contrasts between nurture and isolation

I also think Mary Shelley wished to emphasise on the contrast between the nurture and comfort of the home and the isolation and in fact discomfort of the 'unknown'. Frankenstein spends time talking about the happiness of his childhood- his loving mother and the beauty of Elizabeth: 'no human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself'. (p39) Even Walton, despite being on an unknown journey of discovery, still has a sense of belonging to someone by writing to his sister in his letters anc requesting to be remembered to his 'English friends'. By comparing the loving surroundings Frankenstein finds himself in when he returns home to his father and Elizabeth, to the isolation and emptiness during his making of the monster, Shelley emphasises to the reader the horrific consequences and effects of isolation. This point is given further importance as Walton, in his letters very early on in the novel, emphasises on his own lonliness and need of companionship. Already the reader is aware the the impact of isolation from nuture and love, for any being regardless of age or appearence, will be catastrophic and negative.

I also thought it was interesting how Frankenstein seems to stress the point that his interest in making the monster may have been ultimately his father's fault. When Frankenstein communicates his interest in Cornelius Agrippa (p40) to his father, his father replies: 'my dear Victor, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash'. Frankenstein then goes on to say:'if, instead of this remark, my father had taken the pains to explain to me that the principles of Agrippa had been entirely exploded.......I should certainly have thrown Agrippa aside and have contented my imagination.' He states(p41) 'It is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin.' By illustrating this point to the readers, Shelley is making a number of important statements. Firstly she is beginning the pattern of Frankenstein never actually taking full responsibility for his actions. Secondly she is emphasising the idea that it is the smallest of actions, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, that can change your life or those around you forever. At the beginning of the novel, Frankenstein states: 'nothing can alter my destiny'(p31), yet throughout the novel we see the many choices available to him that may have altered his eventual course. In addition to this, the idea of early experience, actions of parents and responsibility of those who have people to take care of is also given attention. If what Frankenstein is saying is true, that his father has partake in his creation of the monster, then Shelley could be suggesting the impact of childhood on a being. (I seem to have gone off the point of travel and location) However I do think the fact that Shelley parallells the idea of home and domesticity of Frankenstein's own childhood with that of the De Lacy family, just as she reflects Walton's misery in having no companion: 'I bitterly feel the want of a friend' (p19) with the monster's isolation and desire for female companionship: 'we shall be monsters......but on that account we shall be more attached to one another'. With these parallels, Shelley is implying that isolation is a universal, as well as being a fundamental, concept.

In addition, the fact that the monster does not mind being 'cut off from all the world' just so long as he has an 'attached' companian suggests that human beings are almost more important than location and nature. The monster is happy to go to the 'vast wilds of south America' as long as he is accompanied by a similar monster. Even the De Lacy family, when they have to leave their home, are still content as they have love and each other.