Nature Vs. Nurture In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

The creature began to converse freely with the blind father who addressed him with kindness. However, when his two children returned, the daughter fainted and the son "dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick" forcing the creature to "quit the cottage and escape unperceived to my hovel" (115). These acts of cruelty emphasize how often humanity stereotypes individuals. Just because a creature looks monstrous does not mean his intentions match his appearance. After this heartbreaking event, the monster decides to stop seeking love and instead to seek revenge against his creator and attempt to force Victor to create a companion for him. The creature attempts to explain his cruel ways when he exclaims, "There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my

The creature's physical grotesqueness makes the creature unable to attain affection from the human societies. The creature is initially rejected by his creator, who is the closest resemblance to a mother or father figure. Despite this relationship, Victor finds the creature to be a "miserable monster" (39). Consequently, as soon as life is present within the creature, Victor abandons his child. Victor claims that he "escaped, and rushed down the stairs" (40) away from the

Philosophers and scientists alike have debated for centuries whether a person’s character is the result of nature or nurture. In the writings of Thomas Hobbes, it is expressed that humans are endowed with character from birth, and that they are innately evil in nature. John Locke’s response to this theory is that everyone is born with a tabula rasa, or blank slate, and then develops character after a series of formative experiences. The idea that true character is the result of experiences and societal interaction is a theme deeply explored throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Through different interactions with the monster, Shelley attempts to express that it is because of Victor’s failings as a parent and creator, because of the

The creature explains that he has been scorned and rejected by society because he is judged by his horrific appearance. The most prominent event in the novel that emphasizes the creature’s isolation is his experience with the DeLacey family. Although the creature assisted the family in collecting their firewood and shoveling the snow out of their driveway in the hopes of gaining the sympathy of the family, he is ultimately rejected by them when DeLacey’s son, Felix, finds the creature wrapped around his blind father’s leg, and begins to harm the creature and tear him away from his father. In addition, in the novel, the creature saves a young girl from drowning in a lake, yet is rewarded for his humane deed by receiving a gunshot wound from the girl’s father. The creature is isolated because he is constantly being rejected by mankind despite his valiant efforts to gain sympathy. This trait is significant to the novel because it reveals that it is solely the creature’s rejection by society that makes him malicious, and he is not as monstrous as Victor portrays him to be. The creature even states himself, “‘Satan had his companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him, but I am solitary and abhorred’”

Due to Victor’s unwillingness to accept him, the creature was unable to conform to societal norms. From the creature’s very first moments, he is feared by others - the instant his eyes open, his creator cries out in terror and runs to his quarters. If only Victor had stayed and attempted to nurture his creation, instead of having “turned from [him] in disgust” (93), the creature may have enjoyed a gentle, upbringing in which he

Nature (our genes) and nurture (our environment) affect our individual differences in behavior and personality. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley addresses the conflict of nature vs. nurture. Victor Frankenstein creates a "child" whom he abandons upon birth. This brings up questions such as, was the creature genetically inclined to be evil, or did the hostility he encountered turn him evil? Are one's surroundings determined by who they become later in life? Does nurture form one's characteristics that will determine who someone is later in life? Mary Shelley used these questions as an approach to show that the monster is intelligent, but destructive, and had guilt due to his environment and isolation. The monster’s guilt due to its

It is Victor's story that truly exposes the true theme of the story, with him speaking of his days as a child and his first friendship with the girl his parents adopted. He lives a fine life, full of joy and happiness with friend plentiful. When he goes to college he is without friends, but soon befriends one of the professors and engaged in lengthy conversations with him. This isn't the same friendship as before, lacking the real love and companionship of his family, and he soon begins work on his creation. He so overwhelmed by the idea of creating a perfect person he is blinded from the deformity of the creature. When the creature is finished he examines his work and is mortified by it, running and hiding he escapes the creature that soon wanders away. Soon after Victor becomes sick and deathly, he shuns society and people and is almost dead when his friend Clerval arrives at the college. Clerval nurses Victor back to health, but Victor isn't physically sick, he has just

As a result of Victor's neglect and rejection of the creature, society also denies the creature acceptance which creates a life of loneliness for it. The creature, after being rejected by Victor, is left helpless, wanders into a forest, and experiences what hunger and pain are for the first time in life. The creature longs for acceptance, especially from Victor, but is denied. For example, the creature first learns of its rejection from society when it enters the house of an old man that is cooking; it as at the sight of the creature that the man "shrieked loudly" (90) and runs out of his hut. From that moment the creature realizes it is deformed and unlike anyone else. While the creature is roaming through the woods one day it comes upon a cottage. The creature notes the inhabitants of the cottage, the DeLacey family, as being beautiful in comparison to its

Victor Frankenstein in the book Frankenstein faces many terrible situations and has to face many consequences for trying to play God’s role in creating life. Victor seen and dealt with many situations as a young boy that will lead to his madness and obsession with science. Victor has always been intrigued with science and life ever since he was a boy. He studied natural science endlessly trying to master how to create a creature that could sustained life. When Victor finally creates his creature, he becomes disgusted with how it turns out. Victor runs from his creation failing to teach him any social or moral qualities. The creature haunts Victor killing many of his family and friends. Victor will try to run from the many problems he has caused. This causes Victor’s misery throughout the book. Victor becomes the true murderer in the book for trying to play God and create life with science.

Mary Shelley continues the emphasis on parental influence between Victor and Creature to show how important a parental figure has on human behavior. The key difference between the relationships is Creature lacked any form of parenting. Creature learned and developed his behavior on his own by watching others and reading classical literature. By reading these books he begins to question his creation and notice differences between himself and others. “My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them” (citation). Creature is reflecting on who he and how he came to be in this world. This being said, he is also aware of the fact that he was created by someone else and lives in a world where he does not belong. Creature was sent into a world that he did not understand, he had a ‘child’s blindness’ which is similar to the relationship between Victor and his father. Not only did Victor’s relationship with his father affect his life, but it also affected the life of Creature. The lack of parental guidance in

After being rejected by the DeLacey family the Creature wanders the woods when he sees a young girl drowning, he saves her but is afterward shot by her father. After this incidence the Creature vows “eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind” because of the injustices he has faced (Shelley 123). The treatment the Creature has faced by humans causes him to become violent and destroys his feelings of self-worth (Bernatchez 213). His motives for revenge stem from the interactions he has had with humans, leading him to feel anger at Victor for making him hideous (Shelley 113). The Creature begins to plot revenge against Victor blaming him for his inability to form

Victor Frankenstein, a complex character created by Mary Shelley, experienced a complete change in attitude and perspective on the scientific world as he knew it. Between the deaths of his close family and friends, to the constant fight for survival as his own creation stalked him, Victor was under straining circumstances that allowed for his evolution as a character. Pre monster, Victor had strong morals and close relationships with his family. His family was his priority. Victor’s dedication to science was always a constant nagging in the back of his mind, but it did not mean more to him than his family dead. During the formation of his creation, he began to block off his family, especially his fiancee, Elizabeth. His dedication to science was his only priority, above food and hygiene. He was driven by the creation of his monster. After creation, his family members were killed off, eliminating any type of relationship he had with them, he rejected all science and moral values.

Nature versus nurture is a debate of importance of one’s qualities when born, or of their personal experiences, leading them to the point where they are today. “You got your green eyes from your mother and your freckles from your father. But where did you get your thrill-seeking personality and talent for singing?” (Kimberly Powell). Kimberly raises a question that has been asked for centuries, “Do you learn this growing up, or did you genetically inherit these traits? One of the themes of Frankenstein is nature versus nurture. The author, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, was born and raised in London, England. Shelley’s first and most famous novel was Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein, the main character in the novel, creates a creature using

When Victor has the opportunity to become an important figure in the Creature's life he fled; leaving his Creation alone, abandoned, and uniformed in a world where society scrutinizes every detail. The Creature was only a child when Victor abandoned him and left him to navigate a world that would not accept his physical flaws or lack of external perfection. To try and understand the world the Creature is obsessed with watching and observing the DeLacey family to acquire some basic social skills. According to Anne Mellor, the Creature also learned the “nature of heroism and public virtue and civic justice,” from observing the DeLacey family (Mellor 48). The Creature initially believes that the DeLacey family was a family of power and

Victor’s blindness to what his end result will produce is immediately revealed when his final work is a hideous creature. Victor, through repulsion, neglects caring for the creature in its blank slate, gradually fuelling the ambition it feels for revenge. With the monster isolated, he begins to learn, “I learned to distinguish between the operations