Frankenstein is more than just a classic horror story; it is a psychological reflection on the effects of emotional pain, both on ourselves and on those around us.
The way the monster suffers in the novel illustrates how emotional pain can develop into destructive behavior if left unresolved.
By examining the story further, we can see how it depicts the causes of trauma, isolation, and our need for social acceptance.
Emotional Isolation Can Turn Pain Into Rage
The story of the monster serves as an example of how emotional isolation can turn even the gentlest of hearts toward rage.
The creature has experienced continual rejection, which has caused his inner torment to grow progressively horrific.
Experiences like this also occur in today’s society; many people feel a lack of connection because they feel invisible or unheard by their most cherished loved ones. The creature did not desire violence; rather, he desired to feel as if he belonged.
However, the isolation created a powerful sense of deep-seated bitterness resulting from the lack of acceptance of his pain.
Connection is the only way to heal emotional wounds and to avoid the transformation of loneliness into resentment. Shelley’s message about love is that all hearts must have warmth to prevent them from becoming cold and/or hard.
Repressed Pain Creates Inner Monsters
Both Frankenstein and the monster in this story demonstrate how guilt and sorrow cause emotional repression and lead to the monster within us.
The unresolved emotional issues that we do not confront will continue to increase in size until they begin to affect our behavior.
People who bottle up their emotions are more likely to react violently or develop unhealthy coping mechanisms as a result of these unresolved issues.
The creature is the representation of trauma that has gone unprocessed, resulting in permanent damage to him and to those around him. The purpose of Shelley’s work is to illustrate the importance of facing our emotional pain head-on.
The only way to heal is to be willing to confront our pasts and take responsibility for the emotional pain that we have caused to ourselves and others.
Rejection Shapes Identity More Than We Realize
The creature was treated like “a monster” by the people around him, which shaped how he viewed himself. This is true in reality; a person’s perception of themselves is strongly influenced by the frequency of their experiences with rejection.
Children and adults who are repeatedly rejected, called names, or ridiculed will eventually accept those labels for themselves.
Shelley demonstrates how being rejected can cause someone to take on a distorted sense of identity in the same way that love helps to form a person’s identity.
Unhealed Trauma Leads to Destructive Cycles
Victor and his monster have a cyclic relationship that illustrates the process of someone treating another person’s trauma with his/her own trauma.
Victor’s denial, guilt, and avoidance of the creature encourage the creature to have despair, creating more terror for Victor. The book explains that not dealing with emotional wounds creates a cycle of emotional wounds that spreads throughout society.
The cycle continues because of unhealthy behaviors, including choosing toxic relationships or rejecting people who care. Therefore, in Mary Shelley’s novel, trauma will continue to happen until the cycle of trauma is broken intentionally by dealing with one’s emotional wounds.
Compassion Can Prevent Emotional Damage
At the heart of the novel is compassion. Had one individual chosen to be kind to the creature, the outcome would have changed drastically.
This mirrors reality; if an individual is compassionate towards another individual who is suffering, the emotional scar that feels unbearable can become less painful.
When an individual believes that he or she is a burden on society, he or she becomes vulnerable and indeed becomes a burden. If the same individual receives empathy, he or she will grow rather than deteriorate. Empathy helps provide emotional healing to those who are in need of it.
We Create Our Monsters Through Neglect
Victor created a monster without any responsibility or nurture for it once it entered the world. What does this tell us about the emotional “monsters” we create in our lives when we don’t nurture our inner needs?
Certainly, neglecting feelings of burnout, sadness, or unresolved trauma has the potential to create a future emotional explosion. Shelley teaches us that responsibility begins when we create something; we have to care for it after its creation.
We must nurture the broken parts of ourselves if we want to help others. Shelley illustrates that it is not the emotions themselves that cause danger; it is the neglect of our emotional needs.
Born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ever since I was a little girl, my imagination knew no bounds. I remember vividly how I’d scribble down short stories, each page bursting with adventures and characters conjured up from the whimsy of my mind. These stories weren’t just for me; they were my way of connecting with my friends, offering them a slice of my fantasy world during our playtimes. The joy and excitement on their faces as we dived into my fictional realms motivated me to keep writing. This early passion for storytelling naturally evolved into my pursuit of writing, turning a childhood hobby into a fulfilling career.