Sympathy

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, Sympathy is defined as “feeling pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune”. Other definitions of the word sympathy include: “an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other”. Another definition of sympathy is “an inclination to feel or think alike”. The novel in which sympathy becomes very important is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Frankenstein is an interesting novel, one which shows the importance of sympathizing with and loving an individual. As we analyze the relationship between Victor and his creation, we notice that the Frankenstein yearns for love. At times, it seems that he wants this love in any way, shape, or form that it can come.  However, the main thing that Frankenstein desires is to be accepted. Once he reached his lowest point, he proceeded to ask Victor to create a mate for him. Frankenstein makes this request because he feels that no one would understand and accept him better than a creature similar to himself. Victor begins to sympathize with Frankenstein, and considers creating a female creature to alleviate the feeling of loneliness that has plagued him for so long. During the creation process, Victor decides against his prior opinion and destroys the mate of Frankenstein. He does this because he realizes the potential effects that two monsters of this nature can have on society. After this action, it is established that Victor doesn’t have sympathy for Frankenstein.

Works Cited

“Sympathy.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, 2 May 2018, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sympathy.

“Sympathy | Definition of Sympathy in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sympathy.