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Physical Judgment In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, was the main character Frankenstein, actually a monster or did he become a monster due to the treatment by society because of his appearance? The evidence may open your mind and heart because this may be a sadder story than scary. Through the use of torture, isolation, and the monster , Mary Shelley in Frankenstein reflects upon the individual never yet been able to satisfy, thus expressing the immense impact physical judgment has, even back in the late 1700s.
In chapter 8 of our gothic novel takes place where victor and his family are in a courtroom. Attending as witnesses for their servant, and friend, Justine. William had been carrying a locket that was found on Justine so she is suspect. …show more content…

Isolation is used many times throughout our story. When victor gets scared away by the creature, Victor leaves him a good amount of time. The creature is left with nothing and no knowledge of who he is and what’s going on. The monster explains how he came to life completely disoriented. He didn’t know how to speak or understand language. He had to get used to his body and figure out basic concepts all by himself. He head to figure out hunger and thirst without anyone telling him. He has little run intos with folk in a village and some others. Them running way is the closest thing to social hes had. When he finds shelter it’s in a little cottage with a family. He sees how they are loved and he instantly knows he wants that. This is an example of how the creature is obviously very isolated and alone. In an article it states, “The Monster, on the other hand, is isolated for two reasons. First, Victor abandons him- this creates an isolation from the Monster’s “father”. Second, because of how the Monster appears outwardly, he is naturally isolated from society. That being said, the Monster thrives in isolation. He learns how to survive entirely on his own- he becomes stronger- a complete contrast to how Victor survives isolation. While complete isolation is not true here, he would be with the female monster, he is still removing himself from all of society in exchange for a mate. The Monster relishes isolation given what he learned previously from

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"I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, continually engaged in endeavoring to bestow mutual pleasure. I was now alone. In the university whither I was going I must form my own friends and be my own protector" (26). The isolated Victor is different in several ways including his manner, and the way he goes about his education, which is more focused and ultimately more obsessive. He has no one to comfort him and this leads to the madness of creating the monster.

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The use of the word monster in the book also correlates to appearance, and when the creature is called a monster, he feels forced to act like one. After being rejected by society because of his appearance the creature cries to Frankenstein, “Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust” (Shelley 93). This shows that the creature internalized all of the hate he received from his appearance, to the point where he viewed himself as a monster. When he internalizes all this negativity about himself that stems from his appearance, and begins to see himself as a monster, he then begins to behave as one.

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Frankenstein Frequently when recalling a story in which involves multiple characters, specifically with different views, the story tends to change as told by different characters . As opinion and facts are the basis of decision making, a character's reaction has the potential to set a chain of circumstances by other characters response. In the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is told by three different characters each with different aspirations in life from those differencing from the complex forms of science to the need of companionship, the characters reactions form the story as their opinions dictate the stories ending. The novel begins with Robert Walton’s letters to his sister, Mrs Saville as a brief introduction to setting, Walton

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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.

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From the moment he is created, the creature knows he is not wanted by Victor. Shelly writes, “Unable to endure the aspect of the being

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To make Victor experience the feeling isolation, the creature sets out to destroy what he hold most dear, Elizabeth. Victor describes his spouse as the “body of Elizabeth, my love, my wife, so lately living, so dear, so worthy.” Nowhere else in the novel does Victor come even close to describing another human in this manner. Once the monster escaped, Victor realized how important it was to be near people he loved, he had learned the terrors of isolation. The creature then uses this against him by killing the person who brought Victor out of isolation, pushing him back into an even deeper sense of isolation from which Victor

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Mary Shelley, in her book, Frankenstein, has a reoccurring theme of isolation, in which she isolates the main character, Victor Frankenstein, from the rest of society in order to create a creature. Likewise, the creature that is created is also isolated from the rest of society as he is rejected from his creator as to his appearance. The theme is present throughout the novel as it reinforces Victor’s downfall from a normal boy to a grown man intrigued with creating life as he slowly becomes a madman that everyone soon fears. Isolation causes a loss of humanity as it affects the mind and body. Isolation from society does not teach social interaction, causes regret about oneself, provides one with negative feelings, and causes regretful actions.

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The monster is spurned by society because of his horrific appearance, his body, alone and hated, unfit for the company of strangers, just as Frankenstein fears he is. He is miserable which makes the hatred grow, as he says, “all men hate the wretched; how then must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things!” In fact, this wretchedness and enforced isolation is the monster’s main character trait, parallel to the isolation being Frankenstein’s biggest fear. Now that Victor is in college, he does not have his family to fall back upon for affection.

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This shows the humanity in the monster and his tendency to be amiable. He was also able to learn from his mistakes. For example, the creature realized that he needed to stop stealing the family’s supplies after he noticed how much they needed them. Victor, however, didn’t learn from his mistake of creating the monster, and created another. The monster also refers to the family in the cabin as “[his] friends” when they didn’t know of his existence (103).

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From the moment Victor decided to create the Creature, he begins his assertion of dominance over the Creature. By creating a “monster” solely for his own

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He starts his own plan to for revenge against the creature, but this makes him just as beastly as the monster. Victor makes it his life goal, to make the monster pay in any way he can. He wants him to feel lonely and isolated forever. The beast takes a lot out on Victor and makes him feel exactly the way he feels

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Being abandoned by his creator, the monster has no one to guide him, no one to teach him right from wrong and good from evil. When the creature is first abandoned by Victor, he’s confused and doesn’t understand that he has been abandoned. The creature explains how he felt when he woke up, “A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time; and it was indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses” (Shelley 99). The creature won’t fully realize the impact of being abandoned until later in the story. Victor also suffers from isolation from his

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”(Millhauser). This violent rejection is a repetition of Victor’s lack of acceptance for the monster and attention to his family. Victor knows that the monster will never be able to live within society and that his ability to create life is the only hope the monster has of achieving companionship. Victor's own aversion to companionship surfaces as he, “ fails to give him the human companionship, the Eve, the female creature, that he needs to achieve some sort of a normal life.” (Mellor).

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Victor and the Creature are both social outcasts. Since Victor is so intelligent and interested in science he often does not relate to other people and he does not have many friends. Since the monster cannot be around people without scaring them to death he tends to also act as an outcast around

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Due to this, he was isolated from the society and he started creating his creature. His isolation persisted especially after he created a hideous being that brought destruction and pain to the people. Similarly, just like Victor, the creature lived in isolation because he was left alone by his creator after he created him. The monster never got a chance to experience a mother or fatherly love just like his creator. Moreover, he also lived in isolation because of his monstrous appearance that made people to reject him.

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