Loneliness And Slavery In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Companionship is highly similar to oxygen. They are both needed for humans to survive and thrive. Just like inadequate oxygen or a lack of companionship, isolation creates unwanted effects. Examples of these dangerous effects are selfishness and evil, which can lead to suicide. In fact, the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, proves these theories of solitude to be true. In Frankenstein, Shelley paints the picture of a monster created by an isolated man, but no one cares for or loves the monster. The man, Victor Frankenstein, runs away from his monstrous creation and dedicates his life to finding and destroying it. However, the monster tells a different story, where he keeps himself in isolation and sadness because of every human’s scornful …show more content…
An example of this is when Frankenstein is back at his home in Geneva and wondering whether he should leave to go back to work when he ponders to himself, “Through the whole period during which I was the slave of my creature I allowed myself to be governed by the impulses of the moment; and my present sensations strongly intimidated that the fiend would follow me and exempt my family from the danger of his machinations” (166). Through Shelley’s application of slave imagery in Frankenstein, she argues that emotions enslave human nature. “Slave of my creature” is an example of this slave imagery, as Frankenstein’s emotions toward the creature he has created are enslaving him for his passion of revenge. Shelley further adds to her argument by adding “governed by the impulses of the moment” to directly illustrate that Frankenstein’s emotions are holding him captive because of his isolation from the world, which leads to him choosing to create a monster. Frankenstein did not start out as a slave to his passion, but because of his prolonged isolation from the world and interactions with his creation, his passionate revenge took hold of him. In the same fashion, Shelley continues to prove her point through the monster, as his vengeful, master language mirrors that of Frankenstein’s slave of passion language. Frankenstein decides to destroy his work of the female companion, which was a request from the monster. After the monster observes this awful act of destruction, he sneaks inside and commands to Frankenstein, “Slave, I before reasoned with you, but you have proved yourself unworthy of my condescension. Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my