Theme Of Isolation In Frankenstein

It is quite telling that the most severe punishment in our society other than the death penalty or torture is solitary confinement. Although, isolation is in itself a form of torture, it can drive someone to the brink of insanity. Although published nearly 200 years ago, Mary Shelley clearly understood the potential detrimental effects of isolation, as demonstrated in her famous novel, Frankenstein, where both main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, suffer from and cause isolation for the other. Mary Shelley directs the reader to believe that isolation is the true evil, not the monster, Victor or any emotion inside of them. At the beginning of the novel, Victor is isolated from other people, causing to forget his scientific

“I shall relate events that impressed me feelings which, from what I was, have made me what I am” (Shelley 80). In the second volume Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, the monster’s story during his years of isolation shows the complexity of his character; this complexity makes him an enigma. In order to uncover the mysteries behind this enigma, we must analyze the factors that played a role in his development. Looking at the monster’s development, we can see parallels between the monster and feral children. Much like feral children, the monster was abandoned—during the early period of his life—and was placed under extreme circumstances, which he was forced to endure—having to fend for himself. Furthermore, because the monster was placed under extreme isolation—only having contact from a far with the De Lacey and being shunned by them when he chose to reveal himself—he was not able to connect with anyone much like how feral children were unable to connect with other people. With this in mind, it is evident that these factors during the monster’s development plays an important role in his acquisition of certain ideologies. Examining the cases of feral children will provide insights into the essence of human nature, identity, and the impact of experience on human learning (Illes and Murphy 1); these insights can then be implemented into the evaluation of the monster’s overall character. The factors that affected the development of the monster is the key to unlocking why the monster’s nature.

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

The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda once described the emotional suffering that can be caused by the absence of someone in our lives,“Absence is a place so vast that you will pass through its walls and hang pictures in the air.” In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, abandonment plays a large role in affecting the creature created by Victor Frankenstein. Victor has an unending thirst for knowledge that leads him to animate a creature made of dead body parts, when the creature is brought to life Victor is immediately disgusted and leaves his creation. The creature who is left on his own eventually kills all of Victor’s family and his friend. The creature’s violent behavior is due to the anger he feels from the lack of nurture he receives from his creator, however one could argue that the cause was his innate evil.

Emotional and physical isolation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are the most pertinent and prevailing themes throughout the novel. These themes are so important because everything the monster, Victor, and Robert Walton do or feel directly relates to their poignant seclusion. The effects of this terrible burden have progressively damaging results upon the three.

Every person in life is created with a strong sense of belonging. Whether the belonging is to a person, a place, or a moment in time, they still feel connected and influenced by it. Exile is an action that separates a person from this connected belonging, and can suffer great consequences, but can also enrich their lifestyle. In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the creature creaked by Victor Frankenstein is forced, from the very beginning of his existence, away from his creator and society as a whole. This type of exile turned the creature into what he is, shaping his ideas and mentalities.

In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, both of the main characters undergo physical and emotional isolation. This enforced or chosen solitude causes Frankenstein to become over-ambitious and harbor secrets from his family and friends, leading to his demise. In the monster, isolation turns to misery, which causes him to become vengeful against his creator and all the world. Through these examples of total isolation, Shelley shows that when people have no connection to others in the world, their worst characteristics and flaws are brought out.

“ Human beings are social creatures, we are social not just in the trivial sense that we like company, and not just in the obvious sense that we each depend on others. We are social in a more elemental way: simply to exist as a normal human being requires interaction with other people.” (Gawande) Throughout Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein and the article, “Hellhole” by Atul Gawande both writers portray the common theme of the effects of social isolation on the individual. In both ways it shows being lonely vs being alone. Both of these writings portray how isolation changes the mental and physical state of an individual causing them to be depressed, ashamed of themselves, dangerous, and weak.

“Whosoever is delighted in solitude, is either a wild beast or a god” (Aristotle). Romantic period writer and author, Mary Shelley, depicts two characters in her soft science fiction novel, Frankenstein, that is exquisitely similar to those who “would find delight in solitude” as quoted by Aristotle in his Politics. In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the parallel of Aristotle’s two presented personas consists as Victor Frankenstein as a god and his horrific creation, the Monster, as a wild beast. Unambiguously, Victor is indeed the god of the Monster because he created him, consequently bringing the Monster into existence. The Monster too is merely a wild beast from the perception that he appears to be a frightening and violent creature. Despite this, it is observable in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that the Monster is completely and utterly miserable in his

The moment Victor Frankenstein successfully infuses life into his creation he is overcome with horror and disgust. Without further examination he is certain to have created a monster, not a human being (Shelley 35-36). However, despite his grotesque appearance, Frankenstein’s creature was not born malicious. During the first stages of his existence, unbeknownst to Frankenstein himself, his acts are motivated by innocence and virtue, which even earns him the title “good spirit” (79). Frankenstein did not create a monster. An unsatisfied need for a sense of belonging transforms Frankenstein’s creature into the monster it ultimately becomes. Therefore, I argue that the predominant theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the need for social belonging

The creature also takes on a role as a Byronic Hero through his forced isolation, intelligence, traumatic life events, and manipulative skills. The creature begins his life by being abandoned by his creator and forced to develop from the mental stage of a human newborn to an adult on his own. After the initial confusion from waking, he leaves Victor’s apartment, and finds himself in a desolate area by a brook where he is frightened, cold, and completely alone (73). Only knowing solitude, the creature doesn’t know how to interact with other beings because he is unaware that his appearance causes fright in everyone. When he stumbles upon them, he doesn’t understand why they run from him. As one man ran screaming from him upon catching a glimpse,

Isolation and its different types have conditional effects on an individual as portrayed by the different characters in the novel. One desires independence from the rest of the world such as Victor Frankenstein, or one could be miserable at the thought of not being recognized and understood such as the monster and Robert Walton. Isolation has different impacts to the type of person it is affecting and how being isolated could have positive or detrimental consequences. It can be argued that if the monster lived in a society where he was loved and treated with passion, then this would have halted his evil doings and murders. However, many argue as well that the monster is a monster and will show barbaric characteristics regardless of its lifestyle.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, a profound wordsmith and theorist from the 1800s, proposed that a mixture of solitude and interactions with society is necessary for human beings. However, he makes it clear that since humans display contrasting features, this combination must be adjusted accordingly to suit the personal needs of individuals. Some persons need equal amounts of both factors to cater to their specific desires; others might require more of one element than the other. This all depends on the environment, goals, and personalities of specific souls. Although the terms solitude and alienation are generally used interchangeably, the latter is more suited to define situations where one is estranged or detached from a group in society to which they should belong. Conversely, the description of the former is a state being alone. Hence, it can be concluded that alienation is a category of such a state. The novel Frankenstein, also known as The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley explores the theme of solitude. This theme, along with its aforementioned category, plays an integral role in the creation and construction of Shelley’s fictional characters. That is, it is a strange link between Victor Frankenstein, an overambitious scientist, and his “monster-like” creation (the Creature). Both individuals experience some form of the present motif, whether it is self-imposed or originates from the

Mary Shelley, in her novel, Frankenstein, and Oscar Wilde, in his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, describe a monster as the way in which a man takes responsibility for his sins. Shelley defines this as the destruction man causes in pursuit of knowledge beyond human understanding, thus transgressing morality, while Wilde defines a monster as a man who wrongfully surpasses mortality in pursuit of perfection at the expense of his peers.

In 1818 Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, a novel that follows Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious man on his journey to defy the natural sciences. In Volume I of the novel, Victor discusses his childhood, mentioning how wonderful and amazing it was because of how his family sheltered him from the bad in the world. “The innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me” (35). When Victor brings up his childhood, he suggests that parents play a strong in how their kids turn out, either "to happiness or misery" (35). In particular the main character was sheltered as a child to achieve this “happiness” leading to Victor never developing a coping mechanism to the evil in the world. Throughout the novel, Victor does not have a healthy method of dealing with the negative scenarios that life throws at him. He does not deal with his problems directly, rather he runs away from them literally and figuratively. As a child Victor was sheltered from loss and his surroundings, which restrained his character from establishing a true coping mechanism for dealing with his problems, he is left to manage these happenings using the only form of survival that he knows-running away.