The Role Of Isolation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, it scrutinizes the punishments when a man creates life, and plays the role of God. Victor Frankenstein, is at fault for the creature’s actions. Victor was looking for some honor and triumph, but when he accomplished his experiment, not only did it bring terror to Victor, but to the whole world. The monster never learned right from wrong and was never raised correctly, his first moment of life, all he experienced was the fear in Victor's emotion, and was abandoned right from the start. Victor selfishly isolated himself from society and ran away from his responsibilities which caused destruction to the people Victor cared for and loved deeply.

Victor becomes lost in his studies and decides to remove himself from human society. He lingered in his basement, where “[his] cheek had grown pale with study, and [his] person had become emaciated with confinement” (Shelley 32), therefore Victor loses sight of his responsibilities and the consequences of his actions. Similarly, the monster was “cast... abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind…” (Shelley 100), thrown into the world alone, and despised by all it encountered. Turning to Victor, the monster begged his creator to make another of its kind so he could have another being to relate to. Victor refuses, punishing the monster for his actions by forcing him into isolation.

When telling Victor everything he experienced the creature says, “Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind” (138); meaning that all these events he experienced mold him to be wicked and spiteful. Without human interaction, he becomes an actual monster, when he at first only craved company and longed a friend yet all he received was mistreatment and insults. When he saw Victor’s younger brother he thought “I could seize him, and educate him as a companion and friend…” (138), but sadly the boy was prejudice against his looks and insulted him, and shortly reveled he was a Frankenstein and the monster killed him out of spite. This shows the importance of social connections and just having someone to talk to and lean on. In a way, it is societies responsibility to care for the misfortune and treat them with not only respect but with kindness.

The creatures offer is that he will leave Victor and all mankind alone forever if Victor just creates a mate for him. Whereupon, Victor eventually and reluctantly defers into. Repugnant he begins to work, but freaks out over what it will mean to create a female monster, not only does he think of monster progeny “[…] a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth who might make the very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror.” (Shelley, p. 149-150), but moreover, he says “[…] she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, and delight, for it on sake, in murder and wretchedness.” (Shelley, p. 149). So, Victor destroys the female creature while the monster watches. Another point for this case

Scar had a jealous conscience and dark deep desires since Simba was the heir to the throne. Thus he wanted to murder Mufasa and Simba to seize the position. He murders Mufasa but Simba survived, Scar then advised Simba to run away, declaring he was responsible for the tragic death of his father and to never come back, like this he would not disturb his reign. The fervor for power led Scar to murder his own brother who was the king were horrendous actions shaped by power. Once Scar reigned he did as he pleased with his reign, at the end, there was no water or food left it to turn into an eerie place plenty of evilness.

Later in the novel when Victor visits the monster, he is asked to create a companion for the monster. Victor goes back on the deal so the monster vows to get revenge out of anger. After a tumultuous couple of years, the monster kills Victor’s best friend Henry and soon-to-be wife Elizabeth, leaving Victor to blame himself for the deaths. Killing Henry and Elizabeth through rage are the monster’s sense of atonement. It seems as if it is a sense of karma since Victor did not truly help his monster.

The monster gives Victor one chance to fix their relationship, but Victor choses his life over the monsters. “I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness, and, with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew” (Shelley 171). Victor doesn’t want to create “another like him” but he doesn’t realize that the only way the monster acts the way he does, is because Victor was never there to help him through life. Victor could help the monster by making a companion for him, but instead Victor got married to his own.

Fearing the progression of a female monster, Victor destroys the almost finished female creature, leaving the first monster vowing vengeance on Victor because he has doomed his life of loneliness and despair. Victor considers the creation of a female monster to fail in the world and not comprehend to the plans for the first monster. Believing his thoughts were best for the world, Victor destroys the female monster before he can provide her with

It is another liability that he brought onto himself. First, Victor, being a scientist, should have been aware of the precautions of creating a new life. He did not think of the aftermath that the monster might create. For example, it is stated, “The death of William, the execution of Justine, the murder of Clerval, and lastly of my wife… my father… he died in my arms” (87). Additionally, everyone that Victor ever cared about or loved died because of the creature murdering them.

His family became deeply troubled when the monster, looking to seek revenge against his creator, killed Frankenstein’s younger brother and his beloved cousin and wife. The monster wanted revenge against Frankenstein because Frankenstein ignored him and his pleas for love. Creating the monster a mate may not have been the wisest choice but ignoring the monster all together was definitely dangerous. Frankenstein could no longer be completely separated from society after his brother’s death because he had to track down and kill his monster. However he remained estranged from society because of the emotional burden of guilt he had to carry around with him for the rest of his life.