Frankenstein, Alienation, and the Cho Seung-Hui Case

Introduction: Shelley's Frankenstein and Social Alienation

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 relationship between 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 it 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 younger brother. Victor pursues the monster in order to avenge these deaths, but the monster fatally wounds him and accuses humans of lacking compassion before disappearing into the Arctic Sea (Shelley n.pag). The creature does not consider itself a monster; rather, people push it into becoming one when they alienate it.

This essay examines a real-life case in which an individual acts in reaction to abuse inflicted on them, and applies sociological theory to determine who is accountable in such cases. Through the creature's character, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein powerfully demonstrates that society's alienation fosters negative perceptions among victims and increases the risk of destructive personal development.

The Case of Cho Seung-Hui

On April 16, 2007, twenty-three-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, an Asian immigrant, entered the campus of Virginia Tech 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).

Prior to the attack, Cho mailed a package to NBC in which he stated that throughout middle school his schoolmates had picked on him, rejected him, and teased him because of 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 wealthy students at Virginia Tech who felt superior and despised him (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report N-4). In his view, those students led affluent lives, engaged in debauchery, and dressed in stylish clothes, which made them callous and insensitive toward those with less, like himself (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report N-4). Cho believed he needed to teach them a lesson for squandering what they had while his family struggled, working hard for very little (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report N-4). Expert reports presented to the review committee showed that Cho was mentally ill, but his illness was mild and he did not present any significant danger to himself or others (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report 47).

One could conclude that Cho, like the creature in Frankenstein, was not a monster in any essential sense, but became one and acted like one in response to the abuse and hatred that society inflicted on him. Indeed, Cho's parents described him as a good, tender, and gentle person, and stated that they had not expected him to be capable of perpetrating such an act (Virginia Tech Review Panel Report 34). The Virginia Tech Review Panel Report remains the authoritative primary source documenting both the incident and the factors contributing to it.

Thornberry's Interactional Theory of Delinquency

Thornberry's interactional theory of delinquency provides an invaluable framework for analyzing the factors that drive delinquent behavior in individuals such as Cho (Thornberry 864). The theory is premised on the idea that individuals interact with other institutions and people in society, and that these interactions shape their behavioral outcomes (Thornberry 864). According to the theory, delinquent behavior results from the weakening of bonds between an individual and 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 behavior (Thornberry et al. 9). Conversely, one who lacks strong social bonds becomes alienated from society and experiences a lack of commitment, pleasure, purpose, and fulfillment, which leads them to feel insignificant, unworthy, and humiliated. This condition makes them more likely to engage in delinquent behavior against a social system they perceive as unjust.

Thornberry's framework has been widely applied in criminology to understand how family, school, and peer environments interact over time to produce or prevent antisocial outcomes. Its emphasis on reciprocal causation — the idea that delinquency both results from and further weakens social bonds — is particularly relevant to cases of long-term social exclusion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, through the character of Victor's creature, Shelley accurately demonstrates that feelings of alienation among victims foster negative personal development and increase the risk of behavioral challenges. The parallels between the creature's experience and that of Cho Seung-Hui illustrate how societal indifference, discrimination, and exclusion can transform individuals who might otherwise have lived peaceably into agents of destruction. Thornberry's interactional theory confirms that responsibility does not rest with the individual alone; the social environment that produces and sustains alienation must also be held accountable.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. 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, Accessed 22 October 2022.