The Role Of Nurture In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Another definition of nurture is the environmental factors an individual is exposed to during life (Carter). Environmental factors, such as diet, culture, surroundings, social networks, and stress influence a child’s personality and behavior as he or she grows (Carter). Culture describes “a given community complex of norms, rules, values, habits, and identities” (Fukuyama). The ethnics surrounding a child strongly influences emotions, actions, and language. Children growing in different backgrounds are raised to behave and think a certain way (Young). The community around a child has pre-established values and behaviors that the child will learn to follow to fit in with their environment. Even when not in this environment, the child will behave

Because of Victor Frankenstein’s perfect family and upbringing, he could not sympathize with his Creature and abandoned it, later causing trouble in his own life. Famed philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau believes that people are born good, and their environment is what molds their behavior (“Nature-Nurture Controversy”). This idea can be proven in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through the development of the Creature. The Creature was created with no reference to his genetics or ancestors. The reader cannot predict the Creature’s genes because the reader is not given any information on where the Creature’s genetics come from. The Creature notices his lack of family from early in his existence. The creature is without family to raise him and nurture him. The Creature reflects on this, saying, “but where were my friends and relatives? No father had watched my infant days, no mother has blessed me with smiles and caresses” (124). The description the Creature gives of longing for a family is almost identical to the description Frankenstein gives of his own perfect family. These parallels prove further that the creature is alone because his own creator

The Creature recognizes how Victor Frankenstein should treat him as his creation, but instead Victor Frankenstein treats him like an evil fiend. Because of the Creature’s rejection, he becomes angry and seeks revenge though he was originally a kind and gentle being. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, by examining the nature and nurture aspects of the upbringings of Creature and Victor Frankenstein, a lot can be revealed about the origins of the personality of a child. The nature verses nurture controversy debates which factor is more influential in a child’s personality. Nature is the genetics in which a child inherits from their ancestors through DNA. Certain traits, such as intelligence, are proven to be passed through nature. Others however, such as anger, are debated both ways. Nurture is the external factors in one’s upbringing, including one’s environment, family, and culture. Both of these factors are proven to be the cause of a child’s disposition later in life, through the novel Frankenstein. In this work one can compare Victor Frankenstein’s upbringing with that of the Creature to determine which traits are most influential, and explain