Life for children is often difficult without having both parents taking care of them. In our society, it is more common to see either one of the parents looking after the child; instead of both parents being absent. Specifically, Shelly emphasizes the role of a father through the relationships of Victor with his father, Alphonso and Victor with his creation. Both relationships contrast immensely. Alphonso serves as a caring father, who looked out for Victor while Victor acts negligent and uncompassionate towards his creation. Shelly also notes that even if a father wants the best for his son, it doesn’t always work out well. This contrast adds to the overwhelming emphasis of how important a father’s role is in early developmental period of the child.
Life for children is often difficult without having both parents taking care of them. In our society, it is more common to see either one of the parents looking after the child; instead of both parents being absent. Specifically, Shelly emphasizes the role of a father through the relationships of Victor with his father, Alphonso and Victor with his creation. Both relationships contrast immensely. Alphonso serves as a caring father, who looked out for Victor while Victor acts negligent and uncompassionate towards his creation. Shelly also notes that even if a father wants the best for his son, it doesn’t always work out well. This contrast adds to the overwhelming emphasis of how important a father’s role is in early developmental period of the child.
Alphonso is loving father as he did his best in caring for his boy, Victor. Alphonso is a well-respected adult male as he “had filled several public state of affairss with award and reputation.” ( Shelly 2 ) While Victor is at Ingolstadt, Alphonso sends him letters wishing for Victor’s wellbeing and asks him non to bury his household responsibilities. Alphonso even goes to Scotland to take attention of his ill boy, Victor. Alphonso represented a great patriarchal figure of the early 19Thursdaycentury. Alphonso took attention of his creative activity, Victor, with compassion that is uncomparable to the relationship between Victor and his creative activity.
Of class, merely like how every male parent makes errors, Alphonso besides made some related to his boy, Victor. When Victor was immature and he found himself reading old scientific discipline books, Alphonso would state him to halt reading as those books are “sad trash” ( Shelly 40 ) . Victor goes on to state that if he had been told a good ground to halt reading those books, he would hold. But since a proper ground was non given, Victor got himself obsessed with controlling nature. Victor’s male parent, in this instance, did non offer the proper counsel that he needed. Alphonso had the responsibility to demo Victor that Agrippa is non deserving acquisition, yet he doesn’t, which lead Victor to look into further and go haunted with such a end.
Alphonso besides misread Victor after William died. After recognizing that Victor’s heath is easy deteriorating, Alphonso says, “Don’t you think victor that I do non endure besides? ” Alphonso criticizes his son’s method of covering with the sorrow without recognizing that Victor feels the incrimination for William’s decease. ” ( Shelley 59 ) Victor had to conceal his torment for longer, intensifying his hurting. Finally, after the decease of Clerval, Victor speaks up, “Alas my male parent, how small do you cognize me. I am the cause of this-I murdered her. William Justine, and Henry-they all died at my hands.” ( Shelly 128 )
This shows the overall responsibility that a male parent has to their kid. The father’s responsibility is to explicate and assist the kids learn from their errors. In this instance, Alphonso didn’t usage ground to acquire Victor to halt reading into Agrippa, which made Victor read more into the book.
The monster in Mary Shelly’s bookFrankenstein, who was created through scientific agencies, the lone individual who he has is the Godhead, Victor Frankenstein. Victor, though, does non desire to take on the duty of a male parent. Yet, Victor rejects his “son” and is repelled by him. The deficiency of parental attention, love, and compassion lead Frankenstein to go a actual monster who causes force and devastation. Frankenstein’s behaviour and attitude towards others is a consequence of failed parent kid relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his creative activity.
Recent surveies have suggested that male parents leave more of an impact on kids than female parents ; a statement that seems unconventional. A survey by Vanderbilt University compared the effects of ignored kids from female parents and male parents. The survey concluded that kids who have been neglected by the male parents are more likely to strong-arm their equals. ( Christie-Mizell 1 ) The survey presents a foundation for the “monstrous” behaviour of the animal. Initially, Victor sets out to play the function of God and he embraced it. At his research lab, Victor thinks that “a new species would bless me as its Godhead and beginning ; many happy and first-class natures would owe their being to me.” ( pg. 32 ) That thought was uncomplete as Victor didn’t think through the effects of his action.
After making the animal, Victor abandons it, taking non to accept the duty of a male parent. Victor even calls his creative activity a “horror to mankind.” ( Shelly. 145 ) He uses words such as “hideous guest” and “demonical corpse” that furthered the creature’s emotional devastation. Lack of compassion, since the creative activity of the animal, shown towards the animal foreshadows the ruin of it. The animal was non merely neglected but it was verbally abused by his ain creator—his male parent. In fact, ill-treatment and maltreatment at an early age can discourage the brain’s ability to bring forth positive feelings and maintain emotional stableness. ( Child Welfare Information Gateway ) Therefore, ill-treatment at developmental age affects the animal forever.
The treachery by Victor forces the animal to research and larn about the universe by himself. The animal learns linguistic communication, manners and day-to-day life by following a household. He shortly becomes attached to the household, trusting that he could name the household his ain. Unfortunately, the household besides rejects him, doing him to gyrate into huge hatred towards worlds. This type of state of affairs could hold been avoided if Victor showed compassion to his creative activity and helped him easy integrate himself to the new universe.
Victor’s attitude towards the animal is unchanged throughout the narrative. When he meets with the animal for the first clip after abandoning him, the monster expects hatred from Victor as that is really much what he has received until now. Still looking for compassion, he asks Victor to retrieve that he is his Godhead and that the animal could be considered Adam ; with the outlook of Victor to demo clemency to the monster, similar to God demoing clemencies to Adam. After reading Victor’s diary, the animal notes his signifier to be “filthy type” of Victors, pulling another analogue to God making adult male as an image and similitude of God.
Even after all the torment and hurting caused by Victor, the alone animal pleads for clemency. It is true that the animal holds a score and hatred against worlds but the animal does non desire to turn into this deplorable being that brings devastation to worlds. The animal says, “Yet it is in your power to compensate me…….Let your compassion be moved and do non distain me, ” ( Shelly 66 ) seeking to convert Victor to demo some compassion towards the animal. Yet, Victor feels unaffected and continues to drive the monster and curses his being. As he leaves, the animal even warns Victor of the devastation that awaits for world.
Every decease is connected to Victor’s treachery towards of creative activity. The deceases of William, Clerval, Justine, Elizabeth, and Victor’s male parent were all a agencies to demo Victor the hurting that was felt by the animal since the beginning of his birth: the hurting of isolation and loneness. The decease that drove Victor to insanity is the decease of his male parent. The animal did non desire this to go on. The animal knew that it could be used for good. Yet, due to Victor’s deficiency of empathy and compassion shown, the animal thought it had no pick but to give back the hate that it has received from Victor therefore far. Victor really drove himself insane by the creative activity of this monster.
In the relationships that this paper examined, one was able to play out their responsibility as the parents while the other was unable to make so. Towards the terminal of the novel, Victor proclaims “the comrades of our childhood ever possess a certain power over our minds.” ( pg. 147 ) This shows that Alphonso love and compassion left a great grade with Victor while Victor’s carelessness left a great grade on the animal to finally detest all of human race. While Alphonso was a great male parent figure, he did hold some defects that made his parenting overbearing. Victor, on the other manus, creates a being and instantly neglects it. He left the animal to populate off on its ain and didn’t raising it. This caused the animal to develop into a monster that turned to force. Lack of paternity lead to the ruin of Victor, his friends and household members.
1. Christie-Mizell, Andre. “ Vanderbilt Magazine. ”Vanderbilt Magazine RSS. Vanderbilt University, n.d. Web. 20 July 2014.
2. Child Welfare Information Gateway. “ Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development. ”Effectss of Maltreatment on Brain Development. Administration for Children and Families, n.d. Web. 21 July2014.
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