Interpersonal Relationships In Frankenstein

Must a human communicate in a ‘normal’ manner? Does a human have to experience the world in the same way as other humans? Do beings need to conform to normality to be considered human? Over the past several decades our culture has been struggling to understand how the autistic individual fits into society. Because many autistic individuals do not interact or communicate in the same manner as most people, they have often been thought of and treated as non-human. However as scientific data has grown and autistic narratives have accumulated it has been shown that autistic individuals, too, are fully human and hence capable of experiencing emotion, thought, and senses. In Frankenstein the creature is rejected from society, placed firmly in the

The creature feels so isolated by his differences and sickened by the treatment he receives that he says, “[I] sometimes resolved to quit the world and its miseries for ever” (Shelley 125). People with autism often struggle with relationships, suffering from depression and autism, in part because they feel so isolated, judged, and misunderstood. Relationships can be normally viewed as a connection between individuals, such as a romantic or intimate relationship or a parent–child relationship. Interpersonal relationships usually involve some level of interdependence. Interdependence is how people in a relationship tend to influence each other, share their thoughts and feelings, and engage in activities together. What is being described here is the capacity between two individuals to relate to, care about and build upon one another’s

Through the creature’s narration the reader is better able to understand what struggles he has faced and what has led him to hate humanity with such a passion. In Shelley’s novel, the creature is given a voice that allows him to explain just how human he is, just how much emotion he feels. Unlike Frankenstein’s generally misguided understanding of the creature, he is not purely an evil being who enjoys hurting others, but instead a complex person struggling in a world that does not understand or accept him. Throughout the novel, the creature describes his sorrow and longing for human connection, recognition of his humanity. He says of watching the family that lived in the cottage attached to his hideout, “The more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures” (Shelley 114). Both the creature and autistic persons are able to use their voices, whether spoken or written, to show just how human they