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Portrayals of the Social Outsider and its Connection to Troubled Kinship

Introduction

The novel Frankenstein is believed to be Mary Shelley's best literary work. Shelley has written an intriguing story about a creature that came to life by an unorthodox scientific experiment. Besides the uncommon phenomenon discussed in the novel, the story is also based on familial issues, human nature, social isolation and disbelief. This paper examines the portrayal of Frankenstein's monster as a social outsider and attempts to explain how his social condition was the direct result of a troubled kinship.

Discussion

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is centred around the themes of familial problems, poor parenting, troubled kinship, personality issues and social rejection. These issues can be identified in the novel soon after Victor's creation of the monster. It is quite evident throughout the novel that the 'monster' could not associate to the outside world and the people, let alone with his father - the agent of his existence (Claridge, 1985, p. 19). Even his creator, Victor, was not content with his creation because of the strong feelings of sorrow and failure that it evoked in him (Shelley, p. 55).

The Social Reject

Shelley has made countless references throughout her novel to support the fact that Frankenstein's monster was a social outsider - a social reject forced to live a cursed existence of misery, loneliness and isolation (Shelley, 2000, p. 42). We can ascertain that the monster was quite aware of his surrounding as well as the attitude of humans towards him. He had realized with time that his hideous and repulsive appearance discouraged humans to approach him and help him out of his isolation and misery (Shelley, p. 133).

A social outsider or a social reject is a person who has been deliberately cast out of a society due to a commonly held view of perception of him. This rejection may be the result of differences in culture, religion, beliefs, practices, mannerisms and physical appearance. Social rejection inevitably leads to a wide range of negative psychological effects on social reject, such as withdrawal from society, personality disorder and uncontrolled aggression. If we examine various statements made by Victor's creation, it clearly shows the distress the monster was in and iterates that he is a social reject (Shelley, p. 103).

He had no chance of associating to the world, blending in with the humans, or establishing some kind of connection with them because of his outward appearance. No one considered him as theirs; not even his creator (Bann, 1994, p. 56). The attitude of people altered his vision about the world and how he perceived reality and relationships. This strong feeling is also evident from the distress that the monster exhibits in all his conversations with Victor (Shelley, p. 139).

Feelings of being a societal exile were inculcated deep within the monster. When he came to life and saw the world around; he felt discounted and unloved. This clearly indicates that the monster was unable to relate himself to the world around him. He ...