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Composition II
Frankenstein Application Essay
Option #4: Personal Perception
Mary Shelleys 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 societys alienation because of its appearance. It develops frustration and anger as a result, and seeks revenge against mankind by killing its creators 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 creatures character, Mary Shelley Frankenstein, exceptionally demonstrates that societys 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, Chos 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...…society. Thus, in the case of Cho and the creature, society is accountable for taking decisions and actions that foster discrimination and drive feelings of alienation among victims. Both Cho and the creature in Frankenstein acted negatively because they felt detached and alienated from family and peers. In Frankenstein, Victor animates the creature and was supposed to serve as its family but abandons it for its horrifying appearance. This denies the creature the love of family. The society discriminates against the creature for its scary appearance. At the same time, Cho has the support of his family, but the bullying and rejection by peers at school drives brews hatred that leads him to punish them. Chos peers discriminate against him because of his race. The murders in both cases could have been avoided if the victims enjoyed more love and felt like part of the society within which they lived.
In conclusion, through the character of Victors creature, Shelley accurately demonstrates that feelings of alienation among victims foster negative personal…
Works Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the modern prometheus. New York, Oxford University Press, 1998.
Thornberry, Terence. “Towards an interactional theory of delinquency.” Criminology, vol. 25, no. 4, 1987, pp. 863-91.
Thornberry, Terence, et al. “Testing interactional theory: An examination of reciprocal causal relationships among family, school, and delinquency.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 82, no. 1, 1991, pp. 4-35.
Virginia Tech Review Panel Report. Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech Review Panel, 16 Apr. 2007. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/prevail/docs/VTReviewPanelReport.pdf. Accessed 22 October 2022.
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