Essay Sample on Frankenstein: Nature vs. Upbringing and Evil vs. Kind

Introduction

From ancient centuries, the notion of behavior influences has been widely discussed. Individuals don't seem to get a conclusive concept on what makes them act as they do. Being evil or kind has been associated with nature or upbringing. In the fictional story of Frankenstein, individuals can see how the monster Victor Frankenstein created turned from good to evil. From the narrative, Mary Shelley shares her perception on this issue which the community at large should uphold (McDermott, Lydia 10). According to her reasoning through Frankenstein's story, Mary Shelly perceives that individuals cannot be created naturally as evil. Society's discrimination and stereotyping nurture people into good or bad, especially in the current issue of deviance behaviors among adolescent students due to peer pressure.

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Evidential Analysis

In the story's argument, the narrator Victor Frankenstein argues that his creation was evil from start. Immediately he developed it and did not conform to required specifications, he was loathed by it and left it behind. Frankenstein wanted to make a creation that reflected rational human beings, but due to materialistic challenges, what came out of his scientific initiative was hideous and scary. The creature's nature was that which triggered fear, but that did not define it at first. When society members saw it, they hid in fear, which forced this monster to live in an abandoned cottage in the woods. It was desperate to fit in and get accepted like anyone else. The nature of its creation was not its fault since Victor Frankenstein was the master behind its making. The monster got a responsibility to hide from humanity due to its looks even when he was desperate to make social links (Kupferschmidt, Kai 146). From its side of view, naturally, he was a nice person, but how the community nurtured him resulted in the evil it conducted.

In the beginning, this creature tried to befriend the low-income family in the woods even by gathering firewood and living with them secretly. It succeeded by connecting with the blind man, but the rest fled in fear after seeing him. Evil is in character and behavior, not looks. Therefore, people feared him not because his nature was evil, but since it reflected that of something unfriendly. It is due to this social alienation that he saw no need to try fitting in and become just what everyone expected of him. Even when he urged his creator to make him a companion, Victor Frankenstein refused, leaving it lonelier. The scientist declared his creations evil by just looking at them. He did not give these creatures a chance of survival to prove themselves worthy (Holmes, Richard 490). Society is responsible for depicting an individual's behaviors, especially when they do not give them an opportunity of displaying their capabilities.

By killing William, Elizabeth, and Clerval, the creature was acting out to punish Victor Frankenstein. It was out of anger towards being stereotyped into something he wasn't naturally. These actions only aggravated the scientist's beliefs that his creation was monstrous. All his encounters were convinced about the monster to be evil even for those who had never met him. Naturally, one can see that the beast was kind in spirit, but the community's perception of him based on physical looks turned him to be evil. Victor Frankenstein, who was supposed to be his guardian, did not give him any positive nurturing to supplement his nature either.

Comparison to Real-World Application

In today's world, students, especially those undergoing adolescent stage, get associated with deviance. Society does not give them personal space to prove themselves and conclude that at some point, each pupil must portray uncontrolled behaviors. Such perceptions do not provide these individuals with a chance to become better and often succumb to such stereotypes hence peer pressure. Cases of juvenile convictions have raised with high detention rates in schools. These students can become better, but if they continue getting treated like Frankenstein monster, they will get worse, affecting an entire generation. Parents and teachers should know better when dealing with these individuals who are prone to evil behaviors like drug use and theft, among others. They should have canceling sessions in school, combined with other curriculum activities to reduce deviance (Merrin et al. 196). Therefore, these undesired behaviors will decrease.

Personal Opinion

According to my reasoning, what happened to the Frankenstein monster and adolescent students currently is not good. Each community has individuals with different natural diversities like age, gender, sexualities, and looks, among others, and they should all get respected. Victor's creation deserved a chance to show what it was capable of in society. If only individuals did not judge it from natural looks, by treating it as an average person, they could have nurtured it into goodness. The monster had begun its life by being good despite constant rejection when it finally dawned on him that there was no chance of acceptance; it slid into evil behaviors. Therefore, one can see that how an individual gets nurtured in society determines its natural ways of behaving.

Conclusion

An individual should not get judged according to natural looks; instead, they should get assessed by how they grow and develop from societal leanings. Everyone is born, not knowing what is right or wrong. Such judgments are taught or observed from associations with others. Therefore, if Frankenstein's monster did not get such a chance, there was a limited probability of developing good behaviors. Similarly, deviant adolescents should be treated well and get counseled continually to shape them into competent adults. Failure to this, evil will persist in the world. As stated earlier, it is only the society's discrimination and stereotyping nurture people into good or bad, especially in the current issue of deviance behaviors among adolescent students due to peer pressure.

Works Cited

Holmes, Richard. "Science fiction: The science that fed Frankenstein." Nature 535.7613 (2016): 490. www.nature.com/articles/535490a. Accessed 28 December, 2019.

Kupferschmidt, Kai. "The long shadow of Frankenstein." (2018): 146-147. www.science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6372/146.summary. Accessed 28 December, 2019.

McDermott, Lydia. "Birthing rhetorical monsters: How Mary Shelley infuses metis with the maternal in her 1831 introduction to Frankenstein." Rhetoric Review 34.1 (2015): 1-18. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07350198.2015.976135. Accessed 28 December, 2019.

Merrin, Gabriel J., et al. "Developmental changes in deviant and violent behaviors from early to late adolescence: Associations with parental monitoring and peer deviance." Psychology of Violence 9.2 (2019): 196.www.psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-47560-001. Accessed 28 December, 2019.

White, David. "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." Philosophy Now 128 (2018): 50-51. www.pdcnet.org/philnow/content/philnow_2018_0128_0050_0051. Accessed 28 December, 2019.