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Trauma In Frankenstein

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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a science fiction novel about the life of Victor Frankenstein as he tells his story to a man named Walton. His story begins with his early childhood life and the misfortunes of his life after he reanimates a stitched corpse and trouble ensues. The story is told through the frame of Walton writing letters back to his sister in England. Ellen Moers publishes her review of Frankenstein in The New York Times Review of Books, she claims that one of the problems within the novel comes from Victor providing “deficient infant care” (Moers 5). Frankenstein’s inability to provide sufficient care to his creation is true, but his inability to provide does not come from being a male. Once Frankenstein brings his creation …show more content…

This is told through Victor relaying the story to Walton. The creature reveals that life has not been easy, even though he has made substantial progress in his intellectual development. Nature and what he observes has become his teacher. Shelley is making an interesting theory about children raised by nature rather than society, especially given the creature’s infantile mind. Through the course of this section of the book , Shelley also reveals the effect of trauma that is inflicted upon a young mind. After several rejections by others, the creature stumbles upon William, Victor’s younger brother and grabs him. The creature says, “... ‘I do not intend to hurt you…’” (Shelley 154). The creature only kills William after discovering that William is from the Frankenstein family (Shelley 154). This scene shows the reader that the creature, despite being then somewhat educated, still holds onto the emotional turmoil Victor Frankenstein left him with. It can be argued that being abandoned at such a vulnerable state of mind left the creature traumatized. Studies have proven that traumatized children can also grow up to experience difficulties, including becoming violent offenders. The aggressive actions and murders committed by the creature are directly-linked back to Frankenstein. The child, in this case the creature, is revolting and lashing out at his parent, which is

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This profound statement raises the important question of personal responsibility for both the creator and the created. Victor Frankenstein, the ambitious protagonist of the gothic novel, is ardent with revealing the deepest, darkest mysteries of existence, and is lead by modern science and the occult to discover the methods to create life. By this dramatic discovery, Frankenstein is able to create an engineered man, a proclaimed monstrosity, whose miserable destiny perpetually connects with his creator’s. The novel chillingly dramatizes the dangerous potential of life begotten, and subsequently rejected upon a laboratory table, and shows

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Therefore, the creature would escape, leaving everyone Victor loved alone, and live happily with his new companion. Upon the being’s request, Frankenstein guarantees to make him a woman of his kind. As time goes on, Victor comes to the understanding of the damage this new creature may do. Even though the creature has anticipated this moment, it is taken away from him. Victor knows that “the wretch saw [him] destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended on for happiness” (Shelley 142).

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The creature's actions are motivated by a desire to make Victor suffer and to show him the consequences of his actions. The creature tells Victor, "I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me" (Shelley, 98). This statement reflects the creature's sense of isolation and loneliness and its belief that its actions are justified by the cruelty of its existence. William and Henry The creature's desire for revenge leads it to commit several acts of violence, including the murder of William Frankenstein and Henry Clerval.

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Children growing up under neglectful parenting often struggle with behavioral issues and experience challenges with self-esteem and confidence. Without the presence of a caring and supportive figure, they miss out on receiving unconditional love and affirmation of their worth. Consequently, their self-esteem and confidence suffer, which impacts their ability to develop healthy social skills and differentiate between right and wrong, potentially leading them down a destructive path. The novel Frankenstein provides a compelling example of negligent parenting through Victor Frankenstein's treatment of his creation, the creature. Victor's immediate abandonment of the creature after giving him life exemplifies the recurring theme of negligent parenting in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

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947 Words | 4 Pages

Despite the fact that he created the creature, Victor rejects him, leaving the creature without affection, direction, or a sense of belonging. This desertion drives the monster to seek vengeance, causing pain and despair to spread across the story. Victor's failure to fulfil his parenting obligations highlights the consequences of ignoring one's children's demands and emotional well-being." Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather a fallen angel" (Shelley 89). This phrase conveys the creature's yearning for a parent-child connection with Victor, which mirrors the need for affection and acceptance that is generally linked with adequate parental

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When Frankenstein creates life, he runs away from the creature he just created, just as his parents had done to him when he was young. The innocent and curious

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Finally Frankenstein decides to study

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Abandoning his creation only brought out the truly evil side. The deprivation of companionship leads the creature to kill Frankenstein’s brother, William, not just to kill the young boy though. The creature tells Frankenstein that he killed William but he only executed the plan so that Frankenstein could truly feel the way that he did. He let Frankenstein know how he truly felt saying, “I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me”, (p.172). The death of his brother was to aid him in seeing that his creation did not have trust and did not have friendship.

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Throughout the novel of Frankenstein, it shows the influence on Mary Shelley’s childhood, from philosophers through a child / parent relationship and growing up and learning process. Victor is a scientist who came up with an idea to create a monster. Victor creates this monster for scientific reasons. Once the monster is created it is like his child. The monster has to learn how to grow up on its own and learn the ways of the world.

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Trauma can influence someone’s life in several different ways, many times, the person allows the trauma to dictate their lives and negatively impact the rest of their lives. Many times people conceal their feelings about the trauma, leading to it being expressed in their attitudes or even other aspects of their lives. Mary Shelley is a prime example of how a person’s feelings or attitudes toward their life experiences can come out in other aspects of their lives. For Mary Shelley, she has experienced many different traumatic events during her life, many which occurred previous to or during the writing of her novel Frankenstein. These events include growing up without a true mother figure as her mother died only 10 days after she was born.

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The duality of man is often portrayed in stories, but in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, it is exemplified in the character traits of Victor and his Creation. The Creature is described as a grotesque and horrifying monster, but he is molded by how others react to him and force him into the shadows. The Creature is not the monster of the story because Victor refuses to take accountability for the actions and consequences of his creature. Victor is the true monster of “Frankenstein” with his twisted morals and ideologies, that push unfortunate circumstances onto his peers around him. At the beginning of the story, there is a series of letters from Walton to his sister that paint his adventures and dreams on the sea, in the fourth letter Victor is introduced and instantly portrayed as an

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In the act of retribution, the creature would recount his moments to Viktor of how and why he had killed his youngest brother, William Frankenstein. In Chapter 8 of Volume II of the novel, the creature recalls the

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Unfortunately, this ambition fails when a child, later revealed as William Frankenstein, simultaneously threatens it and calls the Monster a disgusting wretch: “Hideous monster! Let me go. My papa is a syndic—he is M. Frankenstein—he will punish you. You dare not keep me” (Shelley 171). This is the catalyst where the Monster surrenders and loses control of its feelings of bitterness and mistreatment.

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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

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1357 Words | 6 Pages

After the monster asks Frankenstein to create

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