Is He Crazy ? The book of “Frankenstein” written by Mary Shelley, tells the story of an isolated creature abandoned by his creator and is forced to adapt to a lifestyle unknown to him. After being abandoned, the creature is forced to find his own way in the world alone, with no guidance. One would question whether the actions of the creature was fate or free will. The Creature in “Frankenstein”, by Mary Shelley is going back and forth throughout the book with his internal and external conflict of isolation. As the reader it makes me question is the Monster crazy by choice or because of the Monster’s isolation did that drive him crazy. While the reader was getting to know more about the creature the reader begins to infer that the creature is going into conflict with not being able …show more content…
Isolation is connected to Frankenstein himself and also the monster. The monster was very lonely in the world while not having his creator around. “Social isolation affects how people behave as well as how their brains operate” (University Of Chicago, Web) . The creature had no social life due to the fact that he looked different and people were afraid of him. So the creature was socially isolating himself because he did fit in anywhere. The fact that the monster was isolating himself in that way could have caused him to just go crazy as some readers would say. The story of Frankenstein continues and as the reader continues to follow throughout the book the reader can infer that the monster is only going crazy towards the end . The monster would not have reacted this way if the creator was around. The monster had no one to go to. Although he figured out a way to survive. The monster also learned to speak and read. In the story of Frankenstein, many of the characters are isolated. While Victor and Walton choose to isolate themselves, the monster is isolated based upon circumstances out of his
Emotional isolation in Frankenstein is the most pertinent and prevailing theme throughout the novel. This theme is so important because everything the monster does or feels directly relates to his poignant seclusion. The effects of this terrible burden have progressively damaging results upon the monster, and indirectly cause him to act out his frustrations on the innocent. The monster's emotional isolation makes him gradually turn worse and worse until evil fully prevails. This theme perpetuates from Mary Shelley's personal life and problems with her father and husband, which carry on into the work and make it more realistic.(Mellor 32) During the time she was writing this novel, she was experiencing the emotional pangs of her
One of the most important themes in this novel is isolation. While they’ve all endured their fair share of it I believe the Creature was isolated the most. The Creature gets rejected by every person who meets him. With Frankenstein, it seems, had a choice and isolated himself purposefully, the Creature wasn’t given the same choice. The creature was isolated because he was different, yet in both cases the isolation brought about only unhappiness and tragedy.
Like a baby, Frankenstein’s creature was born innocent and inexperience of how society works. Neglected by his creator, the creature had no one to teach him, this caused him to become isolated. While wandering in the wilderness the creature came upon the De Lacey family. He does not approach them, instead he studies them and becomes accustom to their doings. He uses his isolation to educate himself and gain courage to meet the family. Aghast by the creature’s monstrous appearance, the De Lacey family fled away leaving the
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley emphasizes that Frankenstein’s Monster was a sad and extremely lonely creature. At the beginning of the book, Frankenstein’s Monster tried to communicate, connect, and socialize with people; however, the whole village was terrified of him, and even his own creator ran away and left him
This source goes over the later forms of the horror story and it included the novel Frankenstein. At one point, it touched upon the alienation and isolation that the creature went through and how it had affected him later on.
From the start of Mary Shelley's novel, the monster is identified as this psychotic murderer, abnormal. The gigantic, grotesquely horrid creation of Victor Frankenstein, like Frankenstein himself, had only positive intentions at first. He was a delicate, smart monster attempting to alter to human behavior and social skills. From beginning to end, Shelley made sure to target how the monster had to learn everything solo in order to live. As the creature's creator, Victor's role was to provide and teach the creature, taking responsibility instead of running away. The fact that the monster was left unattended in the world led to his raw actions. For instance, Shelley suggest the consequences of isolation when the monster says, "You can blast my other passions, but revenge remains -- revenge, henceforth dearer than light of food! I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery." (Shelley 153) The Monster is talking in rage after Victor Frankenstein rejects his proposal to create a mate for him. The Monster is so secluded that he, himself, had to ask for a friend. This, however, was not the end of this conversation. In counter play for being deserted, Shelley writes that the Monster went off
He chose to "avoid a crowd and to attach [himself] fervently to a few [schoolmates]" (Shelley 36). Characteristics like isolation can lead to an unhappy future and cause a person to totally remove himself from society. Though "[Frankenstein's] father had wished him 'to seek amusement in society [he] abhorred the face of man.' ... 'I felt that I had no right to share their intercourse,'" he admits (Goldberg 31). From the knowledge of Frankenstein's past the reader is able to understand the character's behavior and how it develops. Through the years Frankenstein has kept to himself, with a few exceptions, and is heavily involved in his studies. These conditions evolve to a more serious state over time. "Now, he reveals only the 'desire to avoid society' and fly 'to solitude, from the society of every creature.' . . . He is 'immersed in solitude,' for he perceives' an insurmountable barrier' between him and his fellow-man" (Draper 3206). This state of seclusion only adds to Frankenstein's deterioration and to the condition of his creation. Frankenstein's creature takes on the characteristics of his creator, just as children do with their parents. Due to the creator's reclusive habits and characteristics the Creature becomes as isolated and lonely as his creator. After being shunned by Frankenstein, the Creature wonders about lonely, "searching in vain for a few acorns to assuage the pangs of hunger"
‘Frankenstein’ expresses a clear idea of freedom and autonomy. Shelley portrays the monster as lonely and only wanting to fit in. With the use of characterization we can see the monster feels locked out from the world; his emotions explain to us his feeling of being trapped. This shows no freedom for the monster. With no freedom he forgets about the need to survive, and focuses solely on gaining
Perhaps the most important takeaway from Frankenstein is the causes of the evil actions of the characters, specifically Dr. Frankenstein and his creature. When isolated or rejected, each character resorts to violence and acts of ill-intention. Isolation and rejection are painful states of being, and even sub-human creations react to them poorly. Victor Frankenstein frequently projects his feelings as a result of the isolation he feels in quotes such as this: “…the shades of my murdered friends heard and approved my devotion; but the furies possessed me as I concluded, and rage choked my utterance.” (Shelley 218). He explains that his mind shifts to thought of evil when he ponders how he lost his friends and family, proving Shelley’s opinion on the harms of isolation. Victors creature falls victim to violence in response to isolation as well. Following William’s rejection of the monster, declaring him a “…monster! Ugly wretch!” and an “ogre,” the monster strangles him (150). Both Victor and his creation experience moments
Isolation has a negative effect on Frankenstein by making him fall ill. “But I was in reality very ill; and surely nothing but the unbounded and unremitting attentions of my friend could have restored me to life. The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes. By very slow degrees, and with frequent relapses that alarmed and grieved my friend, I recovered” (55). With Clerval by his side, Frankenstein recovered
Frankenstein suffers from schizophrenia and maybe even dissociative identity disorder (when someone has two or more distinct personalities). These mental illnesses cause Frankenstein to blow his monster’s foulness way out of proportion the same way Captain Ahab would always hype up Moby Dick as if it were Satan himself. His megalomania carries his thoughts into a deeper level of obsession just like how Frankenstein’s obsession with creating and destroying life pushes him into physical states that almost kill him.
I do believe that Frankenstein had a mental condition. Perhaps he made up The Monster in his mind to feel normal himself. After all, he does not refer to the monster very often throughout the
Frankenstein puts the monster into a situation that causes him to be one of a kind. The monster had no one to whom he could relate. Victor thrusts the burden of existence upon the monster by creating him, leaving no route for escape from the situation. Frankenstein causes the monster to live a life in solitude, and the monster realizes the contempt others have for him. The monster feels as if he is no different, and believes he “deserved better treatment”(Shelley 114). Through his observations, the fiend ponders whether his existence is truly that of humanity or rather of “a monster, a blot upon the earth from which all men fled and whom all men disowned”(Shelley 119). By creating him, Victor forces these hardships upon the monster.
Throughout the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the creature is subjected to countless acts of violence and rejection. For a monster to develop, one must have been formerly exploited either by an individual or their society. The creature is not only a physical product of science, but his atrocious behavior is also an explicit result of Victor’s actions toward him. The creature was not born a monster, but slowly morphed into one as he experiences violence and rejection from his society.
Contrary to Frankenstein, the creature does not choose his isolation, but it was immediately chosen for him. Society and especially Frankenstein excludes the creature from being accepted, based on his looks and his little ability to act as a normal human being. Within the novel he states, “What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people; and I longed to join them, but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night before from the barbarous villagers, and resolved, whatever course of conduct I might hereafter think it right to pursue, that for the present I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching, and endeavouring to discover the motives which influenced their actions.” (Shelley, pg. 110) The creature is aware of this exclusion and through those words a reader can know for sure. The negative effects of the creature’s isolation begins to show within the story through his horrifying acts like murder. Isolation develops to be a motif in the story, which helps a reader truly see that this is a huge similarity between both Frankenstein and his creature.