Life Lessons in Frankenstein
Companionship/Friendship
Quotes about Companionship
"But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing.” Ch 13
The creature is talking about how he never had parents to learn from or to grow up with. He knew he didn't start out like a child like everyone else. He never had smiles or loving touches from family. He was "born" a fully grown, strong, but clueless man.
“I am alone and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create." Ch. 16
The creature says that he is all alone in this world and completely unhappy but if he has someone just like him they will not be able to discriminate against him. He is telling Victor that he must create a companion like that.
"You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This you alone can do, and I demand it of you as a right which you must not refuse to concede." Ch. 17
He needs a companion like this for all his feelings and sympathies and tells Victor that he has no choice but to make it for him.
“My companion will be of the same nature as myself and will be content with the same fare. We shall make our bed of dried leaves; the sun will shine on us as on man and will ripen our food. The picture I present to you is peaceful and human, and you must feel that you could deny it only in the wantonness of power and cruelty. Pitiless as you have been towards me, I now see compassion in your eyes; let me seize the favourable moment and persuade you to promise what I so ardently desire." Ch.17
The creature is dreaming of all the things him and his companion can do together. He has seen this and he wants it for himself and the only way he can have this is if Victor makes it for him.
Quotes about Friendship
“I was indifferent, therefore, to my school-fellows in general; but I united myself in the bonds of the closest friendship to one among them.” Ch.2
The friendship that someone should have is one that everyone can be close to in some way or connect to them in some way they don’t have to be buddy buddy friends or close friends but it should be a friendship that everyone can connect to you in some way.
“It was said; and we retired under the pretence of seeking repose, each fancying that the other was deceived: but when at morning's dawn I descended to the carriage which was to convey me away, they were all there--my father again to bless me, Clerval to press my hand once more, my Elizabeth to renew her entreaties that I would write often, and to bestow the last feminine attentions on her playmate and friend.” Ch.3
“In the university, whither I was going, I must form my own friends, and be my own protector.” Ch.3
Don’t depend on others to take care of you, it’s good to have friends help you out, but they won’t always be there to take care of you. Just like parents there is a point in life when your parents should be the parenting figure in your life and as you grow up and move on they start to become more of your friend, but they won’t always take care of you.
“In M. Waldman I found a true friend. His gentleness was never tinged by dogmatism; and his instructions were given with an air of frankness and good nature that banished every idea of pedantry.” Ch.4
The type of friends that Victor seems to have or wants to have are straight forward and don’t stall or wait to do something.
Modern Connection of Companionship and Friendship
Companionship or friendship in the world is a huge part of our everyday lives. We have classmates, parents, siblings, co-workers, teammates, friends and anyone you meet on a daily basis who we can interact with or even just smile at. These people we can talk to confide in or meet are the reason we make it through each and every day, whether we know it or not. Not speaking to anyone or having anyone to listen to would drive a person crazy. Feeling alone, in my opinion is one of the worst feelings a person can feel. You would eventually become depressed or suicidal just like the creature does in the story. "Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?” (Ch 16) After the creature has tried to make friends and talk to someone he is judged just by the way he looks by everyone and doesn’t see a reason to live anymore. With no one to even notice or look at you, your feelings about yourself become nonexistent. Mark Twain says “To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.” and I believe that this is all the creature wants except I think he wants someone to divide his misery in the world. He wants someone who can feel the same way as him because they look the same. This is true with anyone. We don’t want to be friends with people we don’t have anything in common with or get along with. We want people who will understand our feelings and thoughts, be able to accept us for who we are, and who make our lives happier.
Friendship connected to today in my view would be more of a temporary type of thing friends usually don’t last forever people move away from you and then you make new friends. Some people like to stay in touch but some don’t stay in touch forever, people move on. When people move on in life they start to grow up and don’t realize what they are going through because of the people they are always around they start to act like them and that is what causes people to grow up more and more. You can never stop growing up you are always going to be a little kid in some way if it’s things such as making comments or acting like a kid when you throw a fit for something that doesn’t go your way. But at some point in time you need to make it to where you are mature about how you do it when the time comes.
Statistics
Hours/week men spend
with friends: 10
Hours/week women
spend with friends: 7.5