Thematic Concepts Of Prejudice And Isolation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Improved Essays
This essay explores the portrayal of the thematic concepts of alienation and prejudice, and the use of the De Lacey family in its effects to contrast against the monster’s lack of a childhood in order to create sympathy for the monster in Mary Shelley’s literary work, Frankenstein. It also examines the role language has in provoking a sympathetic attitude towards the creature in the novel.
The monster is conveyed to the reader as an outcast in society through his first person narrative of his experiences. The diction used emphasis the idea of isolation to evoke a response from the reader. The reader is given an exposure to the monster’s vulnerability, which heightens the call to sympathize with the monster.
The other method in which Shelley

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Because the monster is abandoned, he searches for nurture from others, finding a family to watch from afar. For many months, he learns about humanity by watching the De Laceys, hoping that one day he will become a part of their family and recieve nurture from them. Soon, the monster realizes he “requires kindness and sympathy” and attempts to converse with them in hopes to receive nurture (Shelley 118). Yet, as he speaks with the De Laceys, he gets “dashed to the ground” and “struck violently with a stick” (Shelley 121). This depicts violent tendencies dominating over feminine nurture.…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Also, the monster gains the sympathy of the audience by coupling pathos with his ethos since the audience could easily recognize the crippling agony which would accompany being shunned by all of mankind. The beginning of the creature’s tale made him seem more reliable since he experiences the “strange multiplicity of sensations” like a newborn would (Shelley 108). However the reader loses some faith in the credibility of the creature when he compares himself to literary characters such as the ones found in the Bible. For example, when the monster contrasts his situation with Adam’s by stating, “no Eve soothed my sorrows,” he demonstrates an exceptional knowledge of Biblical concepts which he would not have been able acquire just by reading Paradise Lost and listening to the family (Shelley…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Prolonged isolation affects essentially all parts of a person’s existence, compassion through the companionship of other humans is necessary for a person’s development and stability. Incidentally, in Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein,” the creature protagonist is abandoned at the start of his life. The reader then learns of the many struggles the creature faced in his forced isolation and the effect it has had on the creature. The creature yearns for companionship to cure his loneliness. Shelley displays how this isolation shapes the creature and influences his actions.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Frankenstein and the Problem in Parenting Ever since Mary Shelley published the novel Frankenstein in 1818, many philosophers have debated its significance and the underlying meanings. While some suggest that racism is the most important theme, others believe that the 1931 movie rendition of Frankenstein more clearly shows that parenting is the key focus. When one considers how Dr. Frankenstein’s creation, the main character, reacts to the world around him, most people would likely be surprised that his actions almost always reflected those of a child. It can be seen in many different occasions how the monster approaches people with trust and good intentions, only to be rejected by them, causing him to retaliate negatively.…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Driven by loneliness, the creature seeks a companion so as to finally feel accepted which would supposedly stop his hatred towards society and impulses of revenge. Possibly Frankenstein owes him this as most of the blame of this gloomy story can be placed on his shoulders. He did abandon his creation from his birth and did nothing to stop the creature from going out into the world alone. Untaught and abandoned, the creature did try to be good, but his creator could possibly be blamed for his rage against society. Regardless, that rage is still present in the creature and must not be forgotten.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein takes the reader on a journey around countries in Europe, and brings you as far as the Arctic. The story involves one man 's desire to use his passion and love of science to create a living organism. The reader follows along as Frankenstein deals with the emotional stress from playing the hand of God. Shelley’s choice of setting plays an important role in connecting the audience with the story on an emotional level helping them feel the fear, stress, anger and joy felt by characters in the novel. It becomes evident that the author’s knowledge and choice of setting is vital to the theme and tone of the story.…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Compassion In Frankenstein

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages

    By the end of volume two of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley laid out a thorough background of the Monster from his creation, to his life in the cottage and to confronting his creator. In the beginning, the reader views him as a poor abandoned being, trying to find his place in the world. Although the Monster is not negative to society at first, when he discovers that no man will accept him, he seeks revenge, making him no longer a victim but a monster. Yet, despite his murderous and hateful tendencies, the reader is conflicted with feelings of compassion for him, relating to his rejection and longing for acceptance that all created beings experience.…

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In her novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses references to text, language and conversation barriers, and different types of communication to show the significance of human interaction to the psyche as well as to show deeper emotions and thought as a fundamental component of the human condition. Through references to books such as Paradise Lost and authors such as Cornelius Agrippa, Shelley shows how books and knowledge are a catalyst for Victor Frankenstein and the monster’s deeper thoughts. Additionally, she uses language barriers and communication between characters to represent the necessity of human contact in order to express identity and deeper emotions. Even the novel itself is told through frame stories, which is illustrated in chapter…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Frankenstein In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley presented Victor and the “creature” in the fact that Victor wanted to experimented the creation of life. What drives Victor to make this kind of decision was the desired feeling the gratitude of the creature he created. Also Mary Shelley in her novel show what does a monster teaches and the reason why a monster endure in our life. In Frankenstein the group oppressed which is women, feminist in one of the main topic presented in Mary Shelley’s novel.…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Crystal Gabun Professor Morrow English 105 October 20, 2014 Frankenstein Literary Analysis Over the past few centuries, scientists have made countless discoveries and advances. These developments stem from an individual’s innate curiosity and desire to further the realm of possibility through theory and experimentation. For many, the thirst for knowledge can grow so immense that one is willing to disregard the moral codes or ethical standards of society in order to push the bounds of modern science.…

    • 2374 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    "All men hate the wretched; how then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you my created detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bond by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us." The monster explained to Frankenstein that he has no friends and was lonely and his quest in life was companionship and understanding. He said, "It is my loneliness that made me savage." Frankenstein heard his voice and it scared him; he saw his reflection and it frightened him.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 3 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Frankenstein - Critical Analysis Evaluation Essay One of the criticism written about Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is by literature professor Naomi Hetherington. A faculty member at the University of Sheffield, Department for Lifelong Learning. She spent her early career researcher in the field of religious culture, gender, sexuality, late-nineteenth and early twentieth century literature.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By the acts of everyone he encounters and Victors, he too becomes secluded and an outcast. Appearance, personality, and placement of events- all are reasons that society shuns the Outcast. Thus creating the archetype of the Outcast, which both Victor and the Monster portray. By Shelley using this archetype, the reader can relate to the characters of Victor and the Monster and better understand the work as a whole.…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humans often have rather shallow and superfluous opinions and judgments. They see nothing beyond the visual and delve no further than the surface of subject. As such, many individuals themselves are judged harshly only on their outward appearance, and not on the core of their being. In Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, the monster of Dr. Frankenstein is a gentle being, treated unjustly due to his hideous visage. Using the monster’s alienation, Shelley reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and values of intolerance and superficiality.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The monster is inherently “benevolent and good,” but his lonesome journey transforms him into a “fiend” (Shelley 87). The monster describes himself saying, “ ‘My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy; and, when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did not endure the violence of the change without torture, such as you cannot even imagine’ ” (Shelley 209-210). Created with an instinctive need for nurture from his creator, the monster was not capable of living alone in his society. In Stephen Gould’s view, “Frankenstein 's creature… is, rather, born capable of goodness, even with an inclination toward kindness, should circumstances of his upbringing call forth this favored response.”…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays