Being human means embracing imperfection and the consequences thereof. The monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein strived to develop human characteristics and behavior, but was still not accepted. A human character, Safie, suffered through the same issues of problematic father figures and the need for language acquisition and development. Safie, however, was not only accepted by those around her, but well liked, too. Two beings with such significant issues in common should be quite similar in character and life experience. However, the surrounding circumstances of their lives results in two very different characters.
There have been many behavioral and scientific studies on the subject of families and youth in general lacking a father figure. …show more content…
Safie and the monster both learned at a sufficient rate to become fluent in a language previously unfamiliar to them. This may be credited to the Crespi effect, which is defined as, “a disproportionate increase in a response when an increase in incentive occurs” (Crespi, 128). Neither being lacked the incentive to learn the language. The monster wanted to create fewer barriers between itself and society and Safie wanted to be able to communicate with Felix and the other members of his household. Prior to the acquisition of language, there is little to be learned of the wide spectrum of the world’s knowledge. It allows human beings to learn, teach, express emotion, bond, and develop understanding. Put in more concise terms, “Language is a cognition that truly makes us human” …show more content…
The cottage family taught Safie first hand using books to help her both speak, read, and write in French. The monster already knew some words from listening to the cottagers, like a child learning its first words, “When the child hears a sufficient number of instances of a linguistic construction (i.e. the third singular verb form), she will detect patterns across the utterances she has heard” (Lemetyinen). When Safie began to learn French, the monster learned from observing her progress and practicing alone, utilizing the strategy of, “instead of having a language-specific mechanism for language processing, [one] might utilise general cognitive and learning principles” (Lemetyinen). For Safie, learning French opened her up to real conversations with her new family and full acceptance, because the only thing that stood in her way was a language barrier. For the monster, language allows him to communicate, but his undesirable appearance hinders anyone from taking the chance to let him communicate in the first place. Language barriers and parental failures aside, Safie and the monster have little to nothing in common and their characters inspire much different reactions from
There have been many behavioral and scientific studies on the subject of families and youth in general lacking a father figure. …show more content…
Safie and the monster both learned at a sufficient rate to become fluent in a language previously unfamiliar to them. This may be credited to the Crespi effect, which is defined as, “a disproportionate increase in a response when an increase in incentive occurs” (Crespi, 128). Neither being lacked the incentive to learn the language. The monster wanted to create fewer barriers between itself and society and Safie wanted to be able to communicate with Felix and the other members of his household. Prior to the acquisition of language, there is little to be learned of the wide spectrum of the world’s knowledge. It allows human beings to learn, teach, express emotion, bond, and develop understanding. Put in more concise terms, “Language is a cognition that truly makes us human” …show more content…
The cottage family taught Safie first hand using books to help her both speak, read, and write in French. The monster already knew some words from listening to the cottagers, like a child learning its first words, “When the child hears a sufficient number of instances of a linguistic construction (i.e. the third singular verb form), she will detect patterns across the utterances she has heard” (Lemetyinen). When Safie began to learn French, the monster learned from observing her progress and practicing alone, utilizing the strategy of, “instead of having a language-specific mechanism for language processing, [one] might utilise general cognitive and learning principles” (Lemetyinen). For Safie, learning French opened her up to real conversations with her new family and full acceptance, because the only thing that stood in her way was a language barrier. For the monster, language allows him to communicate, but his undesirable appearance hinders anyone from taking the chance to let him communicate in the first place. Language barriers and parental failures aside, Safie and the monster have little to nothing in common and their characters inspire much different reactions from