It is an undeniable fact the parents have an incredible impact on who their children will grow up to be. Biologically, it is why they exist, not just to create but also to nurture. In the case of many less complex creatures such as salmon, the parents die soon after their offspring is born. Humans, however, are much more complex creatures, and require attention and guidance to become successful adults. The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley suggests that the relationships, or lack thereof, between parent and child greatly influences a child’s development and plays a major role in determining their personality and actions throughout the rest of their life.
The importance of parenting in how people develop is made clear through the conflicted relationship between Victor Frankenstein and the monster he creates. The plot is largely driven by Frankenstein’s refusal to accept his responsibility for the creature he brought to life. Upon doing so, Frankenstein is horrified by his creation, and “unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] had created, [he] rushed from the room” (pg. 35). Repulsed by the monster's appearance, Frankenstein abandons it with no thought to the responsibility he owes to it as it’s creator. He rejects him, like a father rejecting his son, leaving the creature confused, alone, and bitter for being so thoughtlessly abandoned. With no one to guide him or show him affection, the creature becomes increasingly twisted and his lack of a parental figure becomes
In conclusion, the author uses diction, language level, syntax, details, and imagery to create the tone of this excerpt. Besides, the Frankenstein and his creature are not in a good mood in the story. The creator( Frankenstein) loses his trust in the creature as the being slaughter several humans. Overall, the wrath of the Frankenstein towards his creation shows that he's not righteous guardian( parent) as he doesn't want to teach the creature what's the right thing to do or
Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a book with a deep message that touches to the very heart. This message implies that the reader will not see the story only from the perspective of the narrator but also reveal numerous hidden opinions and form a personal interpretation of the novel. One of its primary statements is that no one is born a monster and a “monster” is created throughout socialization, and the process of socialization starts from the contact with the “creator”. It is Victor Frankenstein that could not take the responsibility for his creature and was not able to take care of his “child”. Pride and vanity were the qualities that directed
When a young child touches a hot stove tears are sure to follow. Trial and error experiences like this are necessary for a child to learn from their mistakes. Some things, however, are taught by parents and guardians. A lack of parenting and guidance can have a dramatic and negative effect on the development of a child. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster that Victor creates is similar to a child. The monster can not speak initially and immediately feels abandoned when Victor goes to bed for the night. He is very emotional over the smallest of issues and shows many more signs of immaturity. Viewing the monster as a child causes the reader to feel empathetic for him like a child without parents.
Frankenstein's monster is destined to lose all innocence as he spirals downward into evil. When the monster is first "born" he can be compared to a baby, young and unknowledgeable to the ways of the world and in need of a caring parent and mentor. Unfortunately his foolish creator neglects the creation and
This novel reflects Shelley’s own childhood, which consisted of her feeling obligated to rebel against her own father’s wishes and his choice for her marriage. Frankenstein is a way for Shelley to tell her own experiences with parental conflict and how she feels she was affected by her demanding father and the environment she grew up in, by comparing herself to Victor’s monster. Shelley analyzed her own characteristics, and the characteristics of her father, and placed them within Victor and the
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
Abandoned, left to die with nowhere to go, Frankenstein's monster desperately searches for a savior and turns towards violence when the entire world alienates him due to his appearance. WIthout anyone to teach him about life, the monster learns the language, history, and culture of humans and becomes a better human his creator could ever become. While a victim of child abandonment, the monster still strives to live his life to the fullest, upending the doomed life of an abandoned child. Although left with short term psychological scars, abandoned children can still live fulfilling lives in the long term because abandoned children turn towards self determination to survive, and others who care about the children step in to provide the necessities
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.
"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.
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
	In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, families are a very important part of the structure of the novel. Frankenstein’s family is critical because the reason why the monster was created lies within the family. Almost every family mentioned in the novel was either incomplete or was dysfunctional. Frankenstein’s family in particular was missing a female role. The Frankenstein family had no mother, but they did have Elizabeth who was the only other female in the house and she was adopted when she was just a child. The monster was created because of this absence, not necessarily to fill the role of the mother, but to fill in the role of the missing family member. However, the monster is shunned away when he is animated and the fall of the
Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, was raised by a single parent, her father William Godwin. She acknowledges the mentally stimulating role a father plays in the development of a daughter, presumably speaking from personal experience. She declares, "There is a peculiarity in the education of a daughter, brought up by a father only, which tends to develop early a thousand of those portions of mind, which are folded up” (Veeder). Shelley offers in Frankenstein a portrait of how children’s minds are shape, and ultimately their fates sealed, due to influences from their fathers. Alphonse, Victor’s father, made mistakes in his parenting that negatively shaped the development of Victor’s mind and how he treated other living things.
Frankenstein, on the other hand, has lived within society and is expected to have certain morals. Among these should include parental responsibility, an obligation to care for the being to whom he
A predominant theme throughout the novel Frankenstein is that of a parental figure, poor parenting techniques and furthermore the rearing of the child. The main family that brings this theme to light in the novel is Victor and the monster’s, where there really
In the gothic novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley offers an ominous tale of science gone terribly wrong using the theme of the father and son relationship that also goes terribly wrong. Though Victor Frankenstein does not give birth per se to the Monster, Frankenstein is for all intents and purposes the Monster's father as he brings him to life via his scientific knowledge. Once the Monster is alive he looks to Frankenstein to protect him as a father would, but Frankenstein who is mortified by his creation shuns him. The longer the Monster lives without Frankenstein's love and the more he discovers what he is missing, the angrier he gets and he sets out on a mission to destroy Victor Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Shelley's purpose is to reveal what happens to society at large when individuals fail in their duties as parents.