In Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" each of the three main characters "possesses a self-governing, passionate intellectual curiosity, which, rather than any formal system of education, is responsible for the formation of their characters." (Englert) Robert Walton's education was mostly from his uncle Thomas's library. He was in pursuit to advance his personal development and factual knowledge, this was his self-guided education. Walton was extremely interested in the sea-faring life, he traveled for his own educational inquiry. "I often worked harder than the common sailors during the day, and devoted my nights to the study of mathematics, the theory of medicine, and those branches of physical science from which a naval adventure might derive
Often in a literary work, authors use minor characters to emphasize specific traits and characteristics of a main character. In Mary Shelley’s best selling novel Frankenstein, the monster is a minor reflection of Victor Frankenstein. Victor’s personality traits from when he was a child, and as an adult, are carried over and placed into his creation unintentionally by Victor himself. As the monster grows older, his comparison to victor becomes more and more evident, and their likeness creates a conflict between the two characters.
Childhood is a time in a person’s life where the most growing occurs, not only physically but also mentally. The human brain is nourished and maintained by the love and affection children receive from both parents and it continues to do so for the rest of their lives. The creature’s inability to build up courage and try to interact with society as well as his constant questioning of his existence is a direct result of an inexistent childhood as well as the absence of a loving family. Frankenstein’s mother and Elizabeth were both orphans so he was well aware of the importance of love and nurturing for people of all ages, yet he denied the creature the opportunity to receive affection of any sort. “No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles
In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley there are many similar characteristics between Victor Frankenstein and the monster that he creates. Victor and his creation both let their emotions get in the way of their actions, act revengeful, are isolated from society, and are very intelligent. From the beginning, the lives of Victor and the monster are very similar. They both grow up without a strong role model figure, and are forced to quickly grow up. Since they both grew up in similar settings, they react similarly to different situations. Throughout the novel Victor and the Monster come across many relatable situations that they are forced to overcome.
Frankenstein struggles with the death of his mother and family throughout this work of writing. I also consider Victor a coward, for he gets afraid of reprimand, and lets Justine be wrongfully pin-pointed as the guilty, while it was his fault since, he let his uneducated Creature wander without any instruction whatsoever. The Monster, however, is contrasting. When he realizes what he has done, he regrets it deeply, and begs for a companion to share his misery. Victor, again, gets scared, and fails to keep his promise. Victor loses his wife, and the monster commits an act of vengeance that I do believe the monster is responsible for, and that is when the Monster kills victor's
In Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Monster Culture (Seven Thesis), Cohen analyzes the psychology behind monsters and how, rather than being a monstrous beast for the protagonist of the story to play against, “the monster signifies something other than itself”. Cohen makes the claim that by analyzing monsters in mythology and stories, you can learn much about the culture that gave rise to them. In Thesis 1 of Monster Culture, Cohen proposes that “the monster’s body literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety, and fantasy”, specifically the fear, desire and anxiety of the cultures that gave rise to it;; fFor example, vVampires, undead, represent a fear of death. Monsters are born of an intense fear, desire, or internal conflict, “at this metaphorical
One out of every three children living in America lives without a father figure in his/her lives. Children growing up without a father figure can develop emotional and/or behavioral problems. In some cases, these children even become aggressive and get into trouble with the law (“Statistics on the Father Absence” n.p.). Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, occurs in Geneva and Ingolstadt, and portrays Victor Frankenstein as a deadbeat father figure to his creation because he does not take responsibility for him, and he must ultimately deal with the consequences of his creature.
Victor shows the strong love of family in his childhood “No human being could have passed a happier childhood than [me]. My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence” (Shelley,40), he raised with excellent conditions and with parents who loved their children, but we do not see that Victor gives this love to his creature and ignored him, notwithstanding the fact that the two figures shared many characteristics. As a result of Frankenstein 's darkness and ignorance toward his creature, he refused to accept the monster because of his physical appearance and Frankenstein sees the creature as if he were the monster when the creature
The novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley depicts certain ideas that can not be described or written within novels. For example, the telling of the story between three different narrators can teach the reader about putting together “pieces of a puzzle” in order to understand the plot of the story. The three narrators in Frankenstein are Victor, Walton, and the Creature, all with very distinct personalities and character traits. Of these storytellers, Victor could possibly be debated as the most extraordinary. The qualities that make Victor pictured as this unique character, that the fact that he is a dynamic character, and that he is an unreliable narrator. His personality and traits are different and similar to some of the other narrators such as the creature.
Oftentimes people are too afraid of what people might think to show their full potential. This is not the case for Victor in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. In Frankenstein we see the journey of Victor and his creation as they separately get rejected and misunderstood by society. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein supports Emerson’s ideas of self-reliance because Victor shows that fearless people can achieve greatness.
Parents are everyone 's first role models. Regardless of biological relation, those who raise us have a profound influence on the way we perceive and interpret life. Parents lay the foundation of our first sense of morality and empathy, and usher us to the path of our development of social skills. No matter how consciously one may attempt to have no resemblance to their parents, it is an inevitability of life that we will harness aspects of their influence and carry them through our lifetime. In Mary Shelley’s, “Frankenstein”, the influence of parental figures is displayed by the morals and values instilled in the monster.
Nature is the predetermined traits that people are born with, while nurture is the influence that affects people after they’re born. The debate surrounding Nature V. Nurture is how much of a person’s traits is predetermined and how much is influenced by the environment. Mary Shelley's believes in nurture more than nature.
What’s a man without his family? The most influential factor in anyone’s young life is their family, but all families are not created equal. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley provides an interesting commentary on how families should raise their children. This text compares two families with drastically different parenting styles. Throughout the text Mary Shelly suggests that a structured “formal” education is corruptive, while a more natural education is favorable.
reation enslave him and spends from the moment he brings the creature to life to the day he dies running from the bondage he unintentionally creates.
“The companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain” Mary Shelley once said. It's no secret that how a person grows up determines the path they take later in life. Certain tragedies and accidents can greatly impact them on a psychological level. Sigmund Freud, a famous psychologist, believed a family relationship has great influence on how a person grows up. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Shelley exposes the life of a scientist named Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created. These characters had a tumultuous relationship due to the monster’s upbringing. It can be argued that the true monster in the Frankenstein is Victor Frankenstein.