Frankenstein Application Essay Composition Two

Composition II

Frankenstein Application Essay

Option #4: Personal Perception

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein presents the story of a fictitious brilliant scientist, Victor, who is obsessed with the idea of life and death, and the relations between the mortal life and the supernatural. His desire leads him to create a monstrous creature from the organs of dead humans. At first, the creature is sensitive and gentle, but soon becomes a victim of society’s alienation because of its appearance. It develops frustration and anger as a result, and seeks revenge against mankind by killing its creator’s wife, best friend, and little brother. Victor goes after the monster in order to avenge the deaths, but the monster fatally wounds him and accuses humans of lacking compassion as it disappears into the Arctic Sea (Frankenstein n.pag). Seemingly, the creature does not consider itself a monster, but people push him into being one when they alienate him. This assignment outlines a real-life case where an individual acts as a reaction to the abuse inflicted on them and uses sociological theory to determine who is accountable in such cases. Through the creature’s character, Mary Shelley Frankenstein, exceptionally demonstrates that society’s alienation fosters negative peer perceptions among victims and increases the risk of negative personal development.

The Case of Cho Seung-Hui

On April 16, 2007, twenty three-year old Cho, an Asian immigrant, entered the compound of the Virginia Tech Campus and shot indiscriminately at students, killing 32 people and injuring 25 others (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report N-4). He then shot and killed himself (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report N-4). In the wake of the incident, Cho’s teachers and classmates described him as a loner and a troubled student obsessed with violence (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report M-1). However, investigations into the incident indicated that Cho had a troubled past characterized by severe racial discrimination, bullying, and harassment, from middle school through high school (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report 37). Cho mailed a package to the NBC prior to the incident, indicating that throughout middle school, his schoolmates picked on him, rejected him, and teased him due to his unusual way of speaking (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report 87). He stated that the rejection made him feel unacceptable, and unworthy, and that his actions were meant to punish the rich kids at Virginia Tech who felt superior and despised him (Panel Report N-4). In his view, the children led affluent lives, engaged in debauchery, and dressed in stylish clothes, which made them stupid and insensitive towards the have-nots like him (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report N-4). In Cho’s view, he needed to teach them a lesson for wasting what they had, while his family struggled, working a lot for so little (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report N-4). Expert reports presented to the committee showed that Cho was mentally ill, but his illness was mild and thus, he did not present any significant danger to self and others (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report 47).

One could conclude that Cho, like the creature in Frankenstein, was not a monster per se, but became one and acted like one in response to the abuse and hatred that the society inflicted on him. In fact, Cho’s parents described him as a good, tender, and gentle person and stated that they did not expect he could perpetrate such an incident (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report 34).

Thornberry’s Interactional Theory of Delinquency

Thornberry’s interactional theory of delinquency provides an invaluable analysis of the factors that drive delinquent behaviour in individuals such as Cho (Thornberry 864). The theory rides on the premise that individuals interact with other institutions and people in society, and these interactions influence their behavioural outcomes (Thornberry 864). According to the theory, delinquent behaviour is a result of weakening bonds between an individual and the conventional society (Thornberry et al. 9). An individual who believes in conventional values and shares strong social bonds with friends and family is unlikely to exhibit negative behaviour (Thornberry et al. 9). At the same time, one who lacks strong social bonds is alienated from society and feels a lack of commitment, pleasure, purpose, and fulfilment, which makes them feel insignificant, unworthy, and humiliated. This makes them more likely to engage in delinquent behaviour against the capitalist system that they consider unfair.