In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the theme is prejudice and its effect on mankind. Throughout the story the creature explores one of mankind's most destructive flaws, prejudism. Every human the creature meets in the novel assume he is monster because of his appearance, when really the monster is kind and intellectual. One after another he is attacked by his creator, village and even families despite trying to befriend them. The violence and prejudice he faces shows him the evilness of man. The only person who accepts him is the blind man De Lacey, which suggest the monster was right, mankind is barbaric and blinded by its own prejudice. Frankenstein's theme of prejudice is revealed every time the monster is attacked. In the first quote Frankenstein …show more content…
“For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley 20) Frankenstein is angry and saddened that all his sleepless nights depriving himself of fun, rest and health has left his monster in horror. His sees his dream disappear of beauty and his filled with horror and disgust. Because of his hatred toward the creature, it leads him to abandon it and fend for itself. In the second quote Frankenstein seems to stumble upon a village in the middle of the forest, but when the town people see him they attack and drive him out. “One of the best of these I entered, but I had hardly placed my foot within the door before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted. The whole village was aroused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped…” (Shelley 44) This is the creature's first barbaric encounter with humans and their prejudism, although at this moment he does not realize why he was attacked. In the third quote while the creature speaks to the blind De Lacey, he
Both Grendel and the Fiend in Frankenstein share many similarities throughout their independent novels. Both creatures were clueless about society and as the novels and their lives progressed their knowledge grew, they were molded into creatures which were based off of their perception and experiences with society. Grendel had his first encounter with humans when he was young and began to discover the world and its processes, and he discovered that humans were not like the past animals in which he had encountered. At first the humans posed no threat to him, but when he tried to speak to them they became frightened, “The king snatched an ax from the man beside him and, without any warning, he hurled it at me. I twisted, letting out a howl, and
Frankenstein's monster's first interaction with people was when he tried to enter a small town. When he entered the town he was aggressive towards the people. He even left the town because because he thought they were threatening his life. Frankenstein was only aggressive towards the people of this town because they saw he was different and much larger then them. He was correct that they were threatening his life because they were they had formed a mob and were coming for him.
The result of his ambition, putting his wants and desires before others safety, results in him shutting himself out from the rest of the world so that he can satisfy himself. Those who are close to Frankenstein are the ones that end up getting hurt the most and Frankenstein is left with guilt. Frankenstein not only went too far in creating the monster, but he then went as far as leaving the monster to defend for himself in a world that was unknown to him. The monster’s confusion in the world foils and reflects Frankenstein’s poor judgement and selfishness. Frankenstein’s decision to create the monster and then leave him without any guidance, shows the worst part of Frankenstein’s desires and true colors.
In Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the creature 's acquisition of knowledge leads to his diversion from benevolence to pure hatred towards mankind. The works of Victor Frankenstein, the monster was created by old body parts and strange chemicals, animated by a spark making him come to life. The Creature enters life as an eight-foot giant only to have been created with the intellect of a newborn. Abandoned by his creator and confused, the Creature attempts to integrate himself into society only to be shunned away in disgust by humanity. The Creature then makes his way and lives next to a human family which is essentially the start for the creatures detestation towards humanity.
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.
The Path Imagine a child waking up in the hospital with no recollection of how he ended up there. Alone in the room with no parents or nurses around he may instantly feel alone. Not even able to remember his name, he cries out for a nurse, but when a nurse does not appear he gets out of the hospital bed and goes to look for one on his own. In a confused state he approached a nurse in his gown.
In the book Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley. Mary Shelley was born August 30, 1797 in London England.. She was best known for her novel Frankenstein. Mary’s mother died shortly after her birth.. Mary died on February 1, 1851 due to brain cancer,
This lack of complete thinking is what leads to the “beauty of the dream vanishing” for Victor Frankenstein. The instant his creation comes to life,
Firstly, Victor Frankenstein had treated his creation abusively, which created his sense of being unwanted and lonely. There are many examples of this showcased throughout the story, such as,"Devil," I exclaimed, "do you dare approach me? And do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head? Begone, vile insect! Or rather, stay, that I may trample you to dust!
He is aware of his otherness and knows that he is “shut out from intercourse” (84) with the people he holds so dear. It can be argued that this is the point where the creature’s humanity is the strongest throughout the course of story. He has a basic understanding of human societies, he speaks and reads their language, shows compassion and, most importantly, seeks their company and friendship. In his knowledge that social belonging is the missing component to his own happiness, he confronts the people he secretly observed only to, once again, be met with fear and anger (94-95). He comes to realise that he
The monster continues by reassuring the creator of his independent intelligence and power over the creature by telling Frankenstein, “This you alone can do”. Here, the creature assumes a role of submissiveness and reliance on Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s monster gains the sympathy of the reader who, despite condemning the murder of innocent people, commiserate with the lonely creature who is in search of an acquaintance, which he will likely never find. The monster also displays power and aggressiveness over Frankenstein; “You are my creator; but I am your master; obey!” The monster wants to desolate Victor’s heart, not by killing him directly,
Once the creature begins to go out on his own and learn about life and society, during his first interaction with other people he learns that he will be immediately judged based on how he looks. To start, when Frankenstein first sees the creature, he quickly runs away without any interaction and exclaims “no mortal could support the horror of that countenance” (Shelley 36). This interaction made the monster realize that even his creator could not avoid the habits of the society he lived in, and immediately ran away from him in fear because he didn’t believe he was attractive. Then after that, the creature still has enough hope to go into a village and meet other people, but he is immediately met with children that “shrieked” and one woman who “fainted” just at the sight of him (Shelley 74). In every situation where the creature attempts to interact with others, he is shunned immediately, before even being able to say a word.
The two passages above, one from Frankenstein, and one from The Creature, highlight their perspectives on life having either been supported by a family or growing up with no parental guidance. This shows a parallel relationship between the two passages. Ultimately they both end up left in solitary, only having each other. In The Creature’s passage, he talks about his desire for a family.
Frankenstein’s Monster is not categorized as evil by his malicious behavior and is sympathized with due to his creator abandoning him and the role of nature versus nurture taken place II. Monster’s Nature and alienation A. Monster originally had an inquisitive nature yet gentle nature a. Information on the German family was “each interesting and wonderful to one so utterly inexperienced as [he] was” (105) B. With the rejection and alienation from society, the only interactions the monster experiences, he becomes full of hatred a. Rejected by De Lacey family by his looks and labeled a monster b. Tries to save a child but is shot by child’s father C. Reader may feel sympathy towards the Monster’s actions because the readers know that his true nature was not evil and he was misjudged III.
As the book progresses, Frankenstein becomes more engrossed in the different aspects of science, and Shelley no longer uses natural scenes to describe what is happening around him, because of his disconnection with ‘appreciation of the unknown’. This aspect of his life is shown in this quote, “days and nights of incredible labor and fatigue... my cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement... my limbs now tremble, and my eyes swim with the remembrance... I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.”