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Essays about isolation
Theme of isolation in literature
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays about isolation
Theme of isolation in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In Mary Shelley's Novel Frankenstein, the main character Victor Frankenstein was very interested of life and death, but one day Victor's desire of finding the truth about life was too much so he created a creature. While Victor was working on the creature he went to get the right parts in graveyards to give a man look on the creature. Victor worked hard every day to prove himself that he can give a thing animation. But then when the creature woke up victor was terrified of what he made but also surprised himself of how the skin and hair looked human. Then Victor ran away from the creature abandoning everything even though the creature would live a lonely life in a new world he was brought into.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, shows how a character who is portrayed as a tragic hero, in the beginning, can become the monster in the end. Victor and the Monster in Mary Shelley’s captivating novel showed how rival enemies share striking similarities. The similarities between the two tragic characters are driven by their dreary isolation from the secluded world. A large difference is that they were both raised in two completely different environments but understood the meaning of isolation. Physical differences are more noticeable rather than their personalities.
Emotional and physical isolation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are the most pertinent and prevailing themes throughout the novel. These themes are so important because everything the monster, Victor, and Robert Walton do or feel directly relates to their poignant seclusion. The effects of this terrible burden have progressively damaging results upon the three.
In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, both of the main characters undergo physical and emotional isolation. This enforced or chosen solitude causes Frankenstein to become over-ambitious and harbor secrets from his family and friends, leading to his demise. In the monster, isolation turns to misery, which causes him to become vengeful against his creator and all the world. Through these examples of total isolation, Shelley shows that when people have no connection to others in the world, their worst characteristics and flaws are brought out. Victor Frankenstein was the first character to show a major flaw while in isolation.
Victor Frankenstein, born with two loving parents unlike the creature. Victor created the Creature then left him because he was disgusted and terrified of what he had created “I rushed out of the room….unable to compose my mind to sleep”( Shelley, 47). the Creature never experienced love because everyone was terrified of him because of his appearance “ He turned on hearing a noise; perceiving me ,...debilitated form hardly appeared capable”( Shelley,89). The Creature ask victor for a companion so he can feel love by someone and so he will not be alone “ My companion must be of the same species, and have the same defects. This being you must create”(Shelley,123).Victoor gets married to Elizabeth and the creature kills her because he does not go through with the plan of creating the Creatures companion
Mary Shelley's novel dives into the action of Victor Frankenstein, an up-and-coming scientist that embarks on a journey to create life. Victor goes through trials and tribulations as he goes into isolation to create a monster. The monster will also go through trials and isolation as it will be reintroduced to a world that becomes cruel to him. Throughout the story, Shelley will express what isolation can do to a person's soul and life. It can destroy a person's relationship and bring harm to lots of people.
The Monster and Exile Every person in life is created with a strong sense of belonging. Whether the belonging is to a person, a place, or a moment in time, they still feel connected and influenced by it. Exile is an action that separates a person from this connected belonging, and can suffer great consequences, but can also enrich their lifestyle. In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the creature creaked by Victor Frankenstein is forced, from the very beginning of his existence, away from his creator and society as a whole. This type of exile turned the creature into what he is, shaping his ideas and mentalities.
A prominent motif in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is alienation and how alienation sets the wheels of the plot into motion. In Frankenstein, loneliness due to its milieu and isolation from society make the creature dangerously capricious. Therefore, the creature’s isolation from society expresses a person's traits which are affected more by nurture (alienation) than by Nature. Frankenstein grounds its argument in a symmetrical pattern, with social
It is quite telling that the most severe punishment in our society other than the death penalty or torture is solitary confinement. Although, isolation is in itself a form of torture, it can drive someone to the brink of insanity. Although published nearly 200 years ago, Mary Shelley clearly understood the potential detrimental effects of isolation, as demonstrated in her famous novel, Frankenstein, where both main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, suffer from and cause isolation for the other. Mary Shelley directs the reader to believe that isolation is the true evil, not the monster, Victor or any emotion inside of them. At the beginning of the novel, Victor is isolated from other people, causing to forget his scientific
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.
Frankenstein wants the glorification and pride in being the first person to create life. Frankenstein sees himself in Walton, and Walton says, “ ...do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose?...,but I prefer glory to every excitement that wealth place on my path”(10). Walton is a younger extension of Frankenstein and gives perspective to the ideas of the younger version of Frankenstein as he creates the creature. However, Frankenstein’s ambitions cost him dearly. The deaths of those around him make him suffer, but also the creation of the creature makes the creature suffer.
Whereas Frankenstein does not properly value the domestic affection he is given until it is violently taken from him, his creation learns that this is what values most in life and yet is not able to gain this affection from others. Francis Bacon says in his essay Of Friendship “I have given the rule, where a man cannot fitly play his own part; if he have not a friend, he may quit the stage”. Shelley highlights the need for a sense of belonging and companionship by letting both her main figures suffer the pain of not having this need fulfilled and, in consequence, they both “quit the stage” (Bacon) and turn their backs on humanity. Social isolation, although through different circumstances, was the predominant cause for both Frankenstein and his creature’s demise. Even Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley’s husband, wrote in his preface to Frankenstein about the “amiableness of domestic affection” (Shelley 9).
Mary Shelley 's timeless story seeks to help readers beware of alleviating loneliness through valuing others, and she warns readers that living a life of secrecy drains the joy out of life. The human condition of loneliness triggered many of the events in this book. This creature that Victor Frankenstein forged from cadavers was immediately abandoned. Right after Victor created this innocent monster, he fled from him out of fear.
They ways in which they are affected by this abandonment proves that isolation has grave effects on human interaction and social development. One way that the theme of isolation negatively affecting social development is presented in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is through the character’s separation from their creators. The creature is abandoned by Victor, his creator, as soon as he awakes.
Victor’s Validation of Alienation Throughout Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, human alienation manifests itself through Victor’s inability to put other’s first and focus on his relationships. In Frankenstein, Victor demonstrates a constant need to appear knowledgeable and gain glory and fame from his scientific discoveries—which causes Victor to overlook the importance of company. In order to validate his alienation, his personal desire for fame encouraged him to act selfishly, corroborating his decision to focus only upon himself. Furthermore, Victor himself creates the monster and abandons him with selfish intent. Although selfish desires do not always isolate an individual, selfishness is often a cause of human alienation.