Examples Of Poverty In Frankenstein

Much has been said about poverty over the years. The consistency of poverty in history and its repercussions is disconcerting. The lack of appropriate education can be considered to be the foundation of poverty which often times corresponds with the rise of criminal activity. It is recognized as an insatiable quandary. However, the way that Mary Shelley incorporates poverty into Frankenstein is unheard of and infrequently thought of. Shelley demonstrates poverty in two ways: social poverty and monetary poverty. Social poverty is the lack of companionship or people to relate with. Monetary poverty is shown when one lacks money or the necessities for life. In the novel, these aspects are integrated as a way to show the responsibilities and privileges

One scene that reveals social poverty occurs in the beginning of the novel when Walton is on his mission to the North Pole. In this scene when he is nearing his goal, Walton writes to his sister, “I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will Endeavour to sustain me in dejection.” (4) From this, it is clear to see that Walton is suffering from loneliness. He lacks the desired companionship that he didn’t prepare for. He is in social poverty. His social deficiency causes him to become sad and lonely. Alas aboard Walton’s vessel appears Victor Frankenstein and Walton finds the companion that he longed for. Walton and Frankenstein are immediate companions when they meet aboard the vessel because they are both very lonely. They had common experiences and virtues that strengthened their unanticipated bond. From this, one can see that social poverty connects characters to each other and creates a need for people that causes loneliness and despair.

Shelley also accentuates how lack of social poverty causes one to take their friends and family for granted therefore social poverty becomes self-inflicted. This is shown when Victor Frankenstein leaves his family to study in Ingolstadt but fails to correspond with them. His family is left worrying about him while

One scene that shows monetary poverty is revealed when Frankenstein’s creature is telling his story about the Delacey family. In this scene the Creature says, “...it was poverty, and they suffered that evil in a very disgusting degree… They often, I believe, suffered the pangs of hunger very poignantly…” (77-78) From this, one can plainly see how crushing monetary poverty can be. In another example, Dr. Frankenstein arrives at the remotest of the island chain called the Orkneys and finds very few people living on this desolate island; he says, “...whose gaunt and scraggly limbs gave tokens of their miserable fare.” (119) Monetary poverty is usually accompanied by hunger, homelessness, and sadness. Even though people suffer, when it is noticed, others help them as much as