“To be friendless is indeed to be unfortunate; but the hearts of men, when unprejudiced by any obvious self-interest, are full of brotherly love and charity. Rely therefore, on your hopes; and if these friends are good and amiable, do not despair” (Shelley 90).
Imagine what it would be like watching from the outside looking in, desiring to belong to something, to have a family or a friend. Walton as he writes to his sister at the beginning of the book talks to her about friendship and how it is so important to him “I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me…and I greatly need a friend” (Shelley 10). He continues to desire this until he becomes close to the stranger whom he invites as a passenger onto his ship. Then as the stranger conveys his story to the captain he too mentions how much his family and friendships mean to him, “Elizabeth Lavenza became my playfellow, and, as we grew older, my friend” (Shelley 19). How then as this creature conveys his desires to De Lacy, can his conviction to have a friend or someone to belong to, not be heard?
As the monster’s intelligence grows he knows that friendship with never greet him, mankind is cruel and could never look past his physical deformities. He looks for the one that can save him from his loneliness. “If I have no ties and no affections, hatred and vice must be my portion; the love of another will destroy the cause of my crimes” (Shelley 100). The desire for a friend and companionship brings the monster to go against everything that he has allowed himself to be taught, since the beginning of his existence. The creation of a friend is the price for a life of happiness for his creator, or a life of pain and suffering. This desire for friendship and belonging is what will carry the story on. Not wanting to be alone in the world can lead the most beautiful people to make choices that can leave them ugly and scared. http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/
Work Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York City, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1996
Wow this is a great post! You brought the book out of a hidden perspective. The underlying meaning is so clear through your words and the relation to our own lives. I love how you said, "The creation of a friend is the price for a life of happiness for his creator, or a life of pain and suffering." This really speaks volumes! By the way I haven't seen your blog page yet. Your family is so beautiful, each and every one of you. I love the way your whole layout is.
ReplyDeleteGood post!! I liked how you too saw the theme of love and the want for companionship all throughout the novel. You did a very nice job of connecting the different passages to the same underlying cause. I also really liked that you used a passage from later on in the novel. This shows that the theme of wanting companionship is found all the way through the novel.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!! I love how your own words brought the book out even better to me! I must admit, that this book was hard for me to get through at first because it just didn't interest me at all, but the way that you analyized this has helped me to understand it better and to be even more into than I was in the beginning. I like how you connected other passages to the beginning of your analyse quote. Great job!!
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