The Effects of Isolation: Main Theme of Frankenstein

“The worst cruelty that can be inflicted on a human being is isolation.” (Sukarno). Without companionship there is nobody to confide in and nobody to support you. You are simply alone in the world. Within Frankenstein isolation is one of most considerable themes. Both Victor Frankenstein and the monster become isolated and miserable showing just how much being disconnected from others can ruin lives. The isolation of the monster leads to the downfall of Frankenstein, his family, and friends in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. 

Victor’s action of abandoning the monster affects the life of his brother, William. (Mary Shelley p __). The monster encounters William and then kills him as revenge for Victor’s actions. Victor has a feeling that the monster is responsible for the death of William and the framing of Justine. He realizes that the monster is now going after everyone Victor loves. Victor knows that if he had either not made the monster in the first place or treated the monster with respect and compassion, both William and Justine would still be living their normal lives. The monster now has a sense of power knowing how much he can hurt Victor. The diversity the monster has from everyday humans gives him an advantage and he learns to use it for his revenge on Victor. Because how inhuman people were treating the monster, he now gains the confidence they destroyed by destroying their relationships. Human companships became the only thing the monster was holding onto and once all the humans he wanted to trust betrayed him in any way his rage grew even more. This shows Victor how outraged the monster is and recognizes that his life is forever changed from his desertion of the monster. 

The destruction of the monster’s  promised companion from Victor is the monster’s official breaking point. The monster loses the one thing he wanted and now eternally alone. Because of how different the monster looked from everyone else people were afraid of him. Once he was so close to having someone like him being made then to watch it being ripped apart from his life the monster had never felt so lonely. “Shall each man” cried he, “find a wife for his bosom, and each beast have his mate, and I be alone?” (pg 120). The monster now also loses the little tolerance he has left for Victor. The monster often refers to Victor as the devil throughout the novel. Him saying this shows how much he has given up on getting his creator to love him, now he just wants revenge. Once Victor had destroyed the monster’s companion, the monster was set on destroying  everything that mattered to Victor. The monster now leaves Victor wondering what vengeance the monster will claim. 

Once the monster murders Victor’s friend, Henry, he suffers greatly. Victor was blamed for the death of his friend and had no proof of his innocence therefore, he is being held in jail.  Ironically Victor's brother and Justine both suffered because Victor had created a monster but Henry suffered because Victor had not made a monster. Victor’s family cares an exceptional amount for him and his well being. Different from Victor’s ‘parenting’ techniques, his father cares about his child and is worried seeing him in such a difficult state. Frankenstein’s wellbeing worsens so his father takes him away on a retreat like trip to hopefully help his son’s mental state. Elizabeth is also continuously checking up on Victor in letter form. Everyone who cares about him puts in a lot of effort to get Victor back to his normal self.  

The monster is turning Victor into the worst version of himself. On the night of his wedding, Victor realizes that the monster did not threaten harm to him but to his soon to be wife, Elizabeth. When all of his loved ones are being killed, Victor becomes lonely and resentful towards the monster. Now both the monster and Victor are companionless and recognize how it feels to be isolated. The monster kills to only make Victor hurt as he did.  “No creature had ever been so miserable as I am; so frightful an event is single in the history of man.” (pg 142). If Victor had forgotten the monster’s appearance in the beginning and seen the innocence he had, Victor would still have his family and friends and the monster would not feel as lonesome as he does. The hopefulness the monster and Victor each had is now gone and replaced with the obsession of revenge.