Narcissism In Frankenstein Essay Example

Humanity. An essential part of functioning within society. When asking anyone the question “What makes someone human?” one will, without a doubt, receive a plethora of answers. A beating heart. A face. Or even the ability to think. The word human being in itself encompasses dozens of behaviors and actions. In reality, as much as people want to believe in a society boasting complete and total heroism, there's one thing that will never fail to set humanity apart. It's selfishness. People tend to classify selfishness as a bad trait completely, although it is imperative to acknowledge that EVERYONE exhibits selfish behavior. Whether intentionally or not. Mary Shelly, the acclaimed writer of the novel Frankenstein,  often conducts readers to contemplate the very question of what classifies someone to be a human being. In an attempt to indulge in human behavior or humanity as a whole, selflessness, and greed are imperative. 

Humanity is inevitably selfish. Society as a whole is susceptible to conducting cruel, barbarous actions. They often fail to take accountability unless it benefits them. People of society will accept endless praise but not think twice about the outcome of their wrongdoing when it has the potential of someone or something else taking the blame. In the novel Frankenstein the main character, Victor, constructs a creature that later goes on to kill his younger brother. One of Victor’s acquaintances, Justine, ends up taking the fall for the actions that Victor put into motion. Upon her conviction and eventual execution, Victor acknowledges “A thousand times rather would I confessed myself guilty of the crime that ascribes to Justine, but the ravings would accuse me of being a madman.”(Shelly ##) Victor was well aware of what he had done, after all, he created the very thing that killed his brother. Although he felt a sliver of guilt he continued to allow Justine to face the consequences of his actions by withholding information about his creation. His egotism was reflected significantly in this situation, as he was so anxious his image was to be tarnished. The mere thought of being called insane hindered the act of intervening with Justine's situation, which illustrates that the ultimate blame for her death falls on Victor. After this situation, he comes to the realization that he created a situation much bigger than he was able to control, and as events continued to transpire, he faced greater issues that were ultimately curated by his selfish acts. Since the time Victor was able to express his thoughts, he voiced an interest in science. At the age of 17, he left Geneva to attend the University of Ingolstadt and left his family for many months at a time. While Victor was at Ingolstadt he focused all his attention to study natural science which further instructed him to gravitate to all experiments that consisted of creating life. When he had finally gone through the logistics of the experiment he proceeded to get pieces of human parts from his University's graveyard. When Victor's creation was finally constructed, his initial reaction was to flee before having any interaction with it. This was a recurring issue, as for every attempt the creature tried to conduct a conversation with Victor, or anyone else,  he would leave before anything had been said. After the creature threatens Victor with the act of harming more people whom he loved, Victor becomes cooperative, the creature  cries out in agonized confusion, “Why did you make such a hideous creature like me just to leave me in disgust.” At the beginning of the book Victor had decided that to gain more information about this life, he was going to create a creature. He set the plan in motion by studying more on the topic, and even going so far as to collect and reassemble body parts from the university graveyard. And when the creature didn't turn out the way he had intended it to, he fled and rejected every attempt the creature made to get in touch with him. It wasn't till the death of his own brother that he finally intended to meet him and even then the possibility of totally and clearly hearing him out wasn't a plan for Victor as he left the creature once again. The creature didn't ask to be created, so for Victor to make something that exhibits the act of feeling and totally and completely discarding it in itself is selfishness. This action left the creature in a state of abandonment, betrayal,  and the sensation of worthlessness, as his own creator wanted nothing to do with him. The main duty of a creator in any form is to teach, care for, and nourish its creation. Victor creates the creature for his own fulfillment and has no interest in the creature's wants or needs. Victor doesn't feel the desire to care for anyone or anything that doesn't satisfy his desires and displays a lack of empathy throughout the book. 

Although the novel Frankenstein exhibits many narcissistic behaviors through nonexistent characters, it's important to realize that people living in present times demonstrate similar behaviors. The Prisoner's Dilemma is a social experiment on how willingly people put their immoral impulses aside for the greater good, however, more often than not, the results are not what one would expect. The Prisoner’s Dilemma is tested when two accomplices are arrested. The goal of the experiment is to get one of them to confess. The prisoners are told that if one person gives up the other they will receive a lighter sentence or no sentence at all while their partner will receive an extended sentence. If neither of them confesses to the crime they both will receive the same amount of time. When both of them confess and attempt to implicate the other, they will both receive a greater sentence. The experiment as a whole illustrates the conflict between an individual and a group. A group made up of individuals who are only concerned with their own interests will implode on itself. If the group looks out for the greater interests of everyone, then the group as a whole will have more success. It’s like the saying. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. It's a choice that individuals must make between self-interest and altruism. At the end of the day, most researchers concluded that people are more willing to conduct self-centered behavior. Subsequently, when one hears about someone else being selfish, the first assumption made is often negative. However, it can be essential to be selfish and put yourself first. Selfishness is not necessarily a bad thing. It is stigmatized because when humans think of  “good people'' they think those people possess the actions of always putting someone above themselves. They're seen as helpful and favorable. Although indulging in any form of narcissism is crucial to be classified as a human being. In society, selfishness is the state of not being alert to others' needs or one is seen as an undesirable person, but what about an individual’s needs? What about self-care? Self-care doesn't automatically mean putting your desires above the needs of everyone else. It means prioritizing an individual's physiological needs. Prioritizing one's needs doesn't make one a bad person. The saying If one can't love oneself, one can't love anyone else is necessary and the same thing applies to not being able to clearly care for anyone else's needs if one cant care for oneself. When people only focus on what they can provide for others all the time it becomes draining and whether it's believable or not it can cause people more damage.

Being human isn’t just superficially based. To be human is to corroborate selfish tendencies. Selfishness is not necessarily a bad thing. It is stigmatized, but it is essential to living, existing, and persisting as a human being. The world and its living species, young or old, are naturally inclined to put themself first whether for a good reason or not. In conclusion, to conform to the existence of humanity is to take part in greedy impulses.