Loss Of Innocence In Frankenstein

1200 Words3 Pages

An Innocent Child
All children are born with a certain level of innocence. It is the way that they are raised that shapes who they are. Nature versus nurture is a common theme in literature. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster displays his innocence in all of his actions. His father did not teach him right from wrong or show him any affection, which causes his estrangement from society. Although the monster did learn right from wrong through experiences, he should still be innocent of his crimes because he had to learn on his own and often learned that what he did was wrong after the fact.
The monster is innocent. The monster’s creator, Victor Frankenstein, talks about how parents play a huge rule in raising their children. When Victor …show more content…

Once he is horrified by his invention, the monster, he abandons it. He was born into the body of an adult but had the thought process and heart of a child. His ugliness caused others to hate him. This is the reason that the monster acts in such a violent yet childish manner. All of these facts contributed to how the monster’s life played out. When he was shown love, he gave love, but when he was given hatred, he acted irrationally and often times did things without realizing the weight that it had on others. Of all the examples of lost innocence in Frankenstein, the monster is the one exception, because his loss of innocence is due to human interaction. While Dr. Frankenstein and the other characters are compromised, the monster always tries to act out of a simple desire to be loved. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explores the theme of innocence that we see throughout literature, most notably in the story of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve, like Victor Frankenstein, know the difference between good and evil, but choose the poisonous fruit like Victor chooses ambition. The monster is a victim of Victor's ambition, and since we are all descendants of Adam and Eve, we all have the capacity to destroy innocence with our creations.The monster retains the innocence of a child because he was never offered the nurturing that would give him the ability to interact with humans. He remains in his natural state of innocence, which leads to tragic consequences as he is misunderstood by

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Loss Of Innocence In Frankenstein

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