Society's Monsters

             The results of this study serve to reinforce the contention that character and personality are largely shaped by experiences encountered in society and not by genetics.
             Although it was written in the early eighteen hundreds, the tale of the creature in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein parallels the modern belief that experiences in society determine an individual's personality and character to a much greater extent than do genetics. From the beginning, Shelley makes it clear that Frankenstein's creature was certainly not a byproduct of genetics; he had no genetic parents and was simply created from dead animal and human bones (41).The creature's first recollections involve waking up dazed and confused. His admittance to Victor that upon waking, "no distinct ideas occupied my mind " (Shelley 91), is Shelley's way of showing that at birth the creature was, as Locke suggests, a blank slate. .
             From that point in the novel forward, Shelley depicts the development and transformation of the creature's personality and character through the experiences he has with society and the environment. Because of his abandonment by Victor, nature is the creature's first nurturer. He eats berries, drinks water from a brook, finds shelter in the woods, and takes pleasure in the songs of birds (Shelley 90-91). The DeLacey family serves as his first human nurturers. By watching them through their cottage window, the creature learns about love, respect, kindness and pain (Shelley 98). He also learns how to speak and read (Shelley 100-101). From this observation-type nurturing, the creature attains happiness and forms a caring personality and compassionate character. .
             An individual's personality and character are shaped by the type of mainstream sources of information that he or she encounters in society. The television, newspapers, books, magazines, and radio programs all influence a person's reality and how he or she views the world.