Humans are seen by many as the exemplary species on earth, intended by God to dominate and take control of others. Humanity cannot be characterized as a physical trait; for one can appear to be human on the outside but within are nothing near a human. Within Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, humanity can be considered an emotional experience; an experience where one is always longing for acceptance and naturally conforms to avoid being ostracized or different. The monster is made from human parts and in human likeness, but is not seen as a human being by many. Such is a question raised by many; is the monster human, or is he a filthy demon to which Victor Frankenstein had given life? Although a clear definition of humanity is not expressed in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster is in fact human due to its ability to adapt and utilize the human culture and lifestyle in many ways including longing for a companion, discovering its soul and yearning for acceptance.
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is a Gothic and Romantic novel written in the early 1800s. The novel opens with Captain Robert Walton as he is sailing on his ship on the search for new and undiscovered territory. During his exploration, Robert’s ship becomes trapped in ice, and he encounters Victor Frankenstein, who looks miserable. When Robert begins to talk to Victor, Victor starts to explain his life story, which ends up being a complete tragedy. Victor tells Robert of his desire to discover the secret to life, which ultimately leads to his creation of the Creature. However, Victor’s enormous creation and his ambitions do not bring him the fame and happiness that he had hoped to receive. He only receives pain and misery. The Creature ends up destroying all of Victor’s loved ones, which leads up to Victor’s death. From the beginning when he is born, the Creature is alone with no one to raise or take care of him, and he is forced to retreat and hide from civilization and the humans who fear him. As it can be seen, Victor and the Creature share miserable lives. In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the characters of Victor and the Creature are developed through the use of Romantic elements, which greatly influenced Shelly in creating her novel.
On the other hand, he never takes a gander at the general appearance of his creation until the creature is enlivened. At the present time he sees the repulsive creature he has made, Victor is dismayed. Victor 's response is finished when he doesn 't assume liability for the creature that he has made. He values physical appearance more than inside excellence, so he tries to disregard the creature and proceed onward with his life. Shelley, nonetheless, needs to create an impression about society when all is said in done, so she lets the reader get inside the beast’s head in a section. In this section the reader sees the beast battle to discover who he is, in this way creating sensitivity for him. The reader can now look inside appearance and see the error that Victor is making. The main path for Shelley to finish this articulation about society is for the beast to be dismisses by the family he tries to get to know. The friendship the beast needs, he is denied, and left to escape for the mountains. Shelley 's capacity to put the reader into the beast 's head and her depiction of Victor 's conclusion of "excellence", put forth her expression on society become animated. Never judge a man, and so on by its outside appearance, it is just within that
Throughout history, many have debated whether an individual's behavior is a result of DNA inheritance or developed through the environment they have grown to experience. One side believes that an individual inherits their behavior through nature which is DNA just like how it determines the child’s eye color, type of hair and the possibility of diseases. The other side argued behavior is developed through the environment in which they have experienced through the years. John Locke explains that at birth, a child is born with a blank slate and as they grow their mind is filled with experiences. The question arises whether the creatures’ horrendous behavior was a result being born a monster or his experience of being abandoned constantly.
There are obvious similarities between Victor and his creation; each is abandoned, isolated, and both start out with
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is ‘one of the pioneering works of modern science fiction’, and is also a frightening story that speaks to the ‘mysterious fears of our nature’. Mary Shelley mocks the idea of “playing God”, the idea that came from the Greek myth of Prometheus, of the Greek titan who stole Zeus’ gift of life. Both the story of Frankenstein and Prometheus reveal the dark side of human nature and the dangerous effects of creating artificial life. Frankenstein reveals the shocking reality of the consequences to prejudging someone. The creature’s first-person narration reveals to us his humanity, and his want to be accepted by others even though he is different. We are shown that this ‘monster’ is a ‘creature’ and more of a human than we think.
The vivid similarities between the two tragic characters are driven by their isolation from the secluded world, which refuses to accept those who are different into society, by hatred, and most importantly by the absence of motherly figures in both Victor’s and the Creature’s lives. As Victor had stated, “I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.” (Shelley 40) as he described that he lost all touch with the world due to his work. Both figures seem to strongly despise one another yet strangely enough, they both also despise themselves for their wrong and disastrous actions. Family ties and vengefulness are truly one of the most significant aspects affecting the resemblance of both Victor and the Creature. At a young age, Victor was left without his mother after her death and as a result, he never got to experience the true feelings of a mother’s warm touch and love. “She died calmly...it is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she whom we saw every day and whose every existence appeared a part of our own can have departed forever and the sound of a voice so familiar and dear to the ear can be hushed, never more to be heard.” (Shelley, 29) Just like Victor, in his own time, the Creature never got to experience not only the love of a mother but the love of a father as well. These driven characters thrive for the same goals, feed of similar pain, and feel the same
Peter Brooks' essay "What Is a Monster" tackles many complex ideas within Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the main concept that is the title of the essay itself. What is the definition of a monster, or to be monstrous? Is a monster the classic representation we know, green skin, neck bolts, grunting and groaning? A cartoon wishing to deliver sugary cereal? or someone we dislike so greatly their qualities invade our language and affect our interpretation of their image and physical being? Brooks' essay approaches this question by using Shelley's narrative structure to examine how language, not nature, is mainly accountable for creating the idea of the monstrous body.
Tragedy shows no discrimination and often strikes down on those undeserving of such turmoil. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature more repulsive than one can imagine is brought to life by a young scientist. Although this creature is horrifying in sight, he is gentle by nature. Unfortunately, the softer side of the creature is repeatedly overlooked and the so called “monster” is driven to a breaking point. Even though the Creature committed many crimes, Mary Shelley’s Creature was the tragic hero of this story because of his efforts rescue the life of a young girl and helping destitute cottagers.
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.
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.
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
Throughout time man has been isolated from people and places. One prime example of isolation is Adam, "the man [formed] from the dust of the ground [by the Lord God]" (Teen Study Bible, Gen. 2.7). After committing the first sin he secludes "from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken" (Teen Study Bible, Gen. 3.23). This isolation strips Adam from his protection and wealth the garden provides and also the non-existence of sin. Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, is able to relate to the story of Adam and the first sin to help her character, the Creature, associate with Adam. The Creature is able to relate because "[l]ike Adam, [he is] apparently united by no link to any other being in existence" (Shelley 124). In other ways the creator of the creature, Victor Frankenstein, also identifies with the tale of the first human, but with a different character, God. "God created man in his own image" (Teen Study Bible, Gen. 1.27) and unlike Frankenstein "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Teen Study Bible, Gen. 1.31). Frankenstein brought a life into the world but did not take the responsibility to lead and guide his creature to benefit himself or the created. Unlike God's creature who did in turn prosper. Instead of prosperity Frankenstein receives a life of loneliness and responsibility of many unnecessary deaths. The Creature, like his creator, lives his life in isolation from society. His only goal is to be loved and accepted by those around him. Through these circumstances the effects of isolation and loneliness are brought to life by the creature and the creator thought their pasts, social statuses, emotions, and dreams and fantasies.
The novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is a work of fiction that breaks the ethics of science. Ethics is defined as rules of conduct or moral principles which are ignored in the story. The story is about a person named Victor Frankenstein who creates an artificial being. Victor abandons the being out of fear and the being is left to discover the outside world on his own and be rejected by people making the monster go on a violent rampage. Victor’s decision would affect him later on by the monster killing his loved ones causing Victor to suffer. Then Victor chooses to seek revenge on the monster and this choice will bring him to his death. In novel Frankenstein one might say that the main character, Victor, breaks the ethics of science when he plays God by creating his own being.
In the Bible, the book of Genesis 1:27 states that "God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Creating both men and women in His image, God is the only person who can do this successfully, giving us unconditional love and never abandoning us throughout our journey in life. On the other hand, Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist creates a life form due to his love of natural sciences. His desire to create this life form only for an experimental purpose unknowingly leads to disastrous outcomes for both Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the monster. In Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein uses his knowledge where he violates ethical principles by playing God and creating a life form that he is ultimately ashamed of.