In a world that is home to more than a billion people, there are only five basic fears that are acknowledged, one of them being solitude. Throughout Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein and his creation exhibit many reasons demonstrating why solitude should be dreaded. While Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein initially induced their own isolation, the creature did not. Either way, solitude is not desirable, even when self-inflicted, and ultimately catalyzed for the fatal actions taken by these characters. Robert Walton embarks on an expedition to the North Sea with much excitement that quickly expires when a somber mood from his seclusion settles in. In one of his letters he wrote to his sister, he said “I …show more content…
It announced, “I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sunk within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained.” (Ch.15 P.97) The creature ran away from Victor in a set of rage and found the De Lacey family living in a cottage, learning how to communicate by Felix and becoming infatuated with him and his family. Thinking that this family could accept it because of their nature, the creature reveals itself to them, resulting in them mirroring Victor’s resentment. It was hard for the creature to hurt someone that it had developed a strong liking to, and therefore it let Felix strike it. This is significant because it is demonstrating how the creature is often rejected and isolated by the society it is amongst, and it realizes it desperately craved to be accepted by its own creator. This particular part reveals to us that solitude does not necessarily mean being alone, seeing as how the creature is mostly surrounded by different kinds of people, but that it is the state of being alone. In the creature’s case, this is a mental state. These overwhelming feelings clouds the judgement of the creature and it immediately goes to Victor, demanding Victor to make it a female companion. When Victor refuses, the creature promised him, “I will revenge my injuries: if I can not inspire love, I will cause fear.” (Ch.18 P.104) All throughout the book, the
Three of the main characters in Mary Shelley 's 1818 novel Frankenstein have commonalities that may not be immediately recognized but are significant in terms of theme. Robert Walton, a man who sets out to seek new land, Victor Frankenstein, a man who sets out to create new life, and the Creature, who sets out to become accepted, are all different in their own ways but tragically the same. Though the first use of the word "isolation" did not occur until 1833 (Merriam-Webster), Frankenstein is replete with instances in which the three central characters must confront their alienation from others. Understanding a mariner, a mad man, and a monster may seem like a difficult task to accomplish, yet with Shelley’s use of isolation as a theme it
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.
In the Romantic period of literature, nature was often associated with isolation in a positive way. Throughout the novel, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley, there is a strong symbolic relationship between loneliness and nature. However, Shelley uses the relationship to show the negativity of being alone. The relationship of nature and loneliness is displayed through three characters in the story: Victor Frankenstein, his creature, and Robert Walton. At the times when the characters are alone and in need of companionship, they feel depressed, confused, and angry; they do not think clearly, and, consequently, they make wrong decisions. They seek refuge in nature, and try to use its beauty to find answers and to fill their void of friendship. Yet, none of the characters ever overcomes their bouts with loneliness because they never find true comfort in nature.
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main theme revolves around the internal and external consequences of being isolated from others. Being isolated from the world could result in a character losing his/her mental state and eventually causing harm to themselves or others. Because both Victor Frankenstein and the creature are isolated from family and society, they experienced depression, prejudice, and revenge.
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main theme of the story was isolation. Both internal and external consequences were the cause of being isolated from society. Frankenstein began to feel depressed after the creation of the monster and decided to isolate himself from his friends and family. Frankenstein kept his creation a secret from everyone because he was afraid of the consequences. Ironically, Frankenstein was the main problem for all of his sufferings. He thought that he could keep everyone safe if he were to not tell them about the monster, however, everyone died because he wanted to keep everyone from the truth. The creature also suffered many consequences from being isolated. He wanted to be part of a family, and feel
In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the Creature executes extreme and irreversible acts due to his isolation from society. Although the Creature displays kindness, his isolation drives him to act inhumanely.
Victor, at first sight of the Creature, abandons and leaves him to survive on his own. This is insignificant to the creature at the time, but later causes the Creature to have bitter feelings towards Victor. After the Creature discovers Victor’s notes, he becomes enraged, and incriminates Victor for the victimization that he faces; hence accusing him as a perpetrator of cruelty. Through the accusation of Victor one can see that the Creature believes that Victor should be held responsible, and owes the Creature a favor. Additionally, Victor double-crosses the Creature after obliging to create a mate for the Creature. These actions of betrayal demonstrate how Victor is a perpetrator of cruelty and how the Creature is his victim. Victor’s unintentional cruelty reveals how he only wanted what was best for himself and human kind. Victor’s betrayal is seen as an action of cruelty by the Creature, and consequently delivers the final blow that instigates the retaliation of the
Humans and nonhuman animals are social creatures by nature and crave intimacy with others. God is the only being that can remain in isolation without intimacy without facing negative consequences. While God does not have intimacy with others he does love all human beings equally. A man living in isolation will eventually lose his mind unlike God. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein exhibits a need to be God that makes him believe he can live in isolation and without intimacy like God. Some may argue that Frankenstein has a god complex because of his unshakable belief in himself and consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility;
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.
We as humans want to be with each other. We actively pursue this goal be finding friends and significant others. While a moderate amount of solitude can be good we crave togetherness with others. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein isolation is a key theme in the novel. The creature created by Victor Frankenstein is driven into isolation from society based on people’s fear of him. Both the creature and Victor experience first hand the effects that isolation have on the creature's actions. Thus Frankenstein shows very clearly how lifelong isolation keeps someone from developing a moral compass and in turn makes them do wrongful deeds.
The Creature learns to read, speak, and write while living in the hovel attached to the De Lacey home. After many months, he decides it is time to meet M. De Lacey and try to form a relationship with him. The conversation is going well until Felix, Safie, and Agatha return home and quickly fled, but not before Felix attacked the Creature with a stick. The Creature realizes he could easily tear Felix apart, but refrains and is saddened by the thought that the De Lacey’s would not accept him. Through his grief, the Creature becomes enraged and begins his descent from benevolence.
In the first letter R. Walton writes to his sister about his excursion on the ocean and he is so very excited! He writes, “and I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven” and later he continues “This expedition has been the favourite dream of my early years” Walton’s best ever dream from him was to have an ocean expedition. He got a lot of inspiration of oceanic expeditions from his good Uncle Thomas’ library. (Shelley 2) Walton later says that his whole life was full of ease and luxury, but now he is happy to finally be able to live a more rugged life on the ocean and bask in his own glory of successfully going on this excursion.
As a result, the Creature becomes a wretched monster, who now has no sympathy for anyone or anything. The Creature becomes fixed on the idea of needing a companion, and due to this obsession, he turns Victor’s life upside down. The Creature is able to torment Victor by killing his family members, then quickly vanishing so Victor can not tell who or what he saw. The Creature and Victor finally meet again, and the Creature tells Victor of his stories and struggles. Throughout the novel, the Creature remains in the same state of being, he persistently harasses Victor and maintains a watchful eye on him.
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, one of the key themes is loneliness. For many, most of their time is spent with people, whether it is friends, family, coworkers, or strangers. Many of the characters in this book break that norm and spend countless hours alone. Having time to reflect and think about everything. Sometimes, the characters are still lonely, even with people, and sometimes friends around them.