Throughout Shelley’s work, the creature struggles to conform to society, alone from his first moments - abandoned by his creator - he is given no proper upbringing, and abhorred by society. He grows up in hiding and fear, his only interactions with others ending in violence. Hence, seems only natural that his desperate need to conform would lead to violence. The need to “belong” is an essential “human” desire, however this sense of belonging his completely dependent on one’s upbringing. Due to Victor’s unwillingness to accept him, the creature was unable to conform to societal norms. From the creature’s very first moments, he is feared by others - the instant his eyes open, his creator cries out in terror and runs to his quarters. If only Victor had stayed and attempted to nurture his creation, instead of having “turned from [him] in disgust” (93), the creature may have enjoyed a gentle, upbringing in which he …show more content…
Every encounter the creature had with mankind resulted in violence towards him. His isolation and rejection from society created his violent persona, “[he] is violent, because [he] is miserable” (104). The creatures rejection from society left him - what he believed - one option, to become a plague to the society that exiled him. Rejection from the rest of society is perhaps one of the most difficult challenges a being can face. Interaction is an essential “human” need, as much as food, water, and shelter, and isolation can destroy a person’s psyche. Frankenstein’s creature is a prime example, he lived his whole life in the shadows, afraid of others. He had four conversations with other people! Because society rejected him, he became violent towards them, which only distanced him further from the ones he sought to
Most of these instances come from humanity. The De Lacey family rejects the creature before he has a chance to say a word to any but the blind father. Prior to that, the creature’s attempts – however barbaric –at finding shelter “grievously bruised” (Shelley 91) him “by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons” (Shelley 91) from the villagers who think themselves as superior and despise the creature at first sight. Even in the eyes of a child who has not yet conformed to society’s views, William Frankenstein still sees the creature as a monster and proudly yells ‘‘Hideous monster! Let me go. My papa is a Syndic… he will punish you” (Shelley 127). Mankind may help itself, but it will not help the “inferior” and the
After Victor’s abandonment, the creature left Victor’s home and wandered into the woods. Initially, every encounter with humanity brought the creature pain and suffering as they were instantly terrified upon seeing the creature's horrifying appearance and treated him like the monster he appeared to be. Eventually, the creature came across a hovel in the woods that was within close proximity to a cottage where a family lived. The monster grew very affectionate toward his "protectors," emphasizing that beings are born to love, not hate.
He was brought into the world with no one to give him knowledge, support, and guidance. He was completely deserted by his creator. When he tried to make friends, everyone either ran away from him or tried to kill him. Calridge states, “At the time of his first violent act, he is merely seeking fellowship with another human, and he assumes little William, the “beautiful child” so unlike himself, to be too young to have formed prejudices based on appearance. Enraged to the point of murder…” This statement shows how everything the creature feels or does stems back to Victor. If Victor had just accepted and loved his creature for what he was, then he wouldn’t have killed little William or any of Victor’s other loved ones. His rejection and misfortune was not caused by his actions, but rather his appearance, a physical trait that Victor had created and the creature could not change. The creature's problem was that he was “ugly” and “deformed”, but he did not choose to be physically deformed. Victor created him that way. Thus, Victor is ultimately responsible for the creature's rejection.
In Mary Shelley's gothic novel Frankenstein, Shelley introduces a Creature who represents many symbols throughout the story. Such as the war between passion and responsibility, the effects of a corrupt society, and the Creature is a symbol of nature vs. nurture . through this Creature we see mainly the effects of society on an abandoned, innocent being and how it matures in the story fending for itself against society as a whole.
Knowledge plays an incredibly large part of Mary Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein. I think that Victor’s obsessive and unhealthy search for knowledge is the true cause of his suffering. Not only does he neglect his friends and family while working to create the monster he puts his own health in danger. “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health.” In this quote we see that Victor stops at nothing to find if he would be successful with his creation. Victor has made this project such a main priority that once it is completed and the creature comes to life he does not know what to do. Since Victor has met his goals and done what he said he wanted to do he does not want to deal with the being he just created so this becomes a problem for him. We see that Victor was very troubled by this whole experience when he says, “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.”
Now the creature knows that it is not only his creator, Frankenstein, who rejects him, but an entire village. He was left “miserable …. from the barbarity of man”. He is not only learning that society dislikes him, but that it is ‘normal’ to attack others. He hasn’t known kindness in his entire life. He doesn’t even know that it exists. The second contact he has with humans, they are being violent. They are not demonstrating any sort of reason, teaching the creature that it is normal to be violent and impulsive.
The creature claims that the creation of a equal partner like himself would make him happy. The creature proclaims, "my virtues will necessarily arise when I live in communion with an equal. I shall feel the affections of a sensitive being, and become linked to the chain of existance and events, from which I am now excluded" (121). In this speech, the creature tries to provoke sympathy from Doctor Frankenstein. However, because of his previous acts of violence, his request is denied. This agonizes the creature: "Shall each man...find a wife for his bosom, and each beast have a mate and I be alone?" (140). The result of these constant rejections that the creature becomes violent and therefore cannot be blamed for his violence. The creature's desire to be given affection and sympathy can only reside in another being like himself since he has been denied by the world around him.
Letter 1 Explain what is established in the first passage/letter who is narrating? Why is he making this voyage? When and where is this taking place? To whom is he writing the letter?
“Nurture vs. Nature”, are some individuals destined to become evil? Or does the environment and experiences of the individual shape who they are? In Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein” there is a character (the creature) that these questions apply to. Through her use of diction, changes in perspective, and imagery, she was able to make the creature seem more human than creature by making the reader sympathize with the creature.
The enormous difference in the way Victor views the creature before and after its completion shows that he has an altered state of mind while he works on it. As a result of Victor’s secrecy about his creation, he sacrifices his health and happiness to make a creature that disgusts him.
In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, we discover that the search for now knowledge has a good and a bad side. Suffering is something we all go through at some point. We try to avoid it but our search for knowledge will always lead to suffering. In Frankenstein Victor had set out on a search for knowledge, he was relentless. His search consumed all his time, destroyed relationships, and lead to the death of not only himself but his friends and family. All of those negative effects originated from the monster Victor had created on his search for knowledge. Although Victor may have achieved his end goal, at what cost did this come to? Victor’s search
"Do you think, Victor," said he, "that I do not suffer also? No one could love a child more than I loved your brother" (tears came into his eyes as he spoke); "but is it not a duty to the survivors, that we should refrain from augmenting their unhappiness by an appearance of immoderate grief? It is also a duty owed to yourself; for excessive sorrow prevents improvement or enjoyment, or even the discharge of daily usefulness, without which no man is fit for society." (78)
In the novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life is a “search for justice” (Styron). In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley the Creature is on a constant search for justice. The Creature is shown to be inherently good, but due to the corruption in society and traumatic experiences by those the Creature sought acceptance from he slowly loses his moral compass. Shelley, in the novel Frankenstein demonstrates the search for justice through many social situations and characters. Shelley connects the Creature’s search for justice to the hardships he faces throughout his life.
Like most horror stories, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has a wretched monster who terrorizes and kills his victims with ease. However, the story is not as simple as it seems. One increasingly popular view of the true nature of the creature is one of understanding. This sympathetic view is often strengthened by looking at the upbringing of the creature in the harsh world in which he matures much as a child would. With no friends or even a true father, the creature can be said to be a product of society and its negative views and constant rejections of him. Although this popular view serves to lessen the severity of his crimes in most people’s eyes, the fact remains that the creature is in fact a cold-hearted wretch whose vindictive nature
In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creature was othered to the point that he resorted to violence. When the creature first encounters human beings they react with disturbance and exclusion which leads to his isolation. The creature recounts his story saying, "I had hardly placed my foot within the door, before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted"(93). This quote shows how the Creature wants to be accepted into society, but