The Importance Of Community In Frankenstein By Mary Shelley

The greatest human triumph is human society itself. We are granted with expansive intellect, which we use to continually improve our condition. We are given profound compassion by which we can relay our feelings and experiences to those around us. Humans have a dire need to be accepted, which drives the fortification of community. However, people strengthen their communities until they have a resolute identity, creating an intrinsic exclusiveness within social groups. Ostracism and a lack of understanding is at the epicenter of all human conflict. We become solely focused on protecting our own, forgetting that we are all living a similar human experience. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley criticizes the prejudice of exclusion, while emphasizing the importance …show more content…
Beyond our close relationships with family or relatives, a cohesive community gives our lives richness. From an evolutionary standpoint, people needed to be part of groups in order to survive, making it a “fundamental human motivation” (Baumeister). Through community, we conform to a certain set of behaviors that are deemed acceptable. We understand how we wish to be treated, and in turn through the powers of empathy and social conscience, we learn how to treat others. Without the socialization that community provides, we have a gap in social understanding. Our ideas are scarcely original, resembling more a compilation of our past experiences and other people’s ideas. Common beliefs are established in communities. These beliefs, whether spiritual or academic, drive communication on a deeper level. Established institutions such as education and government present us with experiences to make us more socially cognitive. Educational systems provide a foundation for basic socialization from a young age, teaching us how to act and how other people think. Government unites us under a singular social contract, obligating us to respect the natural rights of our