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The representation of human nature in literature can reveal an author’s or director’s views on flaws in characters and societies. This is evident in the texts, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Mystery Road by Ivan Sen, as they both make interpretations on the deadly sin, Greed. There are many characteristic traits that make up human nature; greed is one such example, representing a flaw in people that drives an intensive, destructive and selfish desire for something. Through Shelley’s characters, Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton, she portrayed examples of extreme greed through their unabated obsession for knowledge. So much so, that their ambition leads to irresponsible behaviour and ultimately unwanted loneliness. Similarly, Sen conveyed …show more content…
traits of human nature such as greed, corruptibility, racism and misuse of power represented by his characters in Jay Swan, the local police and Drug dealers. In the novel Frankenstein, Victor’s intention of playing God by creating life can be interpreted as either for scientific progress and the benefit of society or greed for his own personal achievement. Shelley has used allusion and characterisation to convey these alternative interpretations. For example, the subtitle of the novel Frankenstein, “The Modern Prometheus”, is a reference to the Greek legend of Prometheus, a Titan who stole fire from Mount Olympus which was prohibited by his God, Zeus, and gave it to mankind. Shelley has used the allusion to show how Victor is alike Prometheus as he also attempts to help humankind by the means of immoral actions, like grave robbing. Victor did not accept nature’s limitations and sought the forbidden knowledge of life. This can be summarized by the proverb, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions”, as each impersonates the role of God. Victor’s desire to create life for his own selfish reasons showed him become totally consumed by this ambition. This is illustrated by his view, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source,” the knowledge is what he greedily sought not the product which was the monster. His greed was not monetary; he wanted the personal glory and thought if he could create life, then he could be the. Shelley portrays this reasoning in Victor’s reflections such as, “My dreams were… the search of the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life.” Shelley used an allusion to show Victor as the suffering champion, alike to Prometheus, desiring to do good for society. However, the characterisation she used makes one question Victor’s intentions, his actions were more in line with personal greed. Mary Shelley highlighted greed, an underlying flaw in human nature, through her representation of Victor Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Robert Walton’s single-minded quest for geographical discovery at any cost presents a similar dichotomy, was his motivation for the good of mankind or greed for personal ambition and achievement? Shelley’s characterisation of Walton’s showed his personality traits and provide insight into Walton’s character to understand if his underlying quest regards either greedy or noble. Walton states, “My life might have been passed in ease and luxury, but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path.” This characterisation by Shelley clearly emphasises his greed for glory rather than money. As the first narrator in the novel, we discover many parallels between his character and Victor’s exploring greed. After he meets Victor his narrative continues to be told via letters he is writing to his sister. We discover his disregard for the safety of the crew where he carries on his quest in perilous conditions in the quote, “…nor do the floating sheets of ice that continually pass us, indicating the dangers of the region towards which we are advancing”. Namely, greed for glory at any cost, however, his views alternate to show his actions were also for noble reasons. The quote, “you cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind to the last generation by discovering a passage,” demonstrates this point. Greed is a destructive trait that can be to the detriment of human life but it is sought so desperately because it can also lead to the greatest successes. Shelley has discussed how Walton’s human nature lies on a grey line of greed and decency using characterisation. The experience of the character Jay Swan in Sen’s movie Mystery Road represents current day struggles for indigenous people in small outback communities. Sen used effective camera shots to represent the small desolate outback town to have few job opportunities, a long history of racial tension and addiction problems. Camera work such as extreme long shots confirmed the boredom and isolation the community felt, as Jay travelled out of the town Sen showed the viewer vast landscapes of desolate farmland. The lack of employment led to boredom and then into greed for escapism in the form of drugs, alcohol and gambling. This idea in the film represents a widespread problem occurring in current outback communities as addictive behaviour like alcoholism has become part of their culture. This was reflected in the action of Mary Swan who Sen depicted gambling and drinking often early in the day. When Ashley Mason was told, her daughter had died immediately she said “I need a drink or somethin’ ” as she was clearly an alcoholic and used it to eases difficult situations. The young girls were desperate enough for drugs that they stood on the side of the road and went with truckies. This desire for escapism leads to the death of Julie and even children to gamble. It is human nature for people desire some form of escapism from a mundane life and the underlying flaw of greed explains the lengths people went to once they became addicted. In Mystery Road, Sen represented the police officers as taking advantage of their power by exploiting the towns people to make extra money through the characterisation of the Sargent (Sarge).
They were ruthless in their pursuit of cash, ruining people’s lives by producing drugs with no visible guilt or regret. The main reason that the police could do this unhindered is that they had the responsibility to enforce the law and due to the isolation weren’t held accountable. They were willing to take any action to maintain their illegal dealings including the murder of a fellow officer, Bobby. His wife Peggy said “Bobby always spoke a certain way... talking to another cop… Like he trusted them,” which shows that most people will fully trust the police. Throughout the film, written codes such “Massacre Creek” and “Slaughter Hill” on signs provide contextual information relating Indigenous and European history to the treatment of indigenous hundreds of years ago. It can be assumed that these names were given to the areas after indigenous were killed for their land out of greed. When the Sargent took Jay for a beer he used the metaphor, “Ah, come on, Jay. Your hands are gonna get a bit grubby from time to time,” suggesting that Jay would need to become crooked if he was to stay in the job. He was advised by Sarge to not get “caught in the middle” as a passive aggressive threat to either join them or face the same fate as Bobby. Sarge had gathered a lot of wealth from his unlawful practices as shown by his personal life as a landowner with horses “worth a buck. or two.” His nature and his many of his fellow officers, to retain and accumulate wealth by any means necessary, show immense greed with no regard for the huge influence he was making on the
town. Even though Frankenstein was written nearly two hundred years ago when I compare the text with the modern film Mystery Road, both display greed as an underlying flaw in their central characters. Nothing has changed in human nature over that period of time there are still people that are driven by ambition at any cost with no regard for consequences the underlying flaw of greed remains.
abandoned; this made him feel as if he was the only person with out no
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein reflects her real life; a life filled with loss. She lost her mother, and so did Victor Frankenstein. It would only make sense that the theme of the novel is human connection. Throughout the story, the monster searches for it, as well as Victor, and quite frankly everyone else.
American psychologist and well renowned author Jerome Kagan states “Genes and family may determine the foundation of the house, but time and place determine its form.” The topic of nature vs. nurture is highly known to the English literature community and is classified as a major aspect of gothic works. In the novel Frankenstein the author Mary Shelley uses the monster’s constant rejection from society to demonstrate that an individual’s traits are affected more by their environment and their surroundings than by nature.
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the author’s view concerning the role that human connections play is that humans need others in their lives in order to function correctly. As conveyed by Shelley, isolation and separation from any other beings leads to misery. Not having companions around also leads to a lack of the ability to behave constructively. Shelley’s views are conveyed throughout the novel through the decaying well being of certain characters.
Many innovations throughout the modern world have made life significantly easier, safer, of higher quality, and are said to be done for the "greater good of humanity". However, these accomplishments come at a cost, as expressed through the concepts of creation and responsibility that lie at the core of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It is through these concepts that Shelley explores how society has changed during Romanticism and the Industrial Revolution, with lessening importance on shared knowledge and the "public sphere" and more emphasis on individual achievement and identity, leading to a fractured and isolated society. In this paper I argue that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein criticizes the impacts of Industrial Revolution and Romantic era-inspired individualism on the community and individual, using Victor Frankenstein's disruption of the reproductive process and subsequent relationship with his creation as examples of potential negative consequences.
The fact that Frankenstein’s creation turns on him and murders innocent people is never overlooked; it has been the subject of virtually every popularization of the novel. What is not often acknowledged is the fact that Frankenstein himself embodies some of the worst traits of humankind. He is self-centered, with little real love for those who care about him; he is prejudiced, inflexible and cannot forgive, even in death. While some of these traits could be forgivable, to own and flaunt them all should be enough to remind a careful reader that there are two "monsters" in Frankenstein.
In Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein”, the monster’s account of his life from the day of his “birth” is distinct to the audience. As the monster constructs a narrative of his life from the day of his “birth” throughout his development in the novel, he has a request for his creator, Victor Frankenstein, too—to create a female partner for him. Although Victor Frankenstein does not fulfill the task he was requested to do, the monster persuaded him to agree to and to fulfill the task of creating a female partner for him. The monster uses ethos, organic imagery, and tonal shift to persuade his creator, Victor Frankenstein, to fulfill the task.
The philosophical root of Frankenstein seems to be the empiricist theory first promoted by John Locke in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. In that essay, the mind is concieved as beginning as a blank slate or tabula rasa, upon which the various impressions gained by the outside world shape the personality. According to this strict empiricism, the mind contains no innate basis for the basic prerequisites for human socialization: a social code and/or morality with empathetic roots. As a result of the monster's isolation, he is unable to sympathize with human beings and loses respect for other intelligent life. Even though the monster has good intentions, his beneficence is subverted by the negative and anti-social reactions he receives from the people he encounters.
“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” ...
creature is not to blame - it is the creator. For this reason, we feel
In the novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, the relationship of external apperence and internal feelings are directly related. The creature is created and he is innocent, though he is seaverly deformed. His nature is to be good and kind, but society only views his external appereance which is grotesque. Human nature is to judge by external apperence. He is automatically ostracized and labeled as a monster because of his external apperence. He finnaly realized that no matter how elequintly he speaks and how kind he is, people will never be able to see past his external deformities. Children are fearful of him, Adults think he is dangerous, and his own creator abandons him in disgust. The creature is treated as a monster, therefore he begins to internalize societies view of him and act the like a monster.
Sometimes, in novels like Frankenstein, the motives of the author are unclear. It is clear however, that one of the many themes Mary Shelley presents is the humanity of Victor Frankenstein's creation. Although she presents evidence in both support and opposition to the creation's humanity, it is apparent that this being is indeed human. His humanity is not only witnessed in his physical being, but in his intellectual and emotional thoughts as well. His humanity is argued by the fact that being human does not mean coming from a specific genetic chain and having family to relate to, but to embrace many of the distinct traits that set humans apart from other animals in this world. In fact, calling Victor's creation a `monster' doesn't support the argument that he is human, so for the sake of this case, his name shall be Phil.
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
Mary Shelley book Frankenstein, is a dark romantic novel that was published in the 19th century. Social prejudice based on physical appearance impacts a person's character negatively. Individuals make misjudgments based on physical aspects which affect how they treat the individual. Mary Shelly brings out the theme of appearance and prejudice in the novel Frankenstein. "The monster created by Victor Frankenstein highlights societal prejudice (Russell)."