Childhood is characterized by learning and the need to be guided on society’s rights and wrongs. Many times, children’s upbringings are affected by the happenings around them. For example, Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein depicts some childhood behaviors through Victor. These behaviors include understanding love and care, the role of parents, and fears of sharing affection.
Children like to feel the love and care their parents give to them. Frankenstein describes Victor’s life as blessed and delightful since he had his parent’s love and care. He felt fortunate when they mingled with other families, and he felt gratitude for filial love (Shelley 23). However, the experience was short-lived when his mother died when he was 17. He describes his childhood afterward as unpleasant. Therefore, this statement asserts the importance of parents’ existence to a child.
Children reflect what their parents most of the time. Victor believes that he should reflect his parents’ love for him to the creature. He feels unloved for not even laying his eyes on the creature (Shelley 45). Further, Laura Claridge explains that the creature experienced an unloving environment during his childhood. According to her, Victor felt out of place and dissatisfied with the way he did not reciprocate the love he got (8). Hence, children always learn from their parents and reflect on their behaviors.
Fears of sharing affection in a child are seen when another person enters the picture. Victor feels excluded and given less appreciation when a little sister is adopted. He started being a participant rather than an object of his parentâs love. Victor feels like he should be his parentâs plaything and their idol (Shelley 33). Elizabethâs addition to the family felt like a competition for affection. However, Marshall Brown disagrees as he feels it affected nothing but complete joy since there is no mention of sibling friction (16). He describes Victor and Elizabeth as strangers to any species of disunion.
In conclusion, Shelley uses Victorâs childhood to describe some behaviors. These behaviors include parentsâ roles in a child, affection sharing, and love and care. Additionally, Elizabeth plays a role in amplifying these behaviors through her adoption. Therefore, one needs to understand children’s behaviors and characters in their childhood and later adult lives.
Works Cited
Brown, Marshall. “Frankenstein”: A Child’s Tale.” Novel: A Forum on Fiction, vol. 36, no. 2, 2003.
Claridge, Laura P. “Parent-Child Tensions in Frankenstein: The Search for Communion.” Studies in the Novel, vol. 17, no. 1, 1985, pp. 14-26.
Shelley, Mary. “Frankenstein [1818].” Oxford, 2001.