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The role of parenting in a child's life is vitally important for the outcome of the child. The difference in a child who has a loving environment and a child that does not is incredibly drastic. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor is the prime example of an awful parent, as he does not give aid to the monster and lets the monster roam free to find it’s own path. He uses the monster's “ugliness” as a way to escape responsibility. Another example of poor parenting is the job of Alphonse and Caroline, Victor’s parents. They prearranged Victor's marriage from when he was just a child. Alphonse’s also had a very odd reaction to the death of Caroline. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explores poor parenting, through the absence of a loving environment. …show more content…
Much like God, Victor created a life form and immediately abandoned it. God leaves Adam and Eve, and Victor leaves the monster. These creature now have to find their own paths without any guidance. For Adam and Eve, that was eating the forbidden fruit and for the monster it was losing control and killing people. However, Victor attempts to justify his abandonment of the monster and his lack of responsibility for its actions by pointing to the monster’s horrid ugliness. “The ugliness affords him an escape from parental responsibilities; he can justify his immediate flight. After proving his godlike power to produce life, he is then able to immediately abandon it” (Claridge 81). After his mother died Victor’s main focus was to create life. He had no plans of taking care of his creation. The monster turning out to be hideous works in Victor’s favor of not wanting the responsibility of being a parent. When the monster is first created and Victor first sees it his reaction of calling the monster ugly and getting away from it set the mindset of the monster. The first thing that Victor, as a parent, does is neglect the monster. This abandonment stays with the monster throughout the novel and especially when William is killed. “‘Let me go,’ …show more content…
And in this case, he learned the ignoring and poor parenting from his very own parents. Throughout Victor’s childhood, he was mostly ignored by his mother and father. Victor was extremely passionate and interested in science and his father cleary wanted that to not be a part of his life ‘“When the exuberant youth tries to discuss his reading with his father, Alphonse Frankenstein carelessly glaces at the title page and exclaims, ‘My dear Victor do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash’” (Claridge 79, Shelley 39). His father completely ignores his passion and love for science. The one thing that Victor really cared about was totally disregarded by his father. Victor was also an object of his parents love and not a participant in it. He was an only child until Elizabeth joins the family and he was receiving the least attention. Victor’s parents treated him as an object of love by setting up his marriage and not allowing him to find his own path to find that special someone. Also after the death of Caroline, Alphonse pushes Victor away and to The University of Ingolstadt. “His father insists that he depart for Ingolstadt soon after his mother’s death, away from the sympathy of his native country and into new, strange surroundings with no one to guide him” (Claridge 79) Alphonse is abandoning his son after an extremely tragic incident, which leads to Victor
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, has captured people’s attention since it was first written. People often wonder how much of Mary Shelley’s life is documented in her novel. From the theme of parental abandonment, to the theme of life and death in the novel, literary scholars have been able to find similarities between Frankenstein and Shelley’s life. The Journal of Religion and Health, the Journal of Analytical Psychology, and the Modern Psychoanalysis discuss the different connections between Shelley’s life and Frankenstein. Badalamenti, the author of “ Why did Mary Shelley Write Frankenstein?” in the Journal of Religion and Health, primarily discusses the connection between Victor
Victor and the monster are both ignorant to the people around them. Victor Frankenstein has a life full of domestic love, and affection. His father Alphonse, his best friend Henry Clerval, and his lover Elizabeth – an orphan of significant beauty and talent, were all nurtured in the same home as him. All these people were able to provide Frankenstein with joys of companionship, and love. Nevertheless Victor had sought more than a prosperous, affectionate life, and instead ch...
Parenting can be a tough job and not everyone is fit for the position which can result in abusing the child emotionally and sometimes even physically. As for Victor Frankenstein, his initial response to his child was out of the ordinary. His screams of horror terrified the creature instantly as he was confused what he was born into. Normally, children are welcomed into the world with tears of joy and happiness because the parents are glad to continue onto their life with a small human being. Whereas Victor neglected his creation and wanting nothing to do with the creature. His response to the creature was not to care for it with joy but rather abandoned the apartment along with the creature. The creature even goes out of his way, struggling to walk like a one year old child seeking for his parent. When he stumbles upon him, Victor makes it clear he does not want to see the creature ever again in his life. Due to this, the creature becomes evil resulted from the constant neglect that Victor imposed on him, emotionally abusing him during his first years of life on this universe. Victims of those who spent their childhood being neglected by their parents causes “long-term difficulties with behaviour and mental health development,” which was definitely seen in his change of behavior and resorting to horrendous acts (Odhayani). Since Victor
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...
As a romantic, archetype and gothic novel, Victor is responsible for the monsters actions because Victor abandons his creation meaning the creature is dejected and ends up hideous and fiendish. It is unfair to create someone into this world and then just abandon it and not teach it how to survive. The quote from the creature “Why did you make such a hideous creature like me just to leave me in disgust” demonstrates how much agony the creature is in. He is neglected because of his creator. The monster says “The hateful day when I received life! I accurse my creator. Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?” Victor is wholly at fault for his actions, image and evil.
In the Preface, Mary Shelley claims her work, Frankenstein, to portray “domestic affection.” (source) Many wouldn’t think so because of the obvious violent death that occurs. As it does paint a picture of a strong happy family through the DeLaceys, Frankenstein shows that Victor's parents' lack of guidance affected his morals and his actions later in life. The relationship of a family is important in the forming of a person. The lack of morals taught to the offspring leads them to discover on their own. While knowledge is a beautiful thing, knowledge is unbelievably dangerous, especially without proper guidance. Students have teachers for a reason, just as children desperately need parents.
Many people know that Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, was part of a family of famed Romantic era writers. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was one of the first leaders of the feminist movement, her father, William Godwin, was a famous social philosopher, and her husband, Percy Shelley, was one of the leading Romantic poets of the time ("Frankenstein: Mary Shelley Biography."). What most people do not know, however, is that Mary Shelley dealt with issues of abandonment her whole life and fear of giving birth (Duncan, Greg. "Frankenstein: The Historical Context."). When she wrote Frankenstein, she revealed her hidden fears and desires through the story of Victor Frankenstein’s creation, putting him symbolically in her place (Murfin, Ross. "Psychoanalytic Criticism and Frankenstein.”). Her purpose, though possibly unconsciously, in writing the novel was to resolve both her feelings of abandonment by her parents, and fears of her own childbirth.
The lack parental figures throughout the novel allows the freedom to behave selfishly and vainly. During Victor’s life his parents thought of him more as an object than as their
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein can be read as a commentary on a theme that the text believes strongly about. The text often questions the ideas of Destiny and free will. It brings up the age old debate of Nature vs. Nurture in various areas throughout the book. It develops this idea through the use of literary elements in the text. In many areas it leaves the reader wondering if the characters are born with their traits or develop them through everyday experiences. The text creates strong evidence that characters develop their personality from their reality. Victor, the Creature and Henry’s personalities are developed by the experiences they go through, in which the text shows that nurture is what develops their personalities through the use
Victor, in the beginning was very adamant about creating life and because he was so absorbed in it, he failed to see the moral implications of it. It wasn’t until William’s death that Victor realizes that he was in no place to mess with nature nor try to bestow life. Another aspect of Victor developing morally is that when he first saw the creature, he immediately deemed it as a “monster” solely based on its appearance. As the creator of the creature, it would only be right of Victor to give the creature a chance to prove himself, however Victor never did. Through most of the story, Victor continued to hold a negative view against the creature, never allowing himself to fully understand the creature’s perspective. This animosity towards the creature went on until Victor went through the same suffering and was finally able to understand where the creature was coming from. He realizes that although the creature was born with a grotesque appearance, there is still humanity in him. Victor had developed morally because he recognizes that he was at fault for neglecting the creature based on his personal impression of it. This also touches bases on whether or not it’s possible to understand the suffering of another. From the conversation between Victor and the creature, it shows that it is possible because Victor stated on page 104 that “For the first
A predominant theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is that of child-rearing and/or parenting techniques. Specifically, the novel presents a theory concerning the negative impact on children from the absence of nurturing and motherly love. To demonstrate this theory, Shelly focuses on Victor Frankenstein’s experimenting with nature, which results in the life of his creature, or “child”. Because Frankenstein is displeased with the appearance of his offspring, he abandons him and disclaims all of his “parental” responsibility. Frankenstein’s poor “mothering” and abandonment of his “child” leads to the creation’s inevitable evilness. Victor was not predestined to failure, nor was his creation innately depraved. Rather, it was Victor’s poor “parenting” of his progeny that lead to his creation’s thirst for vindication of his unjust life, in turn leading to the ruin of Victor’s life.
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is book about the importance of human relationships and treating everyone with dignity and respect. The main character of the book is Victor Frankenstein who is a very intelligent man with a desire to create life in another being. After he completes his creation, he is horrified to find that what he has created is a monster. The monster is the ugliest, most disgusting creature that he has ever seen. Victor being sickened by his creation allows the monster to run off and become all alone in the world. Throughout Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses the theme of human relationships to illustrate the bond that man has with other beings and the need for love and affection. The importance of human relationships is shown throughout the book in many ways. Victor’s mother says to him, “I have a pretty present for my Victor—tomorrow he shall have it”(18).Victor is very excited that he has such a precious gift that will always be his. They become very close and refer to each other as cousins. However, there is a deeper a relationship between the two, and Victor vows to always protect and take of the girl whose name is Elizabeth. Mary Shelley uses this quote to explain how special Elizabeth is to Victor and that she is gift sent to him. Victor’s mother reinforces this again when she says to Victor and Elizabeth, “My children, my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of your union. This expectation will now be the consolation of your father. Elizabeth, my love, you must supply my place to my younger children. Alas! I regret that I am taken from you; and, happy and beloved as I have been, is it not hard to quit you all? But these are not thoughts befitting me; I will endeavour to resign...
Victor’s initial isolation as a child foreshadows the motif of detachment that occurs throughout the novel. As Victor Frankenstein recounts his informative tale to a seafaring Robert Walton, he makes it known that he was a child of nobility; however it is sadly transparent that combined with insufficient parenting Victor’s rare perspective on life pushes him towards a lifestyle of conditional love. Children are considered symbolic of innocence but as a child Victor’s arrogance was fueled by his parents. With his family being “one of the most
He soon became infatuated with creating life on his own. He had various things inspire him, such as the lightening bolt hitting the tree. Once he researched, collected his materials, and starting working on his creature he couldn 't stop. Victor isolated himself in his apartment from all of his family and friends while creating this creature. After two long years the frightening creature was created. Victor was in shock, he didn 't know what to do and that was partly because before he created this monster he didn 't think of the consequences. He abandoned his apartment, leaving the creature, at this point in the novel “we come to understand that Victor doesn’t value the life he is to create so much as what the creation will give him—a place in history as the (in)famous father of reanimating dead flesh.” (Lunsford). There were multiple factors Victor did not take into consideration before and during the process of creating the creature. This is because Victor doesn 't care about others. He was very emotional during the two years of the creation mainly because of the death of his mother. This shaped him into a different person that he was at the beginning of the novel, he was now careless, selfish, and isolated from the world. He devalued life by not teaching the creature how to behave, how to speak, and the other aspects of life. This shows that
To begin with, Victor describes how his mother, Caroline Beaufort, meets his father, Alphonse Frankenstein, after Caroline’s father died in poverty. Victor mentions, “He came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care; and after the interment of his friend, he conducted to Geneva, and placed her under the protection of a relation” (Shelley 28). Even though Caroline is younger than Victor’s father, she has no choice, but to marry him. Without marrying Victor’s father, Caroline will still be in poverty with nobody to support her. Caroline’s decision to marry Victor’s father symbolizes a woman in need of a man to protect her.