejection and isolation when he comes contact with the villagers where they mistreated him by throwing stones on him “I had hardly placed my foots within the door before the children shrieked , and one of the woman fainted : the whole village was roused ,some fled and some attacked me . The third time when he faced rejection by humans was with DcLacey family , he secretly watched the family as he wanted to become a part of it.
He noticed “that these people possessed a method of communicating their experience and feelings to one another by articulate sounds .” While observing the family he found their language very interesting and called it “a godlike science” which he wanted to learn from them. Once again he get rejected by the family just because of the children who got scared by his appearance. Only the blind father of the family is ready to hear his story because he cannot see and judge him by his looks but can only hear him. The most persuasive power of monster is his power of speech. The family of the blind man exemplifies the creature’s first school of human nature. Anomaly is what society doesn’t …show more content…
accept. The creature eventually realises that he would be never accepted by the society and hence decides to reciprocate with ferocity which eventually converted it into a murderer “ I am malicious because I am miserable , am I not shunned ant hated by all mankind.” It is the society and the humanity that mould the creature into a savage. The Captain Robert Walton also held a chief standing in the novel.
In the novel , captain Walton has been given a well united personality in comparison to the scientist Victor and his creation. Like Victor he picked seclusion for himself however on the contrary he desires for a companionship. His character has been depicted as a equilibrium between the scientist Victor who himself chooses to be secluded from the society , and on the other side, Victor’s ugly creation Monster who was forced to be secluded by his creator and he longs for the companionship. Unlike the scientist , Walton is able to foresee the consequences of his desire for knowledge . Forecasting the uncertain journey ahead he cancels his expedition . As he got literate in similar way to Victor , Walton’s childhood too went in seclusion. Which highlights one more similarity between Walton and the scientist Victor that is the lust of knowledge as he quotes “ there is a love for the marvelous , a belief in the marvelous , intertwined in all my projects , which hurries me out of the common pathways of men , even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore”. Walton’s yearning to go on a voyage to “unexplored regions” can also be seen as his experience of isolation far away from civilization. The only exception which deviate Walton from Victor and his creation is that he was in touch with his sister through
letter. In the novel Frankenstein , the scientist Victor has been depicted as a person exceedingly passionate for acquiring godly knowledge , knowledge of creating a new life , the character of victor is somewhat same as that of passionate scientist "Doctor Faustus" of Christopher Marlow who asked Mephistopheles , the representative of devil, to have ingress to the forbidden knowledge of magic. The downfall of Victor and Doctor Faustus conveys as a warning to the readers. Doctor Faustus misuse his power and in the end regret for it. Similarly, Victor Frankenstein's egotism and prejudice for which in the end he laments and regrets and is finally killed by his own creation. Mary Shelly shows us through Victor Frankenstein , that one cannot outrun their past or their obligations . By Frankenstein abandonment of the creature , this foreshadows more pain and isolation to both Victor Frankenstein and his creation.
Isolation is a popular feeling and theme faced by many characters in both Brave New World and Frankenstein. “Community, Identity, Stability” (Huxley 1), are the first
Walton reiterates his loneliness; even though he is surrounded by people on his ship, he “[has] no friend” (Shelley 7-8). Contributing to this feeling of isolation, Walton uses a tone of depression in his letters, a recurring feeling he experiences. He hints in nearly every letter clues indicating his fear of death. He wants his sister to “remember [him] with affection; should [she] never hear from [him] again” (Shelley 10). By constantly mentioning the possibility of his own death in his letters, Shelley stresses Walton’s overvalued worry of dying. Walton longs to see his sister; his mental condition leads him to even consider himself abandoned. Walton admits that success during this mission will lead to “many, many months, perhaps years” before they would meet again; however, failure results in either quick departure for home, or death (Shelley 6). Whether he succeeds or fails, he will have negative results. These constant recurrences emphasize the validity of his mental illness. As he develops the mental disease, Walton creates a world that makes sense in his mind, and his mind alone; he “[lives] in a Paradise of [his] own creation” with characters whom spawn from his own psyche (Shelley 5).
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, values of society are clearly expressed. In this particular society and culture, a great value is placed on ideologies of individuals and their contribution to society. In order to highlight these values, Shelley utilizes the character of Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein is the main character of the novel, and with his alienation, he plays a significant role that reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values of individualism and use in society. This is done through Victor’s actions of self-inflicted isolation.
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.
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.
Frankenstein and his monster experience isolation, though they are very different types of isolation. Dr. Frankenstein’s isolation is self imposed, mainly because he is trying to keep the monster away from his family. This isolation causes him to have a break down and throw himself into isolation. “And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent…” (Shelley 53). The only thoughts in Frankenstein’s mind are of the monster and the side effects of creating the monster, which means he has no room to socialize and pulls himself into isolation. Isolation makes Frankenstein’s mental health deteriorate, which makes the monster’s terrorization of him worse. The monster’s isolation is because of the way he looks and not because he wishes to live alone. The effects of isolation on the monster are very evident. He watches the family and wishes to be a part of it, and he takes away Frankenstein’s family to try and make him feel the same. “...and I longed to join them, but dared not” (Shelley
Isolation is one of the major motifs that resonates throughout Frankenstein. Tying into the romantic style of the novel, Shelley uses this element all the way through the work to show a repetition of isolation, an aspect that is present in almost every character in the novel and expressed primarily in Victor and the monster. But even some other minor characters such as Justine, Caroline, and Walton deal with isolation in one way or another.
Throughout his journey, he writes letters to his sister informing her of his trip. He is very isolated the whole trip, along with isolation comes depression. He informs his sister of how he is feeling lonesome. He is in desperate need of a friend. Walton stays positive throughout his whole journey and is optimist. Once Victor comes aboard his ship, he is accepting and generous. Even though Victors story sounded farfetched, Walton believed him, and agreed to help him. When Walton comes face to face with the creature, he listens to him. Something the creature is not used to. Just by talking to Walton, the creature lets all his emotions loose. Saying he will “seek the most northern extremity of the globe”(240), in an attempt to leave all his misery behind. Having contact with even just the creature and Victor, he is has peace. What he wants he has achieved. Though it might have been for a short amount of time it had still impacts Walton in a positive way. Walton makes sure to never loose hope, he stays positive through it all.
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.
Exile. Behind the word lies angst, behind it lies fear, behind it lies sorrow. To be exiled, outcasted, or abandoned is one of the biggest fear of humanity. For to be alone, one is left with their own thoughts. No one wants to be the fallen angel. The world exile carries with it many different negative connotations. The rest of society does not dare to interact with those exiled. Society does not dare to dance with the devil. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster. The creature is abandoned by Frankenstein. And the creature searches for company and to eliminate the feeling of loneliness he has inside. After scrutinizing Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the creature chases after a normal life, one without loneliness; however, society
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein centers around a creator who rejects his own creation. The plot thickens as Victor Frankenstein turns his back on his creation out of fear and regret. The monster is cast out alone to figure out the world and as a result of a life with no love, he turns evil. Shelley seems to urge the reader to try a relate with this monster and avoid just seeing him as an evil being beyond repentance. There is no doubt that the monster is in fact evil; however, the monster’s evilness stems from rejection from his creator.
Marry Shelly’s Frankenstein is one of the earliest known works of science fiction; it depicts a man who creates a monster. The Creature’s ungodly creation leads to the destruction of an entire village and his own creator as well. One of Shelly’s central themes in Frankenstein is the concept of the effects of isolation on a person; the concept of the effects of isolation is spread out throughout the book. The effects of isolation from ambition, the effects of isolation from family and the effects of isolation from society all play factors in building the book completely. The effects of isolation is an underlining theme, due to what it leads to in each aspect. The first effects of isolation to be examined will be isolation from ambition.
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
When we neglect and mistreat people with unacceptable appearances towards us, we create a monster. Throughout the quote you analyze when the creature says how all of civilization hates him and he is mistreated and abused by his own creator. In conclusion the creature gets angry and tries to reason with him.
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 is told as a cautionary tale 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.