In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley reveals the motif of friendship and the theme of nature vs. nurture when the monster relates his life story to Victor Frankenstein. This illuminating episode occurs when Victor travels into the mountains seeking the solace of nature and is soon confronted by the monster who begs to tell his pitiful story. Victor relents, and the two enter a cottage and the monster begins to detail all the events of his short life. This moment is important as Victor begins to realize that perhaps he does have duties towards the monster since he is its creator. He begins to feel an ounce of sympathy for his creation, whereas before this he had thought of the monster as nothing but innately evil. This conflict between nature and nurture, whether one is a product of the environment or genes, is a struggle mentioned frequently throughout the novel. Frankenstein assumes the monster to be evil, calling him “Devil” and “Wretch,” based purely on his deformities and unnatural birth. As the monster describes his early life where he was kind and benevolent towards the cottagers, one realizes the monster was not born evil.
It is through circumstance, that many humans refuse his friendship, that the monster becomes malevolent. Thus through the monster’s life story to Victor, Shelley demonstrates the power of nurture and environment in shaping an individual. The power of nurture is further explored through the recurring motif of friendship. All the characters except for the monster have friends, and they are healthier and happier. In contrast, the monster is alone, and he feels this ostracism very deeply. All he yearns for is a connection with another individual, as he Viewed friendships between the cottagers and between Frankenstein and Clerval. The monster laments his loneliness frequently, comparing himself to a fallen angel but one without the company of other devils. As a result of his ostracism and lack of connection, the monster becomes bitter and vengeful.
Through this character progression, revealed in the monster‘s story to Frankenstein on the mountain, Shelley illustrates the power of human connection and friendship — that with it one thrives, and without it one can barely survive. While the conflict between nature and nurture and the motif of friendship is evident in the illuminating episode and conveys a deeper meaning into the book as a whole, the actual moment itself of Victor speaking with the monster is important as well. This moment is “illuminating” as Victor is corresponding with his creation, a creation he spurned as he feared its potential evil nature. Nevertheless, he allows the monster to tell his story, and even feels flickers of empathy at its plight. This demonstrates that Victor, as a creator, does possess some feelings of responsibility towards his creation, and that he even empathizes with it.
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The fact that he empathizes with the monster shows that the monster is a rational and sensitive being, not an innately malignant fiend as Victor thought. It also portrays the power of human connection, as the monster finally has someone to listen to him and connect with him, while Victor is able to feel sympathy at the monster’s plight, despite his earlier opinions of the monster. Thus this illuminating moment of a civil discussion between Frankenstein and the monster illustrates two very complex themes of Shelley’s novel. These themes are revealed both in the immediate scenario of discussion and through the extension of the monster’s story. Through the monster’s story and Victor emphasizing and displaying sympathy for the creature, Shelley portrays the struggle between nature and nurture in shaping an identity as well as the power of friendship.
