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Nature Vs Nurture In Frankenstein

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What Makes a Monster? Exploring Frankenstein’s Creation
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the best-known works of literature in the Gothic and Romantic traditions. Her famous novel is pioneering in its subject matter, genre, and ideas. Literary critic Joyce Carol Oates points out in her essay “Frankenstein’s Fallen Angel” that the novel “contains no characters, only points of view.” Following this theory indicates that each voice in the novel provides unique insight into the central themes of ambition, responsibility, and identity. Perhaps the best indicator of which of these perspectives has resonated most with our cultural psyche is the fact that most people associate the name ‘Frankenstein’ with the nameless monster rather than the scientist …show more content…

Just as anyone else, the monster seeks companionship and care, but because of its hideousness, the monster is denied all of these comforts time and time again. The denial of nurture comes minutes after creation, when Frankenstein, seeing the creature he has created, abandons it (43). The denial of compassion arrives when the wretch is chased out of the DeLacey home (124). Finally, the creature is denied companionship as Frankenstein destroys the second creation before the monster’s very eyes (156). These denials are concentrated forms of traumas that people experience in a variety of forms such as bullying, discrimination, and violence. As the monster undergoes each of these trials, it experiences the intense emotions that make people human. It suffers loss, prejudice, and violence, which cause it to become hardened, yet it remains for readers the most recognizable and sympathetic character in the work. How can this be? One reason is that readers can identify with the struggles the monster faces, but almost more significantly, readers lack sympathy for Victor Frankenstein. Despite being described as a “glorious spirit” (209), Frankenstein offers a frustrating perspective because readers know that regardless of appearance, he must take responsibility for his actions, yet the most he does is indulge in misery. Frankenstein, who possessed a fairly idyllic childhood, grows vengeful as the narrative progresses. In contrast, the monster, denied any care or comfort, remains fundamentally hopeful for companionship, even providing for Victor as he pursued it through frozen wastes (Oates). Because its perspective exemplifies these desirable human traits of hope, innocence, and want of love, the monster tends to be pitied by the audience. The reader identifies with the struggles it faces and often wishes the character could be redeemed. Yet the reader experiences this feeling separate

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Frankenstein’s Monster is not categorized as evil by his malicious behavior and is sympathized with due to his creator abandoning him and the role of nature versus nurture taken place II. Monster’s Nature and alienation A. Monster originally had an inquisitive nature yet gentle nature a. Information on the German family was “each interesting and wonderful to one so utterly inexperienced as [he] was” (105) B. With the rejection and alienation from society, the only interactions the monster experiences, he becomes full of hatred a. Rejected by De Lacey family by his looks and labeled a monster b. Tries to save a child but is shot by child’s father C. Reader may feel sympathy towards the Monster’s actions because the readers know that his true nature was not evil and he was misjudged III.

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein follows Robert Walton’s letters to his sister and how he comes across Victor Frankenstein, a man on a journey to bring a dead body back to life, and then his guilt from generating a strange, abnormal creature. When the monster realizes how he came into the world and is rejected by mankind, he seeks revenge on his creator’s family to avenge his desolation. The literary devices strewn throughout the text allow the reader to comprehend the thoughts and emotions of the characters and gain a deeper understanding of what is taking place. In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, rhetorical questions, similes, and imagery are exploited to give the text meaning for the reader. Foremost, Shelley utilizes a rhetorical

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1. Throughout the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there is a paradox between how humans treat the creature and how the creature thinks of them before knowing the history of mankind. The creature thinks of humans in an idealistic and superior manner that causes it to aspire to be similar to and accepted by them. Despite the fact that humans repeatedly treat the monster in inhumane ways and judge it by its appearance first and foremost, the monster still has hope for the best in humanity. When the monster first encounters the family in the cottage, it “admired the perfect forms” and “longed to discover the motives and feelings of these lovely creatures” (113).

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Duality is shown in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, a gothic tale of a scientist whom looks to advance the life-giving qualities of mother nature. Through this novel, Shelley proves that good and evil in human nature is not always simple to define, and that everyone has both of these qualities within them. The duality of human nature is shown through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his monster, who are both heroes in the novel while simultaneously displaying anti-hero qualities. Shelley forces the reader to sympathize with them both but also creates gruesome ideas of the two. Frankenstein’s creature places himself in a submissive position when he begs his creator to have mercy on him and asking the creator to “create a female for [him] with whom [he] can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for [his] being.”

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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic novel that tells the story of scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his obsession with creating human life. This leads him to creating a gruesome monster made of body-parts stolen from grave yards, whom upon discovering his hideousness, the monster seeks revenge against his creator, causing Victor to regret the creation of his monster for the rest of his life. Shelley uses the literary elements of personification, imagery, and similes to give a vivid sense and visualization of Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and feelings as well as to allow us to delve deeper into the monster’s actions and emotions. Throughout the novel, Shelley uses personification of various forces and objects to reflect the effect in Victor’s actions.

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"Believe me, Frankenstein, I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone?" (M. Shelly 114). Therefore the daemon's nature must be loving and compassionate, but because he experienced a lack of nurturing, that he was expecting to receive from his creator, Frankenstein, this then caused the daemon to be monstrous and seek revenge upon his creator; therefore Frankenstein's pain was a result of his own failures. The character of Frankenstein argues that both nature and nurture influences the behavior of people through his actions against his very own monster and in turn the effect of those actions on himself. Frankenstein left the monster alone, and the monster reacted for seeking that Frankenstein should feel just as much loneliness and woe and he did by killing off his entire family.

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