Identity is the establishment of the sum of a person but distinguishing one’s being can be difficult when considering the overwhelming external factors. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonists are faced with an upscale journey of determining their identities, despite believing they already knew who they are. Unlike Victor Frankenstein, who realizes his creation of science has defied moral boundaries, Janie Crawford struggles with finding her identity as a woman and a woman of color. Both novels convey the struggle of understanding self-worth, which stems from the inability to determine personal identity. Victor Frankenstein was born into an idealistic and perfect society. Despite
…show more content…
Victor’s father married his mother solely because of her beauty and forced his idealistic expectations of beauty and intelligence onto Victor. As a result of this, Victor strived for perfection in his endeavors, including his science experiments. In chapter 1, Victor says “The innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me” (1.6). He explains that parents have the power to lead a happy or miserable life for their children. The way they choose to raise the child has an impression on the child’s future. In life, developing self-identity is a process that is affected through life events, social interaction and environment but for Victor, his sense of identity was forced onto him from a young age. As an adult, Victor initially pushes away the people around him in order to satisfy his love for science. His fascination with the creation of life ultimately leads to his downfall. Victor creates the “monster” with human remains to carry on his legacy and to earn the title of the man who created life. But even with the most beautiful limbs and parts of the human body, the …show more content…
The monster is seen as an extension of Victor and forms his own problems of self-identity. He states “I was dependent on none and related to none. The path of my departure was free, and there was none to lament my annihilation. My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean? Who was I?” (15.5). Victor leaves his creation to fend for himself and doesn’t clarify the meaning of his existence. The monster develops a hatred towards his creator for abandoning him after spending months on creating him, which leads him to take his anger out on others. The characters in Frankenstein measure their worth by how beautiful and appealing they are in society. The monster realizes that he can never live amongst humans or be accepted simply because of his appearance. His built up anger towards Victor causes him to deeply hurt his creator by taking the life of his younger brother, William Frankenstein. Victor feels responsible for William’s death because he was killed by the hands of his creation. The death of his brother sends Victor in a spiral and he has an identity crisis. He begins to question his own morality and the consequences of his actions. Victor chose to abandon the monster and left him without any knowledge of the world. But despite the monster having a different image, he and
Victor’s father married his mother solely because of her beauty and forced his idealistic expectations of beauty and intelligence onto Victor. As a result of this, Victor strived for perfection in his endeavors, including his science experiments. In chapter 1, Victor says “The innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me” (1.6). He explains that parents have the power to lead a happy or miserable life for their children. The way they choose to raise the child has an impression on the child’s future. In life, developing self-identity is a process that is affected through life events, social interaction and environment but for Victor, his sense of identity was forced onto him from a young age. As an adult, Victor initially pushes away the people around him in order to satisfy his love for science. His fascination with the creation of life ultimately leads to his downfall. Victor creates the “monster” with human remains to carry on his legacy and to earn the title of the man who created life. But even with the most beautiful limbs and parts of the human body, the …show more content…
The monster is seen as an extension of Victor and forms his own problems of self-identity. He states “I was dependent on none and related to none. The path of my departure was free, and there was none to lament my annihilation. My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean? Who was I?” (15.5). Victor leaves his creation to fend for himself and doesn’t clarify the meaning of his existence. The monster develops a hatred towards his creator for abandoning him after spending months on creating him, which leads him to take his anger out on others. The characters in Frankenstein measure their worth by how beautiful and appealing they are in society. The monster realizes that he can never live amongst humans or be accepted simply because of his appearance. His built up anger towards Victor causes him to deeply hurt his creator by taking the life of his younger brother, William Frankenstein. Victor feels responsible for William’s death because he was killed by the hands of his creation. The death of his brother sends Victor in a spiral and he has an identity crisis. He begins to question his own morality and the consequences of his actions. Victor chose to abandon the monster and left him without any knowledge of the world. But despite the monster having a different image, he and