Loneliness and Isolation in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Essay Example

You just got invited to go out and do something but the activities that were once enjoyable are no longer appealing to you.  Such feelings have been felt all around the world especially in the past two years.  Covid has caused lots of people to abstain from their normal social activities which resulted in increased moodiness during these times.  The lack of social interaction for a long period of time can cause people to act how they normally wouldn’t.  Remaining alone and isolated from society can cause someone to change their behaviors and how they act, as seen in Frankenstein through the monster that Victor created.

Loneliness and Isolation is something that everyone has experienced at least once in their life to a certain extent.  The feeling of being isolated or outcasted is one that is hard to overcome.  These are very difficult feelings that can make it hard to function as you normally did.  According to Holt Lunstad, “Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need - Critical to both well-being and survival,” showing how much of a necessity it is to socialize.  Loneliness is different from Isolation.  Loneliness involves not socializing.  Isolation is when you are outcasted and are not allowed to or can not socialize with others.  On their own, each of these feelings are extremely hard to deal with.  If you combine these feelings together, the effects can be more severe.

The effects of Loneliness and Isolation can include anything from depression and poor sleep quality to poor cardiovascular function. According to a study done by Kassandra Alcaraz, phD, MPH, social isolation and loneliness often increase the risk of premature death.  When someone has been isolated from society for a while, they start to lose the acceptable roles people are supposed to play in society.  Someone can be unaware of how they are supposed to perform and may do actions that they believe are acceptable but are not.

In the book Frankenstein, the monster created has not only had lack of social interaction, but has been isolated and outcasted from society.  Frankenstein’s monster started off with killing William.  At first it is unknown as to the reason for this but it is then later observed in the story about how this can very possibly be a result of the monster being in isolation.  The monster even explains to Victor that the reason behind his killing is that “you had endowed me with perceptions and passions and then cast me abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind” (Shelly 167).  The monster says to Victor that he has been thrown out into society with passion and then was just abandoned without knowing what to do.  This quote explains the reason for how all of this abandonment and social isolation started.  The monster later tries to go and help a family in a cabin in the woods.  The monster is then cursed at and thrown out because of the way he looks when he tells Victor saying, “Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung, in transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick” (Shelly 161).  During this part of the story, the monster can be seen being outcasted from society.  At this moment, the monster is able to understand that violence is not the way to go and he proves this by saying, “I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope, but my heart sank within me as with bitter sickness and I refrained” (Shelly 161).  After almost two years of being isolated, his behavior changes just as it does in people.  He begins to lose sight of what is acceptable as a society.  After coming back into the society, we find that he kills another person.  This time it is Elizabeth.  Victor rushes to his room after hearing a scream, as Victor says, “I heard a shrill and dreadful scream.  It came from the room into which Elizabeth had retired,” and realizes that his wife has been murdered by the monster he had created (Shelly 241).

The monster Frankenstein had created had come back after two years of being alone.  Originally, he was able to resist and refrain from killing.  After being isolated from society, he lost sight of how to act and as a result, took his anger out by killing.  All of the actions and threats the monster had been able to do before are now irresistible to him as he lost sight of what is acceptable in a society after being outcasted and distanced from it for two years.  

Remaining alone and isolated from society can cause someone to change their behaviors and how they act, as seen in Frankenstein through the monster that Victor created.  Being alone can cause you to lose sight and lose interest in what you used to enjoy.  Everyone has their own extent of feeling these emotions at one point in their lives.  This means that the people within your community might be feeling this way with no one to talk to.  Why not get someone out of bed and convince them to come and have a little fun?  This little action can be the change that they needed.

Works Cited

“The Risks of Social Isolation.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation.

“Social Isolation, Loneliness in Older People Pose Health Risks.” National Institute on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/social-isolation-loneliness-older-people-pose-health-risks.

Turvey, John, and Mary Shelley. Frankenstein. Longman, 1998.