Companionship / Friendship
The Importance of Relationships
Chapter 2, page 22, Victor Frankenstein:
"We were brought up together; there was not quite a year difference in our ages. I need not say that we were strangers to any species of disunion or dispute. Harmony is the soul of our companionship, and the diversity and contrast that subsisted in our characters drew us nearer together." Victor is explaining his childhood with Elizabeth, he says they rarely fought or didn't get along. Their harmony and differences brought them closer together, showing how their love interest grew from childhood.
Chapter 2, page 23, Victor Frankenstein:
"No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself. My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence. We felt that they were not the tyrants to rule our lot according to their caprice, but the agents and creators of all the many delights which we enjoyed. When i mingled with other families I distinctly discerned how peculiarly fortunate my lot was, and gratitude assisted the development of filial love." Victor is describing ow happy and easy his childhood was because of his loving family. His parents treated him fairly and let him indulge as they did. Victor also describes the feeling not being present when he mingled with other families. Victor knows what companionship and happiness is because he has experienced it throughout his life.
Chapter 17, page 124, The Creature:
"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 refuse to concede." The creature is asking, more like telling, Victor to make another creature like him so that he isn't so lonely. The creature longs for companionship and acceptance.
Chapter 12, page 91, The Creature:
"I lay on my straw, but could not sleep. I thought of the occurrences of the day. What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people, and I longed to join them, but dared not. I remember to well the treatment I suffered the night before from the barbarous villagers, and resolved, whatever course of conduct I might hereafter think it right to pursue, that for the present I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching and endeavoring to discover the motives which influenced their actions." The creature is talking about watching the villagers and how he longs to reveal himself and join their family. He knows that it wouldn't work because of how he was treated by the villagers so the creature decides to just wait and watch.
Chapter 13, Page 101, The Creature:
"Other lessons were impressed upon me even more deeply. I heard of the differences of sexes, and the birth and growth of children, how the father doted on smiles of the infant, and lively sallies of the older child, how all the life and cares of a mother were wrapped up in the precious charge, how the mind of youth expanded and gained knowledge, of brother, sister, and all the various relationships which bind one human being to another in mutual bonds." The creature is describing more things he's learned watching people in the cottage. The creature is discovering the importance of family and the bonds that make up life.
Letter 2, Walton:
"I am self-educated: for the first fourteen years of my life I ran wild on a common and read nothing but our Uncle Thomas' books of voyages. At that age I became acquainted with the celebrated poets of our own country; but it was only when it had ceased to be in my power to derive its most important benefits from such a convection that i perceived the necessity of becoming acquainted with more languages than that of my native country. Now I am twenty-eight and am in reality more illiterate than many school boys of fifteen. It is true that thought more that my daydreams are more extended and magnificent, but they want (as the painters call it) keeping; and I greatly need a friend who would sense enough not to despise me as romantic, and affection enough for me to endeavor regulate my mind."
The Importance of Companionship
Companionship is a fellowship or group of 2 or more people that have a positive relationship with one another. Also known as a friendship we make friends and enemies throughout our lives through our words and actions. It can be seen that extreme isolation and unsocial behavior can drive ones mind to go crazy. In a BBC article a prisoner kept in solitary confinement said she'd experienced hallucinations of all sorts including visual, auditory, and even sensations of being touched when there is nothing there. While this is an extreme case of isolation it can still be seen that being alone all of the time is not good for a person. It can cause madness and this might be what he creature feels after spending so long with nothing but his thoughts and feelings. The harsh mistreatment and horrible experiences the creature has endured madness would be a mad diagnosis for the poor neglected creature. Companionship is a healthy thing to attain in every day life. Someone to confide in is a key component to living life and since the creature was deprived of this it may explain his actions.
Works Cited
Bond, Michael. "How Extreme Isolation Warps the Mind." BBC Future. BBC, 13 May 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
"Classic Movie Monsters vs. Modern Movie Monsters." Screen Rant. N.p., 08 Oct. 2009. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Douglas Clegg, and Harold Bloom.Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus. New York, NY: Signet Classics, 2013. Print.