The Healing Power of Nature in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein - Book Report/Review Example

The Healing Power of Nature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Mary Shelley’s masterpiece work, Frankenstein, is a classic tale of horror and darkness, set in the wilderness areas of Europe, particularly Switzerland. Unlike the interpretations familiar to the Hollywood movie set, this novel is focused more upon the drama that occurs as the creature searches for love and acceptance and instead finds only rejection and revulsion, finally taking out his frustrations in revenge against his creator. However, it is not a tale designed simply to arouse fear in the heart of the reader. Instead, it is designed to make the reader think about a number of issues. Written in 1818, the novel presupposes many of the issues that would be raised within literature and science in the years to come. As the tale of a brilliant young scientist who creates a new form of life is told, numerous major themes appear throughout the novel. These include psychological concepts such as the nature vs. nurture question, scientific concepts such as the investigation into the origin of life and philosophical concepts such as an examination into the responsibility of the maker to the created. One theme that is perhaps overlooked in the overwhelming drama of the novel is the concept of nature as the supreme healer. This concept can be seen as nature works to heal young Victor Frankenstein after his harrowing experience in confronting the monster he created, nature as it works to soothe the heart of the monster and the devastating effects that the absence of nature has upon each. It is when Victor Frankenstein becomes separated from nature at the university in Ingolstadt that he descends into his madness and creates his creature just as it is his reconnection with nature that signals his return to sanity. While his dedication to his studies first began his separation from nature, his investigation into the cause of life removed him from the scenes of nature completely, as he was “forced to spend days and night in vaults and charnel-houses. My attention was fixed upon every object the most insupportable to the delicacy of the human feelings” (45). While he was aware of the passing seasons, he informed his listener, “my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature” (49). This is further emphasized by the fact that while he was creating his creature, he could only envision something beautiful and wonderful, yet the end result was so hideous he couldn’t even look upon it himself. Following this shock to his senses, Victor fell into an illness that only a re-awakening to nature could ease. This is first introduced by his friend Henry Clerval, who represents in the novel everything that is wonderful about nature as he takes eternal delight in the world around him. “I remember the first time I became capable of observing outward objects with any kind of pleasure, I perceived that the fallen leaves had disappeared, and that the young buds were shooting forth from the trees that shaded my window. It was a divine spring; and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence” (57). Throughout the remainder of the novel, even as Victor struggles with whether or not to create a second creature to be companion to the first, he continues to take comfort in the natural beauty around him, finally retreating to the desolate Orkney Islands in order to complete the task. It is only after Clerval’s death, the death of beauty in nature for Victor, that he becomes unable to take further comfort from the beauty around him and realizes his future will never regain the happiness he’s dreamed of. The monster of Frankenstein’s creation has a similar reaction to nature, first finding refuge and support in it and later finding comfort from it even in the midst of his vengeful turmoil. His first impression of nature is one of enlightenment as the moon rises above the forest in which he first takes refuge. “I was delighted when I first discovered that a pleasant sound, which often saluted my ears, proceeded from the throats of the little winged animals who had often intercepted the light from my eyes” (105). He finds his sustenance from nature, subsisting primarily on berries, roots and nuts that he finds in the forest and drinks from a clear spring that flows past his hiding place near the De Lacey cottage. As he describes the period of time he spent observing the De Lacey family, as they lived close to the earth, he also illustrates how the changing seasons affected him, which would later have similar effects on both himself and his creator. As the spring warms the earth, the monster tells Frankenstein “my spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy” (119). Even after he is possessed by thoughts of revenge against his creator for making him such a monster, the creature is able to find respite in the solitude of nature. “The day, which was one of the first of spring, cheered even me by the loveliness of its sunshine and the balminess of the air. I felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure, that had long appeared dead, revive within me. Half surprised by the novelty of these sensations, I allowed myself to be borne away by them; and, forgetting my solitude and deformity, dared to be happy” (148). However, even in these silent places, the monster was unable to avoid negative human interaction, becoming injured as he struggles to save a woman being swept away by a spring-fed stream. Thus, he becomes convinced that there is no where and no place for him to be happy as long as normal humans are present. As the monster turns his back on nature and young Frankenstein becomes unable to enjoy the scenes of nature following the murder of Clerval and then Elizabeth, the story takes on a decidedly fatalistic note. The pursuit of the creature removes both the monster and Frankenstein further and further from any semblance of the natural environment upon which they both depended as a calming and balancing influence. The monster runs in search of those areas of the world that remain less inhabited, particularly the frozen wastes of the North Pole, and Frankenstein is obliged to follow him in an effort to destroy the creature he made. Taking to the frozen sea with nothing but a pack of dogs, a small store of provisions and a specially designed sled built for the specific rigors of the region, Frankenstein tells Walton, “immense and rugged mountains of ice often barred up my passage, and I often heard the thunder of the ground sea which threatened my destruction” (224). The eternal white expanse provides neither creature nor creator with the opportunity to heal or to remember the pleasures of life and repent upon their present course. This can be seen in Frankenstein’s resolute determination to continue his pursuit regardless of the dire straights in which he is found by Robert Walton’s crew as well as in the creature’s tearful confessions upon Frankenstein’s death aboard the ship. Frankenstein tells Walton, “I had determined, if you were going southward, still to trust myself to the mercy of the seas rather than abandon my purpose” (226), despite the near-deathlike condition in which he was found. Likewise, the creature tells Walton, ”I had cast off all feeling, subdued all anguish, to riot in the excess of my despair. Evil thenceforth became my good. Urged thus far, I had no choice but to adapt my nature to an element which I had willingly chosen” (239). In order to fulfill this diabolical scheme, therefore, it was necessary for him to resolutely turn his back from the beauty of nature or else lose his purpose. With the removal of the beauty of the forest, mountains, streams and fields, the monster was able to dedicate himself completely to the destruction of the man he wished most to love while this same absence made it impossible for Frankenstein to find any kind of solace or relief from the torments of his mind and his past deeds. The importance of nature is emphasized in the presence of Clerval, whose lively engagement with the world around him emphasizes the kind of individual Frankenstein once was and illustrates why the natural world has such a profound effect upon his health and mental well-being. When he is able to submerse himself in the natural world, he is able to find a sense of balance, enabling him to think clearly. When he removes himself from nature, as in his extensive study at the university and when he isolates himself in the Orkneys, he has a difficult time understanding not only himself, but his place in the world, quickly becoming ill. Despite his removal from the land he loves, it is while he is observing the powerful flow of the ocean, a natural wonder equally as impressive as the mountains of his homeland, that Frankenstein realizes the creation of a second creature would only double his crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, the monster, recognizing the power of nature to turn the heart of even the most determined individual, purposefully rejects the comforts it can provide in order to lead Frankenstein to his own doom in an effort to inflict the same kind of damage upon his creator that has been inflicted upon himself as the result of his own hideous exterior. While many other themes are woven throughout the novel, the important role that is played by nature in providing the balance or imbalance necessary for the action to take place cannot be safely ignored. References Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1993. Read More

“I remember the first time I became capable of observing outward objects with any kind of pleasure, I perceived that the fallen leaves had disappeared, and that the young buds were shooting forth from the trees that shaded my window. It was a divine spring; and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence” (57). Throughout the remainder of the novel, even as Victor struggles with whether or not to create a second creature to be companion to the first, he continues to take comfort in the natural beauty around him, finally retreating to the desolate Orkney Islands in order to complete the task.

It is only after Clerval’s death, the death of beauty in nature for Victor, that he becomes unable to take further comfort from the beauty around him and realizes his future will never regain the happiness he’s dreamed of. The monster of Frankenstein’s creation has a similar reaction to nature, first finding refuge and support in it and later finding comfort from it even in the midst of his vengeful turmoil. His first impression of nature is one of enlightenment as the moon rises above the forest in which he first takes refuge.

“I was delighted when I first discovered that a pleasant sound, which often saluted my ears, proceeded from the throats of the little winged animals who had often intercepted the light from my eyes” (105). He finds his sustenance from nature, subsisting primarily on berries, roots and nuts that he finds in the forest and drinks from a clear spring that flows past his hiding place near the De Lacey cottage. As he describes the period of time he spent observing the De Lacey family, as they lived close to the earth, he also illustrates how the changing seasons affected him, which would later have similar effects on both himself and his creator.

As the spring warms the earth, the monster tells Frankenstein “my spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy” (119). Even after he is possessed by thoughts of revenge against his creator for making him such a monster, the creature is able to find respite in the solitude of nature. “The day, which was one of the first of spring, cheered even me by the loveliness of its sunshine and the balminess of the air.

I felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure, that had long appeared dead, revive within me. Half surprised by the novelty of these sensations, I allowed myself to be borne away by them; and, forgetting my solitude and deformity, dared to be happy” (148). However, even in these silent places, the monster was unable to avoid negative human interaction, becoming injured as he struggles to save a woman being swept away by a spring-fed stream. Thus, he becomes convinced that there is no where and no place for him to be happy as long as normal humans are present.

As the monster turns his back on nature and young Frankenstein becomes unable to enjoy the scenes of nature following the murder of Clerval and then Elizabeth, the story takes on a decidedly fatalistic note. The pursuit of the creature removes both the monster and Frankenstein further and further from any semblance of the natural environment upon which they both depended as a calming and balancing influence. The monster runs in search of those areas of the world that remain less inhabited, particularly the frozen wastes of the North Pole, and Frankenstein is obliged to follow him in an effort to destroy the creature he made.

Taking to the frozen sea with nothing but a pack of dogs, a small store of provisions and a specially designed sled built for the specific rigors of the region, Frankenstein tells Walton, “immense and rugged mountains of ice often barred up my passage, and I often heard the thunder of the ground sea which threatened my destruction” (224). The eternal white expanse provides neither creature nor creator with the opportunity to heal or to remember the pleasures of life and repent upon their present course.

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