Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory In Frankenstein

“I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on.” In Walton’s final letter to his sister, he recounts these words that the monster speaks to him over Victor’s dead body. This eruption of angry self-pity as the monster questions the injustice of how he has been treated, compellingly captures his inner life and psychology. Giving Walton and the reader a glimpse into the suffering that has motivated his crimes. This line also evokes the monster’s final thoughts of being unwanted life, a creation abandoned and shunned by his creator. Lawrence Kohlberg’s work in psychology helps explain the monster’s mental nature through his theory of stages of moral development. Kohlberg’s theory gives a detailed
Stage one is obedience and punishment driven, individuals focus on the direct consequences of their actions on themselves. Frankenstein’s monster exhibits this type of reasoning when he encounters a fire during his travel. Using stage one reasoning he deducts that if he touches the fire he will be burned so logically, he shouldn’t touch the fire because the direct consequence of such an action is pain. Another example is when the monster is in search of food and enters a hut. His presence causes an old man inside to shriek and run away in fear. The monster proceeds to a village, where more people flee at the sight of him. As a result of these incidents, he resolves to stay away from humans realizing that his presence scares them. As the story progresses so to does the monster in Kohlberg’s stages of moral
In stage three individuals attempt to live up to the expectations of society. Stage three reasoning may judge the morality of an action by evaluating its consequences in terms of respect and gratitude. By observing Felix, Agatha, and Safie the monster begins to understand happiness, love, and devotion. Realizing at this moment that Victor abandoned him because he didn’t love or care for him. Felix and Safie’s relationship established the monsters unyielding desire for a mate to quell his loneliness. Attempting to become part of this society, the monster learns to speak and read but is shocked by his appearance when he catches his reflection in a pool of water as compared to the cottagers. Observing this small society gives the monster his understanding of how different he was from the rest of the world and his immense desire to become part of