Frankenstein+sample+essay

**Sample 1:** Many people would say that moving forward in scientific discoveries is an essential part in helping to advance society. Newly found scientific discoveries are usually applauded by society, especially if the discovery explains something that was once misunderstood about life. However in __Frankenstein__, Shelley uncovers the possible negative side of discovering more than one bargained for in one’s experiments. Frankenstein, a young and eager-to-learn scientist, decides to experiment with creating life because he thought that no harm could come from creating more life. The twist in the plot came when Frankenstein’s creation turned into an uncontrollable monster that used its gift of life to destroy the gifts of others. Frankenstein was distraught with his decision to create the monster and could not bear to be around people. He shut himself off from the rest of the world and only interacted with society on his desperate chase after his creation.  Frankenstein forced himself to become a recluse because he could not fathom ever telling another soul about the dreadful deed he committed by messing with creation and trying to move forward in science. He thought that creating a new form of life he would become happy and famous; instead he was forced to spend the rest of his life sick with worry and chasing after his own personal monsters. The guilt caused by his monster’s rampage of pillaging and murdering weakened Frankenstein’s soul and prevented him from living a normal life. All positive aspects of Frankenstein’s life—love, family, science, peace of mind—were torn away from him when he learned that he could not control or love his monster. He could not face living with a society that could find out his horrible crime so he became a sickly recluse that lived constantly in fear. He only recounted his story to the narrator of the book because he knew his death was nearby, and he needed to relieve his guilty conscience. The positive progress and happiness Frankenstein envisioned coming from his experiment turned into a constantly lingering sense of shame and guilt.  Frankenstein’s monster not only affected its creator but also hurt his family, friends, and all of society. His family became deeply troubled when the monster, looking to seek revenge against his creator, killed Frankenstein’s younger brother and his beloved cousin and wife. The monster wanted revenge against Frankenstein because Frankenstein ignored him and his pleas for love. Creating the monster a mate may not have been the wisest choice but ignoring the monster all together was definitely dangerous. Frankenstein could no longer be completely separated from society after his brother’s death because he had to track down and kill his monster. However he remained estranged from society because of the emotional burden of guilt he had to carry around with him for the rest of his life. No other human could comprehend the consequence of extreme guilt following him around forever. Not only was his family broken but his spirit was also broken. All Frankenstein could focus on now was killing his creation. He had to distance himself from his family and lifelong love because being too close to anybody was like target to the monster. When he tried to marry his loving cousin, she was killed by the monster. All of the Frankenstein family was deeply affected by her death because she held the family together and represented hope for normal days. Even his friends weren’t safe from the monster. His best friend was killed by the monster to get attention from Frankenstein. If Frankenstein had tried to befriend and love his creation, the monster may not have ever turned into a monster. But because Frankenstein choose to turn away from his monster and become a recluse from society, the monster lashed out and tried to hurt as many people close to Frankenstein as possible.  Society was also affected by Frankenstein’s alienation from society. Innocent members of society had to deal with being tormented and scared by the monster. Also by distancing himself from society and turning away from science, Frankenstein left a hole where new, more positive discoveries could have been made. The choice to turn his back on the monster creating a ripple effect that cursed all those around Frankenstein forever. Facing his mistake and trying to fix it would have had a better effect on Frankenstein and all society.



**Sample 2:** In //Frankenstein//, by Mary Shelley, a theme of loneliness and estrangement from society runs prominently through the book. When Frankenstein, the main protagonist, discovers the secret to creating life and then carries out this creation himself, a ripple effect occurs which in turn alienates not only the creator himself but also his creation from society. The disastrous effects of this isolation from society drive the story and eventually end with the death of both the creator and the creation. When Frankenstein leaves home and arrives at a prominent university as a relatively young age, he finds himself quickly enamored by the study of natural philosophy. After excelling at the subject quickly and continuing to seek knowledge to quench his insatiable thirst for further learning, Frankenstein commits himself to a project of creating new life, which ironically directly leads to the destruction of his own life. The main impetus that leads to his alienation is not so much the creation of a gigantic monster itself, but rather the blame that he puts upon himself once the monster becomes violent and murderous. Therefore, rather than alienation from society due to rejection by his fellow humans, he is alienated from society by himself through the tremendous burden that he carries from creating the monster. However, one must wonder how much blame Frankenstein should have put on himself for the creation—he obviously did not create life with the intention of creating evil but instead with the understandable and so prevalent intention of seeking knowledge and discovery. Ignoring this fact, Frankenstein quickly begins to develop an inner conviction that he cannot truly regain his “normal” status in society until he undoes his work by ending its life. The effect of alienation on Frankenstein is so tangibly horrible that one cannot help but to grieve and feel pity for the creator of the monster. Through the rest of his traumatic life, he cannot escape from the blame that he harbors in his heart and mind about the creation of the monster. In fact, he quickly realizes that as long as the monster that he created lives, he will not truly live. Although this realization infuses Frankenstein with damaging heavy doses of grief and loneliness, it also has another effect on him. A single opportunity to escape his self-alienation from society arises when he realizes that he must seek out the monster and kill him himself. This realization is certainly damaging to the individual as it becomes apparent that his quest to end the monster’s life becomes an obsession. The irony behind Frankenstein’s obsession with destroying his creation pulls at him and tears his completely from society as he forsakes his family and friends. Through the story, one can truly feel the hopelessness with which Frankenstein attempts to reunite himself with society. Another interesting tale of estrangement from society in the story appears when the monster himself reveals the loneliness and alienation from society which he has lived his life with. Like his creator, the monster cannot be a part of society, but for a different reason—the monster has been rejected by society itself because of his inhuman appearance and stature. When one hears the monster’s tale, Shelley allows a feeling or pity and even sympathy to fill the reader as the reasons for the monster’s alienation are revealed. However, the eventually effects of the monster’s estrangement are disastrous, leading to feeling of injustice that lead to anger and murder. //Frankenstein// is truly a unique and fascinating tale due to its depiction of not one but two individuals that become alienated from society, resulting in disastrous effects. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that both individuals can trace back their initial estrangement and feelings of alienation as a direct effect of the actions of each other. In the end, neither can escape the results of this alienation and end up meeting death in a terrible and perhaps unnecessary manner.

 Throughout the novel //The Mayor of Casterbridge//, Thomas Hardy brings to focus an important issue—why does the main character, Michael Henchard, suffer so much misery and decline in status when Donald Farfrae comes into town, instead of trying to turn his situation around and improve matters? In the beginning, Henchard started off as mayor of the town of Casterbridge and a very prominent businessman. However, as soon as Farfrae starts implementing his new ideas and technologies, Henchard’s life takes a turn for the worse. They end up parting ways and becoming each other’s archrivals, which is just the beginning of Henchard’s downfall. Henchard suffered immensely throughout the progression of the novel, but the main thought that I pondered as I continued reading was why did he continue to put himself through so much turmoil when he could have had the power to make the situation better?  The book was written at a major time of change in England—it was a time of naturalism, yes, but the new era of industrialization and urbanization was on the horizon. In the novel, Henchard tends to represent the old, traditional ways of the nation, while Farfrae represents the new, modern technology and innovations with the new ideas that he brings to Casterbridge. When they are pitted against each other, of course it is natural for the newer ways to eventually push aside the more out-of-date systems. Henchard was just trying too hard to keep Casterbridge a simple, traditional town during a time in which the whole country was moving forward. Of course, Henchard could have surrendered his old ways to the newer time, but why did he opt not to do that? He only put himself through more misery. Thus, he really could not control how his turmoil first came about—what he could control and make better, yet decided not to, was how it would affect his life.  Hardy never really gives a specific reason for why Henchard punishes himself the way he does. However, there are several assumptions about the reasoning behind his acts that may have some accuracy. The main driving force may be that he was searching for compensation for the disturbing deed he committed about 21 years prior, concerning the sale of his wife and child. As soon as he awoke the next morning and discovered what he had done in his drunken state, he vowed not to drink at all for the next 21 years, as part of his punishment and compensation. For the rest of his life, on some level in his mind, he continued to seek out ways in which he could try to deal with his past and amend his ways. For example, when he met Lucetta, he told her that he could not marry her because he owed it to his previous wife, Susan, to save himself for her, even if he did not necessarily love her. And even when all his family left him and he fled town, he returned once on Elizabeth-Jane’s wedding day in a desperate attempt to reconcile with her. When she told him she did not want to speak to him, instead of trying to defend himself, he just left without another word. Clearly, he must have believed he deserved that fate—otherwise, I feel that he would have at least tried to offer his apology to her. It always seemed to me like there were times which he could have truly changed his ways and altered his life for the better, yet he refused not to, plunging himself even further into that black hole of misery.  The question of the reasoning behind Henchard’s plagued mind puzzled me for quite some time. Of course, Hardy may have had other notions behind Henchard’s mysterious motives, but in my thoughts, the main reason has to be that he was trying to achieve compensation for the wrongdoings of his earlier life. I could not help but feel sorry for Henchard throughout the novel, though as soon as I did start to think that, I reminded myself that he allowed himself to enter such misery without even trying to climb out of that bottomless pit. After realizing that, I took on a whole new understanding of the book—Hardy wanted to prove to his audience that each person is in charge of his or her own fate, depending on the choices they make and their reactions to all kinds of situations. After all, “character is fate,” is it not?
 * Sample 3:**