Born Evil In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

We can all come to an agreement that serial killers are both horrendous and unpredictable human beings. Most acts of violence we hear about are committed by serial killers. Unsatisfied with their previous actions, serials killers look to execute more victims. In most cases, the upbringing of the individual plays a huge role on the killer. Because of their twisted techniques and motives, some of these killers are infamously known to be the most frightening criminals in history.

Whether working with a co-worker, learning with a classmate or hanging out with a friend, the thought of any of them having the potential to be evil does not cross the mind. Everyday people are not typically evil beings, but if people are not evil beings then why do they commit actions like torture, killing and genocide? Could it be that the certain people committing the acts are just monsters deep inside, or could the actions be mere products of circumstance? In his article "The Genocidal Killer in the Mirror", Crispin Sartwell, a journalist and philosopher, advises his audience to take a look at the heinous acts people have committed throughout history as a way to show us how anyone could commit evil acts, including ourselves. Marianne Szegedy-Maszak,

People, for the most part, are inherently good. It is life that makes them evil, people are affected by events, influences, and circumstances. For the most part, there is an explanation for every “evil” person 's behavior. I will focus on the impact that conditions have on people, as well as the cases of inherently evil people. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a perfect example of inherently good people making poor choices and hurting others because of the things that have impacted them.

A serial killer’s violent rage may reflect the abuse and neglect endured in childhood. Their intense hatred cultivated in the early stages of childhood now will be directed at their unsuspecting victims. In The Killers Among Us, Stephen Egger claims that many case studies of mass and serial murderers discovered a reoccurring background of ”neglect and early years spent in extreme social and psychological deprivation” (Egger 29). Continually, Egger states that the most common aspect of the serial killer’s histories was the physical abuse and violent punishments inflicted on them as a child. As a result, their subconscious stores these traumatic memories and emotions, which later has a powerful result on their behaviors and emotional life

Shelley’s novel encompasses the unknown and how ambition drove Victor’s passions, ultimately leading him to the tragic end with many other bumps in the road along the way. As Victor had been in the study of life and its cause, the death of his mother had catalyzed a movement of grief which had started, “…depriv[ing him]self of rest and health. [Which he] had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation…” (Shelley 35). Even though he knew that he had been raiding graveyards, Victor believed that he created the body with the ‘finest body parts’ available.

These outward acts of rage seem to be motivated by his anger towards Victor, for exiling and hating him. When he finally does confront Victor about this, he says “You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?” (Shelley,

We all like to think that evil is not born within us, but rather nurtured into us; while this may be true for some, others have evil born directly into them. When man toys with the powers reserved for only God, God strikes back with a wicked evil to show man the power that they truly lack. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein contains a prime example of a being born of unnatural causes and thus having these evil urges that they cannot control. Frankenstein’s monster is a highly intelligent being, and hence he is very manipulative.

In her novel Mary Shelley explores the central ideas of rejection and abandonment, human nature, good and evil and revenge to support the conviction of Frankenstein’s responsibility in the novel and Frankenstein is a reflection of this. Shelley shows through positioning of characters within the stories that good and evil is not clear-cut and there are many moral grey areas. The readers are positioned to feel sympathy for the creature, especially since his yearnings for human contact could easily be their own. Which makes it all the more frightening when Victor and others treat him in such vile ways.

Soon after he gets rejected from the De Lacey family, he exclaims to Victor, “Cursed, Cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge” (117). The monster explains that he had been truly overcome with anger because of the De Lacey family’s rejection of him.

The Truth About Human Nature My perspective on the goodness of humanity was completely altered after not only reading Lord of the Flies, but also from personal experiences in my own life. Recently I was shopping at DSW with my brother, a 12-year-old who made it clear that he would rather be doing anything but shoe shopping. He was complaining and insisting that we go home, but my mom was in need of a new pair of shoes for work. I was killing time browsing for shoes when my brother kicked me in the shin and hit me for no reason.

Evil is a simple word that we learn at a young age and that we understand is bad. However, our youth and innocence prevents us from knowing the weight the word holds. As our understanding of evil develops, we begin to see evil all around us. Although we hold common societal definitions of evil, each person is bound to view evil slightly different from others. Someone might consider alcoholism evil, while others consider it normal: someone might believe racism is evil, while others believe it is natural.

This question has been asked for hundreds of years, are humans born inherently good or bad? Some might argue that as people mature, society’s influences ultimately determine whether or not that person will end up being good or bad. These people suggest that humans are naturally born of good intent. Many studies show that this may be true. In another case it can be argued that some people are born with a natural instinct to do bad things.

Firstly, man is born evil because society shows him to be evil. An example of this is how parents must raise their child to be good. A parent never has to raise their child to do bad things. A young child might draw on the wall and believe that it is art, however the parent will stop the child and tell them that drawing on the wall is a bad thing to do.

Some people could be born with evil souls and some could be born with good souls and the reason we are always fighting with each other is because it’s evils opinion against goods opinion. Or are we all born with a nutreal soul and then decide to be either good or evil based on the type of enviroment they grew up in. The most popular opinion is that people are born evil but choose to do good things to make up for it and

The understanding that some people are good or bad widespread all over the world.” The evil comes from human history and continue until today” and even today this statement has existed. Moreover, when people want to explain why people do some evil acts, the discussion often end with words like “people initially are born evil”. However, some other people argued that people are born good. Because of these many critics has debates such as: are people born bad, good or just like naked board without any morality.