Frankenstein is a tale of a scientist who gains the knowledge to bring life back into the dead. The scientist, Dr Frankenstein, is consumed in this project for years, and when he finally beholds his work, he is terrified, and abandons his creation. The creature, without any knowledge of the world in which he lives, becomes scared and has to fend for himself. Through his rejection from society, and increasing loneliness, the creature becomes evil, and begins to kill in revenge for the treatment he receives from society. The novel, apart from many other valid points, draws up a very on going theme throughout the novel. The effect that family, and domestic affection has upon a person, and raises the very famous question of nature or nurture? This is the question of whether a being is born with the qualities that they posses, or are they somehow inherited through the society that they live in.
The role of the family and domestic affection are explored in Frankenstein in many different ways for there are many examples where a character experiences the typical family values, or feels the domestic affection longed for by some. The way that the role of the family is portrayed is in the treatment of their children, and how their children will grow up to be like, so again the question of nature or nurture.
Victor describes his family life as idyllic. He is loved by his parents, and is almost their god like son, who all their time and effort is devoted to. He believes that they made all of these efforts to ensure that he was a good child early on, and that their guidance and good parenting is the reason for his supposed good nature now.
I was their plaything and their idol, and something better - their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me.
…every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control, I was so guided by a silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me.
From these two quotes from the novel (both found on page 32) we can see that Victors life, as a child was one of that surrounded by love. There are many points we can draw from these quotes. One is that the role of the child in the family should be a god-like role. Victor states that his parents saw him as 'their idol'. The use of their shows that this idol belong to them, and this strong use of possession could mean that there should be a strong family tie and protection. The use of idol proves the godlike point. An idol is a thing of worship, often used in religious connotations, and this wouldn't be rare, as this is a gothic horror novel, and within gothic symbols and themes, religion is a prominent figure. The fact that he is worshipped shows the love that he is possessed with by his parents. The second quote shows that he is being nurtured into being a good human being. Being taught these things at young age would mean that they would stick with him during family life, and that he will turn out a good person. The silken cord talked about is important too. He is guided by his parents to be a good person and this silk talked about shows that it is of a good quality, expensive. Not that the love he could have a price tag, but it's a valuable thing to have. These examples show that in Frankenstein, the role of the family is to guide their child and nurture them into good people. This they should do with love and care, such as the love given to Victor by his parents.
their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them
The use of the word creature gives us the impression not of a human child, but of an animal, which in scientifical terms we actually are. This is an obvious point seeing the scientific background and content of this novel. It is also typical of the nature of Victor's personality. During his narrative, he uses a lot of animalistic terminology, which makes us think of the bringing up of human children similar to that of animals. They are of course very similar. We see that many mothers of the animal race do not leave their young until they are ready to roam the wild on their own, so until they are ready to face the world on their own. This is something that happens to Victor, when he is finally let out of his protective bubble, as it seems, and into the wild, fierce, unknown world of university. Again the point of nature and nurture comes into play when Victor creates his 'monster'. He is now the father of a being, as he is the creator of this being, and has fatherly duties towards the creature, just as his parents did. He should have brought the creature up, and allowed it to be accepted into society. This however, is not the case.
How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form.
These are Victor's feeling after creating the creature. They are not those of a proud father, yet those of someone who is ashamed at what they have created. Victor shows his prejudice, as he rejects the monster without really getting to know him, judging him solely on his looks.
His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.
The reason why I believe Victor should take up the role of the father is because of the way that he contributed to the looks of the creature. He, like a father had some input, more than most, and created a being that is new to the world (for the second time!) and has no experience of what to do. It is his duty, both as a creator, and more importantly as a father, to nurture this being. However this is not the case. Due to his prejudice, Victor rejects the monster straight away.
I beheld the wretch—the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs
So many negatives are used to describe the monster in this quotation. Wretch, miserable, monster are all comments not used to compliment the creature. In this quotation as well, Shelly portrays the monster just like a baby, unable to speak, and wanting affection. This is understandable, considering it has just been created. At this point we have to question the integrity of the narrator, because we are only given his point of view, and at this time he is scared stiff of his creation.
one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me
This is a harsh representation of the creature. Although we cannot presume already that the creature is good, there are many plausible reasons why the creature may have wanted to touch Victor. Babies after all, learn things through their five senses, and touch is one of them. The creature is experiencing things it has never felt before, and that is why it may feel the need to touch Victor. Here Shelly shows, by Victor's desertion of the creature, that some family members can become outcasts, due to appearance alone. Victor's desertion shows that he is a bad parent, and has gone against everything that he has been taught, and also how he has been brought up. However, there are points to prove that Victor has been brought up around judging people by their looks. His partner, and adopted cousin, Elizabeth is handpicked from a young group of children described as vagrants. Because Elizabeth stood out due to her beauty, she was adopted by the Frankenstein's' because they felt that she deserved a better life than the other ugly children that she lived with did. This could have been a reason why Victor rejects the animal, because it is ugly to him, and ugly people don’t deserve good lives.
Mary Shelly uses the monster to reveal how prejudice the world can be to people who don't fit in with the norm, and criticises the way that society thinks. The monster is rejected purely because it looks different. It longs to be part of a family unit, and this is seen when he tries to join the De Lacey Family. This could show that Shelly is trying to say that the family unit is important to the life of us all and society. The role of the family is to nurture and care for a child, much the way Victor was cared for by his parents. With the care and love that this child receives they will turn out good, and they will not become evil. Unlike the monster, who is forced to be an exile because of looks. He is rejected by his creator, and father, and exacts bloody revenge. This shows that a man's personality is based on nurture, as the monster is an articulate, well-mannered being. But his hatred towards his AWOL creator and society as a whole means that he turns into a bloody murderer. Parallels can be seen today in this example. A percentage of youths choose a life of drugs and crime. This could be for many reasons, but many feel it is the upbringing that they have that decides what nature of personality they have. In conclusion, Shelly explores the role of the family and domestic affection by showing the two different effects that a family and its affection can have on their offspring.
