Paya Dehghani

07 June 2011

ENG 3U

Isolation and Alienation in Frankenstein

The theme of alienation is one of the most important themes in Frankenstein. Also

is the common theme in characters, Victor and the monster. At first Victor isolates

himself from society and his family, but then he is being alienated. The monster is

alienated from the beginning of his creation and has no one to love and socialize with.

The character of Victor Frankenstein is a man of science and because of his

passion in science, he isolates him self from his family, friends and the society around

him. He spends almost his entire time creating life after death. However, he is not aware

of the consequences and what will happen after creating the monster. As he says in page

147: “I must absent myself from all I loved while thus employed. Once commenced, it

would quickly be achieved, and I might be restored to my family in peace and

happiness.” First Victor is alienated because of creating the monster and after that, for

keeping the secret of his creation. This finally leads to his downfall. The only

communication Victor has with anyone else throughout the novel is with Robert Walton

at the ship. He confesses the story of his life and the creature he has created to Walton.

It’s his own ideas that leads him to disaster: “it is even possible that the train of my ideas

would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin.” Page 38. As you can see

in this quote he accepts that it’s his own ideas that ruin his life, but it’s to late.
 The theme of alienation is also shown through Victor’s creation or the monster.

Unlike its creator, the creature does not choose to be alienated. Rather it is others who

isolate the monster because of his outrageous and hideous appearance. All the monster

wants is to have someone to talk to and be loved but after many assimilates to fit into

society; he realizes that he’ll never be accepted by humans, because they first look at his

appearance. The first impression of life with the monster is when he opens his eyes, and

sees Victor’s scared look. Victor immediately flees. The creature’s own father rejects him

even though he has made him; “unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I

rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to

compose my mind to sleep.” page 55 The creature is left all alone with no information

and is like a newborn child left alone in the gigantic world. The second experience the

monster has with humans is by contacting with the villagers, where they throw stones at

him to make him leave them.” I had hardly placed my foot within the door before the

children shrieked, and one of the women fainted. The whole village was roused; some

fled, some attacked me” page 101 People are frightened of the monster and they’re trying

to make him go away. The monster’s third experience is the rejection of the DcLacey

family. This is the first family that he contacts with. The monster wants to be a part of the

family, so because of his previous experience with humans, he hides, and secretly

observes the family. The creature believes that language will help him to be accepted by

humans so he learns to speak by observing the DcLacey family. Another thing the

monster believes is that if he could only tell the blind father his story their family would

accept him but that didn’t work well and it got interrupted by the children when they
enter the house, and in fear for their father’s life they forced him away with violence:

“Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose

11knees I clung; in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me

violently with a stick.” Page 130 Once more the monster is rejected because of his ugly,

outrageous and hideous form.

Since Victor's isolated himself, he was able to join the society again. He returned

home shortly after receiving a letter from Elizabeth. Even though Victor was still

suffering from some emotional distress, he had a place that could return to so he was still

able to return home, unlike the monster who no one loved him, had no one to love and

talk to and he couldn't be accepted by any normal human. The monster's need for

attention led him to the murdering people close to Victor. So he told Victor that he will

revenge: "If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my

archenemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred." page 139 Killing

and hurting people was the monster’s only way of receiving attention and care from. The

more he murdered, the more attention the creature received from Victor. Eventually he

killed everyone close to Victor and gained Victor's full attention. Victor thought that a

greater and more horrible result can happen from him creating the second monster and his

act will make people other than himself unhappy. So he doesn’t do what the monster

wants: “I consent to your demand, on your solemn oath to quite Europe forever, and

every other place in the neighborhood of man," page 143 and "Your threats cannot move

me to do an act of wickedness," page 162

 Victor’s isolation allowed him to create life and achieve his goal of staving off

death but he isn’t really satisfied and in the end he dies with his own creation. Perhaps

Victor Frankenstein is the only character that more or less chooses alienation by himself

because of his passion for science and on the other hand the monster is greeted with

disgust and violence from his birth to death, even though he comes with friendly

intensions.