Empathy In Frankenstein
The gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley centralizes on humanity and the qualifications that make someone human. The content of the novel Frankenstein depicts a monster displaying human traits that his creator Victor does not possess: empathy, a need for companionship, and a will to learn and fit in. Throughout the novel Shelley emphasizes empathy as a critical humanistic trait. The monster displays his ability to empathize with people even though they are strangers. On the other hand Victor, fails to show empathy throughout the novel even when it relates to his own family and friends. A plethora of instances depicted in the novel bolsters the reader's understanding of the monster's development of empathy which originated during …show more content…
Isolation and a lack of companionship is the tragic reality for the monster, who was abandoned by his creator and is repulsive to everyone that he comes across. Victor removes himself from society for many months; severing nearly all human contact then renouncing his creation based on the monster's appearance. As the monster matures he begins to understands the relationship the cottagers share with one another, while the monster, “yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures: to see their sweet looks directed towards me with affection was the utmost limit of my ambition.”(Shelley). Armed with nothing but the longing for a real connection, the monster approaches his unknowing hosts only to be “brutally attacked—by those he trusted...because of their human ignorance.”(Millhauser). This violent rejection is a repetition of Victor’s lack of acceptance for the monster and attention to his family. Victor knows that the monster will never be able to live within society and that his ability to create life is the only hope the monster has of achieving companionship. Victor's own aversion to companionship surfaces as he, “ fails to give him the human companionship, the Eve, the female creature, that he needs to achieve some sort of a normal life.” (Mellor). The monsters smoldering hope for friendship dies as he speaks of the injustice that is upon him, “shall each man,” cried he, “find a wife for his bosom, and each beast have his mate, and I be alone? I had feelings of affection, and they were requited by detestation and scorn.”(Shelley). Victor’s miniscule capacity for companionship jeopardises the monster’s chances of a gaining a
Loneliness In Frankenstein
1414 Words | 6 PagesWhen Victor proves unable to make a female companion for his monster, the creature laments that though “each man shall find a wife for his bosom... [he will] be alone…while [he] grovel[s] in the intensity of [his] wretchedness” (140). The monster in his quest for companionship has been thus far driven by one singular pursuit: to escape its eternal isolation and alienation. The realization that his hopes have been in vain is a damning one, the severity of which is shown by the monster’s tone of despair.
Character Foils In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
1077 Words | 5 PagesThese questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them.” (Shelley, 138) As the audience witnesses the monster’s isolation they are subsequently led to question Victor’s isolation. “I saw plainly that he was surprised, but he never attempted to draw my secret from me; and although I loved him with a mixture of affection and reverence that knew no bounds, yet I could never persuade myself to confide in him that event which was so often present to my recollection, but which I feared the detail to another would only impress more deeply.” (Shelley, 70) Throughout the novel the monster finds himself isolated for the fact that he lacks meaningful connections with anyone and is unable to find anyone open to him, yet in contrast Victor
Analysis Of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's Monster Culture
1088 Words | 5 PagesThe monster is spurned by society because of his horrific appearance, his body, alone and hated, unfit for the company of strangers, just as Frankenstein fears he is. He is miserable which makes the hatred grow, as he says, “all men hate the wretched; how then must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things!” In fact, this wretchedness and enforced isolation is the monster’s main character trait, parallel to the isolation being Frankenstein’s biggest fear. Now that Victor is in college, he does not have his family to fall back upon for affection.
Character Foils: Victor And The Monster
839 Words | 4 Pages“You may render me [Victor] the most miserable of men, but you shall never make me base in my own eyes,” Victor says to the monster, meaning that the monster can do whatever he wants, but he will not allow him to make Victor lower himself more than he already has, but this is exactly what the monster does when he convinces Victor to make him a female companion. This is a prime example of a minor character foil contrasting a main character; the monster takes complete control over Victor and dominates his character, ultimately turning himself into a more prominent aspect of the storyline. The author most likely does this in order to employ a drastic shift in the meaning of her novel. As the novel started, it was portrayed that Victor would be a rising character and achieve great things, but with the creation of the monster, his character ultimately became his own
Victor's Maturity In Frankenstein By Mary Shelley
829 Words | 4 PagesPerhaps the most spine-chilling threat the monster makes is when he says to Victor that he will “work at [Victor’s] destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth.” (Pg. 125). Victor has acknowledged his creation’s threats to his family, but despite the imminent danger they are in, he decides to act against the creature’s wishes. If Victor were acting honorably and responsibly, he would have listened to the monster’s demands for a female companion and, considering the creature’s threats against his family, complied with the demands. Victor, characteristically, chooses to act impulsively and recklessly, by destroying the female creature.
Loss Of Humanity In Frankenstein Essay
1019 Words | 5 PagesThis shows the humanity in the monster and his tendency to be amiable. He was also able to learn from his mistakes. For example, the creature realized that he needed to stop stealing the family’s supplies after he noticed how much they needed them. Victor, however, didn’t learn from his mistake of creating the monster, and created another. The monster also refers to the family in the cabin as “[his] friends” when they didn’t know of his existence (103).
The Monster Is The Victim In Frankenstein
705 Words | 3 Pages“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” (Mary Shelley Quotes). Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein in 1818. The novel includes many interesting events. By her choice of words readers are hooked to think Victor is the antagonist.
Power In Frankenstein Essay
888 Words | 4 PagesWhen Victor abandons him, the Creature attempts to live alone and learn how others live. The people hindered his attempts with their harsh reactions and obvious fear of the Creature. He secluded himself from society and lived in the woods near a little cottage where a family lived. For a while, he stole wood and food from them until he learned their financial hardships and then he started helping them. He observed the family and began learning through them.
Darkness In Frankenstein
1525 Words | 7 PagesPoet Mary Oliver once wrote, “Someone I loved once gave me a box of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too was a gift.” Darkness is usually framed as being corrupting and evil in life, the little known truth is that Darkness can also be a force healing and development as seen in Frankenstein , A Tale of Two Cities, and Cannery Row. Frankenstein is the tragic story of Victor Frankenstein and his monster.
Duality Of Human Nature In Frankenstein
819 Words | 4 PagesDuality is shown in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, a gothic tale of a scientist whom looks to advance the life-giving qualities of mother nature. Through this novel, Shelley proves that good and evil in human nature is not always simple to define, and that everyone has both of these qualities within them. The duality of human nature is shown through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his monster, who are both heroes in the novel while simultaneously displaying anti-hero qualities. Shelley forces the reader to sympathize with them both but also creates gruesome ideas of the two. Frankenstein’s creature places himself in a submissive position when he begs his creator to have mercy on him and asking the creator to “create a female for [him] with whom [he] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for [his] being.”
Physiological Lens Essay On Frankenstein
1317 Words | 6 PagesHis first moments of life are marked with confusion and pain. He is deserted by his creator and left to begin the life of a wayward vagabond. At this point the monster is saddened by his role as a social outcast, which is shown by the simple statement, “I was alone.” (Shelley 120). A key piece in the monster’s journey is his run-in with the cottage family.
Theme Of Isolation In Frankenstein
1724 Words | 7 PagesBeing abandoned by his creator, the monster has no one to guide him, no one to teach him right from wrong and good from evil. When the creature is first abandoned by Victor, he’s confused and doesn’t understand that he has been abandoned. The creature explains how he felt when he woke up, “A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time; and it was indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses” (Shelley 99). The creature won’t fully realize the impact of being abandoned until later in the story. Victor also suffers from isolation from his
Human Relationships In Frankenstein
1221 Words | 5 PagesLike a mother, Victor brings a new life into the world, technically making him the father of this creature whose appearance scares him away from showing any needed paternal affection. When a child is growing up, they are in desperate need for the emotional attention and nurturing experienced in maternal reverie, and the monster seeks for that attention from Victor. Despite psychoanalytic suggestions of the mother as the dominant force in child development, the Monster needed
The Monster's Alienation In Frankenstein
782 Words | 4 PagesAlthough he comes with friendly intentions, the Monster is treated violently and with contempt, essentially being forced into his alienation to survive and becoming the “monster” he is already thought of as a result. The Monster’s actions are a response to the treatment he has received from others, everyday villagers and Victor alike. With little known about his origins and no way to explain himself, there is no hope for the Monster to assimilate himself. This is present in other characters of the novel as well, for example, Richard Walton, who has self-alienated in order to gain distinction and knowledge. The Monsters origins and appearance develop these themes of alienation throughout the novel, themes that are further developed by other characters and play an important role in delivering the message of
Character Development In Frankenstein
1921 Words | 8 PagesThe fictional horror novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is driven by the accentuation of humanity’s flaws. Even at the very mention of her work an archetypal monster fills one’s imagination, coupled with visions of a crazed scientist to boot. Opening her novel with Robert Walton, the conduit of the story, he also serves as a character to parallel the protagonist’s in many ways. As the ‘protagonist’ of the story, Victor Frankenstein, takes on the mantle of the deluded scientist, his nameless creation becomes the embodiment of a truly abandoned child – one left to fend for itself against the harsh reality posed by society. On the other hand, Walton also serves as a foil to Victor – he is not compulsive enough to risk what would be almost
More about Empathy In Frankenstein
Loneliness In Frankenstein
1414 Words | 6 PagesCharacter Foils In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
1077 Words | 5 PagesAnalysis Of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's Monster Culture
1088 Words | 5 PagesCharacter Foils: Victor And The Monster
839 Words | 4 PagesVictor's Maturity In Frankenstein By Mary Shelley
829 Words | 4 PagesLoss Of Humanity In Frankenstein Essay
1019 Words | 5 PagesThe Monster Is The Victim In Frankenstein
705 Words | 3 PagesPower In Frankenstein Essay
888 Words | 4 PagesDarkness In Frankenstein
1525 Words | 7 PagesDuality Of Human Nature In Frankenstein
819 Words | 4 PagesPhysiological Lens Essay On Frankenstein
1317 Words | 6 PagesTheme Of Isolation In Frankenstein
1724 Words | 7 PagesHuman Relationships In Frankenstein
1221 Words | 5 PagesThe Monster's Alienation In Frankenstein
782 Words | 4 PagesCharacter Development In Frankenstein
1921 Words | 8 Pages