Loss Of Innocence In Frankenstein

In Paradise Lost, Eve falls victim to a careful trap laid for her by the rhetoric of a master persuader. Adam, though, knowingly commits the same sin so that he may be with Eve because he cannot bear to be without her. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the Creature believes himself to be “like Adam … apparently united to … no other being in existence” (Shelley 118). Also like Adam, the Creature knowingly commits his sins, hoping to be able to follow his creator and his hypothetical ‘Eve’ into death. Though the book is carefully nuanced to an apparent midpoint, Frankenstein is the story of people falling victim to their nurture or lack thereof. Locke’s philosophy is the most valid because of the Creature’s falling victim to his treatment and …show more content…
He believes himself to be “benevolent and good” (Shelley 87), but also thinks that “misery made [him] a fiend” (Shelley 87). In acknowledging that his lack of a father figure and guidance overpowered his inherent goodness, he acknowledges that his behavior is entirely learned from the world around him. The Creature shows such gentle views as admiration of the “gentle manner of the cottagers” (Shelley 100). In maintaining the claim of his own inherent purity, the Creature attempts to abscond the blame for his own actions, as he believes that it was the actions of others that spurred him to do evil unto the world. He blames those that treat him ill, and according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, blaming them is totally justified. According to the Hierarchy, a person must have certain needs met to be capable of a certain level of cognitive reasoning. The Creature is not guaranteed anything and is fully responsible for his own sustenance and companionship, and even the latter of the two is denied when he seeks it out. And even if he is inherently good, he learns from the world around him that evil is acceptable due to his lack of