Darren Bogart 25 May 2015 Moomau Period 3 Frankenstein- Isolation Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is a novel that follows the struggles of Dr. Victor Frankenstein with a monster he has brought to life. Readers may not know that Shelley, who suffered three successive losses in her early life, wrote the novel as a reflection of her own experiences with rejection. Mary’s loneliness resulted in the conception of Victor and his creation, who both suffered from mental and physical isolation throughout the story, eventually leading to the death of each of them. However, the ways in which Victor and the monster suffered from isolation and handle their loneliness, as well as the causes of each, are very different. Victor chose to spend his life in isolation, …show more content…
He “became nervous to a most painful degree; the fall of a leaf startled [him], and [he] shunned [his] fellow creatures” (41). Victor’s craze over the monster brought him to a state of paranoia and insanity. Victor separated himself from his family in order to pursue his creation. Victor infrequently reciprocated the affection his family and friends showed him, often ignoring the letters they sent him. After Victor’s father, Alphonse, sent him a letter reminding him to stay in touch, Victor disregarded his request, for his father “could not tear [his] thoughts from [his] employment” (40). Victor regarded his work as more important than his relationship with his family. While creating the monster, Victor was so engrossed in his objective that he removed himself from …show more content…
The creature was exiled from humans because they were incapable of interacting with him, due to the “breathless horror” of his appearance. The monster found comfort in watching the family of De Lacey, an old blind man. The creature learned social norms from the family by watching them over time, and De Lacey accepted the monster. Although the creature was very enthusiastic about learning about humans, his “increase of knowledge only discovered to [him] what a wretched outcast [he] was” (111). After stalking the family, he realized the blatant differences between himself and the humans. Unfortunately, even De Lacey abandoned the monster after being forced to leave the cottage by his children in order to escape the monster. The creature’s “protectors had departed and had broken the only link that held [him] to the world” (118). After being deserted by the only individual that accepted him, the creature realized he would forever lack a companion. The monster recalled that “[he] possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property” (100), and was agonized by his hideous and deformed appearance. Although the monster lived in solitude, he learned how to survive by himself entirely on his own, and becomes stronger. Additionally, the monster also suffers from a lack of care from his creator, Victor. He stated that “[his] creator, detest[s] and spurn[s] [him]” (81). The monster’s hunger for Victor’s attention is
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley highlights on the experiences her characters undergo through the internal war of passion and responsibility. Victor Frankenstein lets his eagerness of knowledge and creating life get so out of hand that he fails to realize what the outcome of such a creature would affect humankind. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, highlights on how Frankenstein’s passion of knowledge is what ultimately causes the decline of his health and the death of him and his loved ones.
Being isolated and separated from other people for a prolonged amount of time, can gradually make a person miserable. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is a martyr for Shelley’s view that a lack of human connections leads to misery. Victor being from a highly respected and distinguished
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.
The creature never had an inclination to be murderous, and “becomes violent only after he is repeatedly rejected by society” (Nocks). Failing to win companionship by attempting to understand people and learning their language, he turns to his creator. The monster explains that he is just like the people who hate him, with the same desires and emotions. After developing all these ideas of society and emotions, he learns that there is no way for him to express them. Following his many attempts to fit into the world, he realizes that he will never be accepted by humans, and vows to destroy all of mankind. Society and its mistreatment of the monster causes it to become barbaric. He states, “My protectors had departed, and had broken the only link that held me to the world” (Shelley 134). The creature speaks of how his protectors had essentially cut him off from society, which would lead him to act out against all of mankind. The incorporation of the three books also develop the creature, and may have provided him with false perceptions about human interaction and the world in general. Lack of human interaction can greatly affect one’s decisions and can cause one to have a bad a reaction to their
Few human experiences are as wretched as facing the fact that one is alone; perhaps because isolation is so easily recognized and dwelled upon when one is without friends to distract from life’s woes. Now consider isolation at its most extreme and ponder what such abject loneliness would do to man. This is the fate of Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Frankenstein is the story of how one man’s experiment has the unintended consequence of making Frankenstein and his creation, the Monster, completely isolated from the rest of humanity: the creator of the unnatural monster dares not relate his tale lest due to his punishing guilt, and the hideous being himself shares neither kinship nor experience with anyone.
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “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 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
Victor, out of horror of what he had created leaves the monster in isolation. The monster describes what it was like, “It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as it were instinctively, finding myself so desolate… I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept,” (Shelley 87). At this point the monster is just an innocent child, who in his first hours has faced abandonment and such strong emotions. However, he is pure, like most babies. While he looks like a monstrosity he shows himself to be anything but. His first encounters with humans are all very negative. A man runs away screaming just at the sight of him. Villagers pelted him with rocks and chased him away. This makes him very fearful of humans. However, when he comes across the De Lacey family in their little cottage he sees how peaceful they are and he regains some hope. “What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people; and I longed to join them, but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night before from the barbarous villagers, and resolved, whatever course of conduct I might hereafter think it right to pursue, that for the present I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching, and endeavoring to discover the motives which influenced their actions,” (Shelley 93). He is curious little
Friendship is one of the most common human desires found all over the world in every different type of people. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this deep-seeded need is explored, especially as it manifests itself in the hearts of three great men. Captain Walden writes to his sister about the loneliness that he is experiencing on his journey at the very start of the book. Then, as the story progresses, a similar want can be found in Victor despite his tightly woven relationship with Henry Clerval. The Creature is constantly denied his lust for companionship demonstrates the horrible consequences of incessant loneliness. His amiable nature combined with his grotesque appearance proves to be a horrific collaboration that serves only in gaining rejection as he is shunned, quite irrationally, over and over again by all living beings. The Creature's suffering could only be abandoned if he were able to encounter an unprejudiced and completely tolerant friend. Shelley masterfully conveys the importance of a kindred spirit and the overall necessity of loyalty between people.
Everybody will at one point in his or her lifetime experience isolation or anger. Isolation can be chosen or forced, but anger is something that needs to be controlled. To control anger you need to be taught how to and time to practice it. This skill is usually taught to children by their parents; however, this is not always the case, as some children are abandoned by their parents. Abandonment can cause depression, anger, and the absence of valuable life lessons which upon further inspection are all interconnected. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this loop is represented by the story of Victor Frankenstein’s creature. Shelley shows how being forced into isolation can affect a human. Today there are television shows of human attempts to survive
An idea becomes a vision, the vision develops a plan, and this plan becomes an ambition. Unfortunately for Victor Frankenstein, his ambitions and accomplishments drowned him in sorrow from the result of many unfortunate events. These events caused Victors family and his creation to suffer. Rejection and isolation are two of the most vital themes in which many dreadful consequences derive from. Victor isolates himself from his family, friends, and meant-to-be wife. His ambitions are what isolate him and brought to life a creature whose suffering was unfairly conveyed into his life. The creature is isolated by everyone including his creator. He had no choice, unlike Victor. Finally, as the story starts to change, the creature begins to take control of the situation. It is now Victor being isolated by the creature as a form of revenge. 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.
‘Frankenstein’ or ‘The Modern Prometheus‘ is a 19th century gothic novel written by Mary Shelley. Shelley’s interest in the physical sciences had led her to writing a novel that is based on creating human life in an unnatural way. Victor is one if the narrators who has an unnatural obsession with the sciences led him to discover the secret of life; creating the abomination that is his monster. Walton serves as the neutral narrator that has no personal impact on Victor’s and the monster’s tales. It is through Walton that the monster was able to express his feelings at the death of his creator.
In the novel, Victor is raised up by two happy parents in caring and indulgence. He receives a sister, an education, affection, and a wife from his family. However, unlike Victor, the Monster does not have any maternal or paternal figure to care and teach him values. When the Monster first escapes from Victor’s apartment and enters into the forest, he lives like an animal. He eats berries, drinks water from the streams when he gets thirsty, and sleeps in anywhere. These actions illustrate the Monster’s natural impulse for needs of food and shelters.
A horribly ugly monster, a chronically ill mad scientist, and a perpetually cold explorer: the remedy to their afflictions is simple, they need companionship. Loneliness is a central theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and her characters suffer greatly from solitude. Their actions and motivations are all based on a simple human desire, our need for social interaction. The monster, Victor Frankenstein, and Robert Walton are the most apparent sufferers of intense isolation.
There are two opposing forces in this novel that greatly affect Victor Frankenstein, the advancement of science and technology, and the natural world as it is. Mary Shelly reinforces the theme that science and technology are dangerous if unchecked by showing how nature is the only thing that will heal Victor. When Victor is left despondent by grief by the murders of his friends and family, he shuns humanity and instead turns to nature for health and to strengthen his spirits. As Frankenstein continues, Victor takes sustenance from nature, and it becomes his personal therapy when he undergoes torment or stress and by chapter five of the first volume, Shelley creates a connection between Victor and nature. Instead of describing Victors emotions
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein (sometimes also known as The Modern Prometheus) is the classic gothic novel of her time. In this eerie tale, Dr. Victor Frankenstein – suffering from quite an extreme superiority complex – brings to life a creature made from body parts of deceased individuals from nearby cemeteries. Rather than to embrace the Creature as his own, Frankenstein alienates him because of his unpleasant appearance. Throughout the novel, the Creature is ostracized not only by Frankenstein but by society as a whole. Initially a kind and gentle being, the Creature becomes violent and eventually seeks revenge for his creator’s betrayal. Rather than to merely focus on the exclusion of the Creature from society, Shelley depicts the progression of Dr. Frankenstein’s seclusion from other humans as well, until he and the Creature ultimately become equals – alone in the world with no one to love, and no one to love them back. Frankenstein serves as more than simply a legendary tale of horror, but also as a representation of how isolation and prejudice can result in the demise of the individual.