Social Isolation In Frankenstein Essay

In the novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein attempts to synthetically create a living humanoid. The book documents the journey of both Frankenstein and his creature as they try to navigate their relationship and their lives. Frankenstein, the parental figure for the creature, ended his research and experimentation with rejection and disdain for the creature. The rift between Frankenstein and his creation highlights and perpetuates the book’s theme of the detrimental effects of social isolation.
Right from Frankenstein’s conceptualization of the creature up until the moment the creature actually gained consciousness, Frankenstein had an extremely unhealthy obsession with his creation. His obsession drove him to isolate himself from everyone, …show more content…
After the creature came alive, Frankenstein realized how grotesque the creature actually looked, and decided to abandon it in a completely unknown world. Ironically, unlike real biological parents, Frankenstein was able to pick and choose the exact body parts included in the formation of his creation, which begs the question of why Frankenstein hated the appearance of something he personally designed from scratch. Perhaps on a subconscious level, Frankenstein purposefully made his creation hideous in order to excuse himself from any parental responsibility. Creating something so horrendous that it would never be accepted into society provided Frankenstein an automatic out through the sympathy and understanding garnered by those who heard his story, such as Walter who remained on Frankenstein’s side even after learning the full story. By creating such a hideous creature, Frankenstein was able to absolve himself from any societal blame that would have been put on him because of the creature. By doing so, Frankenstein was able to still maintain a position of social acceptability - which he took for granted and denied to his creation. This parental neglect and total disregard for his creation’s place within the world …show more content…
Frankenstein proved to be a monstrous, isolated, and insane father figure, which is in congruence to the creature’s isolated, and eventually monsterous and insane actions. The one main quality the two share together is their isolation. While Frankenstein's isolation is self-imposed, the creature’s isolation was basically predestined through Frankenstein’s selfish and neglectful “parenting”. Frankenstein was the one who designed the creature to be so incredibly hideous that the entire seeing population would, on instinct, reject him, and he was also the one to abandon his “child”, instead of helping the creature assimilate and find a place within society. As the rift between the two grows, so does their isolation. By focusing solely on the demise of the other, both the creator and the creation find themselves more and more removed from society until they are eventually chasing each other through the cold and empty arctic. The damage of their isolation, however, proves fatal for those near the conflict. Because the creature grew up abandoned and alone, he never formed strong enough morals to prevent him from murdering Frankenstein’s closest companion, Henry Clerval. Due to Frankenstein’s refusal to allow his creature to have a companion and continued efforts to keep the creature isolated, the creature decides to retaliate by killing Frankenstein’s one truly meaningful