Loss of Innocence in Frankenstein :: Frankenstein essays

Loss of Innocence in Frankenstein In the novel "Frankenstein," Victor Frankenstein is the creator of a "monster." Because of his thirst for knowledge, he goes too far and creates a huge monster, which he immediately rejects. This rejection plays a major part in the monster's hatred for humans. The author, Mary Shelley, supports the theme, loss of innocence, through plot, setting and characterization. This paper will explain the many ways that the characters lost their innocence throughout the novel. The plot deals with the conflict that is inside Victor Frankenstein, who produces a monstrous creature. Victor is disgusted at the site of the creature he has created. "I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived"(43). After Victor rejects the monster, he meets a family that brings out his sensitive side. When these people reject him, the creature destroys everything in sight. "I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils, destroying the objects that obstructed me and ranging through the wood with a staglike swiftness"(121). The innocent Justine is accused of a murder, committed by the creature, and dies, therefore increasing Victor's feelings of guilt and his need for revenge. Victor makes it his mission to destroy the monster, who has been ruining his life. The monster threatens to be there with Victor on his wedding night. Vic tor interprets this as a threat against his own life, but instead finds his wife, Elizabeth, murdered. "She was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair"(179). The next paragraph discusses how loss of innocence was portrayed through setting. When Victor is seventeen, he leaves for the University of Ingolstadt, where he spends six years. He creates the monster in an old deserted house in this city. It is when he rejects the monster that he begins to lose innocence. "I did not dare return to the apartment which I inhabited, but felt impelled to hurry on, although drenched by the rain which poured from a black and comfortless sky"(44).

My American culture, but not my religion

Holding the values and beliefs of a religion other than Christianity often makes one wonder if they have broken the norms of American society. A norm, as defined by Miller (2002), is â€Å"a generally agreed upon standard of how people should behave, usually unwritten and learned unconsciously.†   While many Americans practice Christian beliefs, one of the benefits of living in a free nation happens when all religious denominations can practice their faith in peace, regardless of the majority preference. The list of Christian denominations includes Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, Methodist, Presbyterian and many others. Being an individual who reads of, and practices, many religions both old and new in the world I do not follow Christian beliefs. I would rather define myself as a mystic or perhaps even shaman since I have inclinations towards honoring the earth, nature and spirits; this is also a common practice among Native Americans. Salvation, or offering oneself up for saving by another being such as Jesus predominantly occurs in Christianity. However, I am at odds with this idea in my own spiritual practice. My beliefs stand in contrast because in my mind each person has the capability to save themselves, if they would only realize that inner strength. Of course, going to a Sunday service and honoring holidays such as Christmas and Easter are practices that I do not partake in either. However, I do honor the Solstices, which fall surprisingly close to many of the Christian holidays. Being a mystic in a predominantly Christian world can make for a lonely but very peaceful existence if you allow it. While others scurry around buying gifts during the Christmas rush, I tend to my natural wares, making blankets, canned goods and handcrafted candles along with other natural gifts for those in my family who are Christian. It saddens me at winter time to hear everyone complaining about how much the Christmas gifts they have to buy will cost them; and how they need to spend a great deal of care budgeting for their gift expenses. Everyone feels so pressured and rushed to get to the stores to find the perfect gift. While the rest of the world worries away their time, I relax on the sofa watching television and knitting another new blanket. At this point, when I am at odds with not only Christians but a capitalist nation (the dominant culture) that values material goods, I wonder if I am particularly selfish for not wanting to deal with the stress and headaches of grumpy customers standing in line at the stores. Luckily though, I am American by birth so although my religion may differ from the majority, I still blend in rather effortlessly with society. Other groups, such as new immigrants to this country struggle with many obstacles as they adapt to their new home. They must learn a new language, find employment and maybe need to attain some education to help them gain the financial means to support their families. This can present huge difficulties to immigrants since Americans predominantly speak English and the business world can show prejudice towards people who do not have adequate training in American based education systems. New immigrants must also learn the laws of our nation and the subliminal norms that we hold. One popular norm, for example, being that little boys wear blue and girls wear pink. Being part of the dominant culture I do not have to worry about figuring out such subliminal norms, I learned them as I grew up in this society. Nor do I have to worry about building socioeconomic status and attaining education and training in American schools to find and adequate job. I have already had that training, and luckily a stable financial background for building my own monetary status. Also, one of the blessings of being in the dominant culture allows me to understand how to behave in public gatherings. I know that I am not supposed to talk in class, or speak out loud during funerals. As an American I should not often show emotion either, crying in public is somewhat taboo. We tell our children to suck it up, or act like a big boy or girl when they have the urge to cry. These few examples show the norms that we learn growing up as American that other groups have to face and adapt to when living in the nation. Getting back to the issue of religion, standing outside of the cultural norm in terms of popular faiths has its benefits. When voting, I do not have to depend upon a candidate’s religious background or goals to help me decide which person I think would make a better leader. As I have mentioned before I also do not have to spend a great deal of money on gifts for various Christian celebrations either. When crisis strikes, such as the priest scandal ongoing in the Catholic Church, I do not have to worry that my children have been hurt by people we call on to save our souls or connect us to the Divine. One thing I do enjoy is that I can give to charity of my own choosing and am not obligated to give part of my funds to any one church. Overall, standing outside of the cultural norms of Christianity in the American culture has benefits, some of which have been mentioned in this essay. Being an American born citizen also gives me great advantages to help me blend into the society despite my varying religious beliefs. Other individuals such as immigrants have to struggle with things like learning a new language, discovering subliminal social norms, and attaining adequate education in the American school system that mainstream society does not have to worry about. I believe that I am very lucky to have the ability to stand both inside and outside of popular culture, because it gives me a well rounded perspective as to how both sides, the â€Å"included† and the â€Å"excluded† can feel. References Dubois, N. (Ed.). (2002). A Sociocognitive Approach to Social Norms. New York: Routledge. Miller, B. D. (2004). Cultural Anthropology (2nd Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Pettit, P. (2002). Rules, Reasons, and Norms: Selected Essays. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Effects Of The War On The Vietnam War Essay - 1478 Words

The calamitous American involvement in the Vietnam war exposed a plethora of social and political ambiguities in 1960s society. The loss of the war can be attributed to a number of things - poor foreign policy, Johnson’s failure to adequately justify American involvement, the lack of direction for the war or viable strategy, and U.S. troops being unable to compete with the foreign terrain of Vietnam. In this essay I will argue that among the numerous reasons the war was lost, three were the most notable: American arrogance and the â€Å"disease of victory,† the incompetence of the U.S. government to handle a war of such scale, and, at a more practical level, the insoluble mix of American troops with Vietnamese territory and foliage. As a combination, it can be discerned that the Vietnam War was a war America could never win. The confidence of America in its strength and durability of institutions harks back to the early years of the republic, with the nation feeling it was its duty to ‘spread the blessings of liberty and plenty to other lands.’ This rhetoric of their ‘providential destiny’ only grew stronger over the twentieth century, and as a result of the victory of World War II, America entered Vietnam as a ‘crusader state’ with a skewed perception of their military capabilities and strength as a nation. The post-war prosperity of 1950s America carried with it a particular ideology that was exemplified in Kennedy’s inaugural address – the notion that going to war was aShow MoreRelatedEffects Of The Vietnam War On America1559 Words   |  7 Pages3H, Pd. 8 20 January 2015 Effects of the Vietnam War The Vietnam War is one of the most debatable and controversial wars in U.S. History. To this day people are questioning why we ever entered a war that was over 8,000 miles away. 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