Caregiver In Frankenstein

Imagine skipping that awkward childhood stage of life and going straight to being an adult; never having to worry about parent’s rules or curfews. But if all of a sudden, one was forced into the world of adults with the mindset of a newborn child, one would not know the difference between right and wrong and possibly even become a victim. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster is the true victim of the book. He is abused in multiple ways, he does nothing to warrant the unjust treatment he receives and he is forced into solitude.

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

On the other hands, these stages in helping and encouraging a kid are important for them to able to become an adult. But once again, Frankenstein never displays how a father would act. Yet, Victor only showed sign of terror by the repulsive exterior of the creature. No parent should draw final conclusion on whether if the child will become evil or good; its final judgment will be upon how they act toward the others. Just by looking at their communication and action, it can tell a lot of who they are as a person and how the parents has influence their belief.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be neglected by others? I haven’t but I have been a witness to many people having this done to them. We look at a study that states, “49% of students from grades 4-12 are bullied at least once a month.” As well, about 1,580 kids have died do to abuse and neglect. That’s about 4-5 kids a day. This shows us the harm that neglect has. In this essay, we look at results of neglect as well as what should be done when neglected. This essay all ties back to the book Frankenstein. The monster in Frankenstein, is neglected by his parents and his peers, which leads us to find a solution because I truly believe that neglect from peers and parents leads people to make harmful decisions.

The first lesson the monster ever learned came from Victor Frankenstein. Whenever the monster turned to his master for love and comfort, he was turned away with fear. As soon as Frankenstein saw his repulsive countenance, he ran away into the dark of the night. Right away, the monster was denied any form of nurture that could have potentially changed the plot of the novel. After stumbling upon a few unpleasant strangers, the monster only desired acceptance from human society with the help of the cottagers: “The more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be loved and known by these amiable creatures (Shelley, 133).” Some parents such as Victor begin ignoring their children from the very beginning. If kids don’t receive nurture from an early age, their personalities are shaped by the way they are treated: “These family disruptions are much more strongly related to feelings of fewer social supports and more negative moods and feelings (Science Blog).” Without guidance from his “father”, the monster attempted to make a place for himself into society. The monster’s heroic rescue of the little girl illustrates his good heart and innocence; even though his mind was slightly disturbed, all he needed was for someone to reciprocate his love. Giving undying support to a child is detrimental to their development. Parents play a huge role in their child’s life and should be present as much as

"We are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves-such a friend ought to be-do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures,” writes the narrator of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein. Without a companion of some sort, people will only suffer more. However, without the supervision of parents, children altogether are greatly affected for the rest of their lives. An innately good and sympathetic creature, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster struggles to survive in the human world. After creating and abandoning his creature, Dr. Frankenstein is the juxtaposition of a monster, portraying humans as shallow, judgmental, and uncaring. The monster simply wants humans to accept him as one of their own. Facing rejection in different forms, he becomes truly monstrous and evil, giving up hope of companionship as a result of his abandonment. Modern case studies of abandoned children report similar ideas. Children who are abandoned do not learn about morality, yet only people with morality are accepted by others as human. Children who are abandoned are frequently not accepted by others as human ultimately.

Nature (our genes) and nurture (our environment) affect our individual differences in behavior and personality. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley addresses the conflict of nature vs. nurture. Victor Frankenstein creates a "child" whom he abandons upon birth. This brings up questions such as, was the creature genetically inclined to be evil, or did the hostility he encountered turn him evil? Are one's surroundings determined by who they become later in life? Does nurture form one's characteristics that will determine who someone is later in life? Mary Shelley used these questions as an approach to show that the monster is intelligent, but destructive, and had guilt due to his environment and isolation. The monster’s guilt due to its

To fully understand how society impacts the creatures in each story the reader must look at their actions before they were defined as monsters. Frankenstein’s creature wanted affection, love and attention from none other than his own creator

It would be logical to assume that someone who grew up in a very close family full of selfless people who take care of others and offer their time and help to the less fortunate would grow up to be selfless and altruistic himself. This is not the case with Victor Frankenstein. He realizes that he is very lucky to have such a tight knit, loving family and he is very grateful for them. However, his family is

Even Frankenstein, the monster’s creator, is blind to the innocence of the being he animates. Upon reflection, he recounts, “breathless horror and disgust filled my heart… unable to endure the aspect of the being I created, I rushed out of the room” (35), yet this rationalization lacks material justification. Frankenstein, as the creator, is endowed with a responsibility for the being he escorts into the world, a basic social value accepted by all. Nevertheless, he alienates his monster from its first breath, claiming, “no mortal could support the horror of [its] countenance” (36). Shelley employs this ironic twist of social expectations in order to emphasize the ability of visual bias to distort the expression of morality. To abandon a child is perceived as immoral, but to abandon a monster, born into the world with neither hateful bias nor malicious intent is acceptable. He is innocent in every aspect of disposition, yet society greets

In a world of continuous external forces and the impact the society has on human growth and development, we have to analyze Erik Erikson developmental theory as it relates to the “monster” in Frankenstein. Erikson suggests that social interaction and experiences play an important role that shape the development and growth of human beings through eight different stages. Throughout the book, the “monster” goes through each stage, which impacts his development as a living being.

In doing so, Frankenstein condemns the creature to loneliness and persecution. The creature's hatred and violent acts are not an inherent part of his character, as he explains, "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous" (81). If Frankenstein had raised and cared for him, the creature would have experienced compassion, and had someone to support him and be his advocate. Instead, the creature is left to learn about the world on his own, and develop a set of morals based on the way society treats him. Because he grows up outside of, and shunned by, society, he feels very little moral obligation towards other human beings. "...and tell me why should I pity man more than he pities me?" the creature asks Frankenstein. "Shall I respect man when he contemns [sic] me?" (122) The creature is not a monster in his own eyes; he is behaving rationally given the treatment he has received. If he were taught a better way to act, he would almost certainly behave in that way. The monster is not born a monster, his ugliness notwithstanding; he becomes one because society behaves monstrously towards him.

The gothic fictions “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley and Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw” approach the importance of a parent role and the effect of such role on the child’s life. In Mary Shelley’s novel, she uses Victors past and present to demonstrate how the poor treatment from his parents lead him to poorly fathering his own child. In contrast, James’ takes the approach of showing parenting in a more overbearing and overexerted way, in demonstrating the relationship between the governess and the children and as their guardian how she seeks to protect them from all danger. This essay will look at these two works and how critics have interpreted this theme to view the similarities in the effects of certain parenting and the differences that led to these outcomes. In looking at the main characters of both narratives and their approach with their children it is possible to see how there must be a balance in the presence and absence of parental figure in the developmental period of a child or creature’s life. Moreover, if such balance cannot be attained this could be the leading factor to the detrimental downfalls of the families in these novels.

Parents and creators set the main foundation to their creation or offspring. Though Sharon Begley portrayed that the environment in where the creation or offspring were raised also hindered their outcome as an adult and the amount of violence contributed. Mary Shelley’s fascinating science fiction novel, Frankenstein, conveyed how the creation was a living proof of how without a creator or parent to guide him through as a child he would have a higher chance of committing a crime or becoming violent. Shelly further suggests that since the creation grew up isolated and rejected by the people around him it increased his aggression as he grew older and hindered his behavior vastly. The responsibility of a creator is not just to create, but to love and protect their children. They are a product of not just their own inherited nature, but also as important of their creator’s nurturing or lack thereof.

Second, along with guidance, children need nurture to help social and emotional skills develop. Many psychologists point out that there is a ”very strong relationship between parenting styles and the social development of children“ (Kasschau 80). Children from nurturing homes will, in fact, be stronger socially than children from homes without nurturing caregivers. One of the first and most important steps in promoting social development is teaching children prosocial behaviors. Prosocial behaviors are acts of kindness that benefit others such as sharing, helping others, and showing concern. Many people argue that prosocial behaviors should be learned naturally; however teaching a child prosocial behaviors is the most accurate way to ensure the quality of kindness in young children.