Where does the Power Lay?

             At what age does a person become an adult? If children are left at an early age to fend for themselves, do they mature into adults more quickly than children who are coddled? Since the age when the life-changing step from childhood to adulthood varies depending on the person, the exact moment when a child crosses that maturity threshold into adulthood, in not known. However, all people have unique experiences that guide and even determine when they become an adult, and therefore, the moment can be somewhat estimated. Those experiences, along with the influences of their parents mold children into the adults which they are to become. Throughout the novel Frankenstein, Marry Shelley, the author, uses theses defining experiences, as well as parenting and the child's environment to show the their positive effects and consequences, on a child, during the transformation to an adult.
             Overindulgence in childhood can lead to immaturity in adulthood. Some children, usually only children or the youngest child of a family receive special treatment, able to acquire what they want with less trouble than another sibling. Always getting what they want can cause them to believe that life will always be kind and fruitful. Victor Frankenstein, for example, as a youth is given everything he wants. His parents love him so much that they "were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence" (23). As a result of Victor's parents indulging him, he believes that Elizabeth, his new sister, actually belongs to him. Victor, interpreting his mother's words, "with childish seriousness," looks upon Elizabeth as his own, "to protect, love, and cherish"(21). This action signifies that he, as a child, thinks that everything is for him, and, as he grows up, he holds onto that idea. Without some hardships in life, such as not obtaining what they want, children will lack the skills to provide for thems...

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Where does the Power Lay?. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 20:15, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/87153.html