Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, is a classic horror story that frequently comes up in popular culture. This is a story of alienation and secrecy which critiques societal structure, raising the question of what it means to be human. The human experience is primarily social, and it has been proven essential that we interact with one another. In this story, Victor Frankenstein isolates himself in his apartment to create the monster that would haunt him; in turn dooming himself to isolation in his own thoughts. He is the only person that knows of the origins of this monster’s creation leaving him alone in his head, just as the monster is alone in society.
“But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend, Margret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate in my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavor to sustain me in dejection.”
Frankenstein, letter 2 page 18
This letter at the beginning of the story really sets the tone for the overall theme of loneliness and despair. Robert Walton is a lonely explorer who writes to his sister about his experience with social isolation. Even if he finds joy in his discoveries, he has nobody to share those feelings with. This is how Victor Frankenstein and his monster felt throughout the story.
His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited, where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life.
chapter 5
Based on the societal idea of beauty, Frankenstein shuns his creation. This is important because even though his creator has been alienated from society to the point of madness, he still looks at the monster through the lens of social norms. The first human interaction this creation had was negative, and this happens time and time again. Eventually you start to feel defensive when all people do is treat you like an outcast, and this is where inner darkness comes into play. I believe we are all born with some good and some evil inside us, and that darkness can be brought out by pain; and when the society that tells us these feelings are wrong rejects you completely, you are bound to want to break those unspoken rules. This is how I think the monster began murdering, and maybe if people were more accepting this could have been avoided.
No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived.
chapter 5
“No one can conceive the anguish I suffered during the remainder of the night, which I spent, cold and wet, in the open air. But I did not feel the inconvenience of the weather; my imagination was busy in scenes of evil and despair.”
chapter 7 page 74
A backstory that is similar to that of the monster in Frankenstein, is the Joker’s. The Joker, also known as the enemy of Batman and all that is good, is a very dark and evil character who has many different backstory throughout the history of Bat Man media. In the 1988 film The Killing Joke , the Joker starts off as a normal guy trying to make it in the world of stand up comedy. When he is rejected by society he quits comedy and decides to help some criminals break into the chemical plant he used to work at to make some money for his pregnant wife. His wife and baby die, and the robbery ends with him falling into a vat of acid; these events led up to the dark character that we know today.
I’ve proved my point. I’ve demonstrated there’s no difference between me and everyone else! All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day.
The Killing Joke
The Joker in the Dark Knight is arguably the best depiction of the villain to date, and his back story is a little different. They never actually tell you how he got the scar on his face but throughout the movie he gives two reasons for it. His father mutilated him as a child, and he did it to himself so his wife wouldn’t leave him. No matter which is the true story, both originate from a place of social alienation and deep pain inflicted by other people. Just like the monster, the Joker was made evil because society dubbed him an outcast; society made these characters into the lonely outcasts they are..so why not seek revenge?
“Their morals, their code; it’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. You’ll see- I’ll show you. When the chips are down these, uh, civilized people? They’ll eat each other. See I’m not a monster, I’m just ahead of the curve.”
The Dark Knight
This is a great quote from The Dark Knight, and it shows how the Joker feels about society and other people. He realizes that even though society has shut him out, it is built upon imaginary restrictions created by people. The structure of society is basically sets of unspoken rules, and these rules are consistently broken by the very people who enforce them. The Joker has been able to get an outsiders view on humans and social standards, and he realizes that none of it matters once he is alienated. Evil and darkness lies in our nature, societal structure suppress this to a certain extent; yet once society alienates people it leads them to detest it.
Introduce A Little Anarchy, Upset The Established Order, And Everything Becomes Chaos.
The Dark Knight
They Laugh At me Because I’m Different. I laugh At Then Because The’re all the same”
The Dark Knight
https://www.vulture.com/2019/10/jokers-backstory-a-guide-to-the-jokers-origin-stories.html
https://screenrant.com/dark-knight-heath-ledger-joker-best-quotes/
Did Frankenstein’s monster become dark and evil because of society’s rejection of him, or was he created that way? Are some of us born with more evil or good inside, or is it a matter of nature versus nurture? I believe both can be true, and analyzing these quotes exemplified that. The monster was created using dark magic, in turn there was some dark energy residing inside him; his own creator along with the rest of the town rejected him because of his appearance and alienated him in a way that dissociated him from human life and empathy. Society is the first to tell you whats right and wrong, and the first to shame you for not following along with the “rules”. The Joker is a perfect example of someone who was rejected by society for not fitting into a specific box, and then created his own box. If someone calls you ugly and worthless enough, you would probably hate them; the same goes with the individual and society. Madness is like gravity, and when someone is pushed too far they can be consumed with darkness.
Madness, as you know, is like gravity; it only takes a little push.
The Dark Knight
Sprockets and Springes 
This was a great project. I loved the comparison between the Joker and Frankenstein’s monster. I never would have guessed that there was so many similarities. Plus, the added backstories from the Joker gives added insight into why Frankenstein’s monster turned out the way he did. The monster started out being a kind creature that just wanted to live with the companionship of others, however a series of back events lead to him becoming vengeful and angry. The Joker shows us how one bad thing is all a normal person needs to go off the deep end. For Frankenstein’s monster the rejection from the kind family he had been watching for a while was all it took to change him.
Wow, Frankenstein and the Joker fit so well together. It almost seems that maybe the Joker could have been inspired by Frankenstein, but I suppose that’s not for us to speculate on. Regardless, they both deal with the question of what happens when someone is shunned from society. They show how important societal acceptance is to the individual. It’s true that humans are very social creatures; these texts suggest dire consequences when someone is pushed out of the social order. In turn, both Frankenstein and the Joker encourage us to not exclude people. It asks us to see how important acceptance is to everyone and forces us to acknowledge the consequences of denying someone that acceptance.
I loved reading these similarities between Frankenstein and the Joker. I’m surprised that I didn’t make the connection while reading the book because The Dark Night is one of my favorite movies. I really liked the connection you made between society and Frankenstein/Joker, and asking is it society that made them dark and evil or were they created that way? In the book we see that Frankenstein just wants to live in the jungle with someone else like him away from other people. Great job!
Wow, this was an exciting read for me because I love both Frankenstein and the Joker (the one from the Dark Knight). I believe that certain people can be more susceptible than others to be sadistic or outcasts of society, but I think that it ultimately comes down to the way the world treats them or how they interact with society. Not only that, but often the way a child is raised shapes them into a certain kind of adult. Numerous serial killers were terribly abused as children. I love how you point out that Frankenstein was also isolated from society, not just the monster–I feel like a lot of people overlook that. Frankenstein was imprisoned mentally while the monster was cast out physically, both leading to feelings of isolation and misery.