The Importance Of Family In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Childhood is a time in a person’s life where the most growing occurs, not only physically but also mentally. The human brain is nourished and maintained by the love and affection children receive from both parents and it continues to do so for the rest of their lives. The creature’s inability to build up courage and try to interact with society as well as his constant questioning of his existence is a direct result of an inexistent childhood as well as the absence of a loving family. Frankenstein’s mother and Elizabeth were both orphans so he was well aware of the importance of love and nurturing for people of all ages, yet he denied the creature the opportunity to receive affection of any sort. “No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles

Interestingly enough, the novel resembles Shelley’s own life and can be interpreted as a reflection of her perception of families. Shelley shares many of the same characteristics with most of her characters. As the main character in the novel, Frankenstein’s creature is depicted as “a motherless orphan” who had an “unnatural birth” (Griffith). This correlates with Shelley’s own childhood as she was raised without a mother and her birth was in some ways “unnatural” as mothers are not naturally made to die during childbirth. Another characteristic that they share in common is that both Shelley and the creature were neglected by their fathers at some point in their lives. For the creature it was early on in his life while for Shelley it came after she eloped at the age of 18 and her father “all but disowned her” (Aldiss). As it has been observed by others before “Frankenstein is peculiarly a book of male parents” (Phy). Consequently, Frankenstein’s mother dies early on in the story, the DeLacey family is absent of a mother figure, and Safie is raised by her father as her mother also passed