Inside of many stories, the characters become more developed throughout the story, and this can be shown in many ways. Sometimes, the characters show their innate inner evilness, which is a part of their human nature that makes us make irrational, more primal decisions. But it’s important to maintain our virtue and to make smarter decisions. Two examples of books that fit this description are Frankenstein and Robinson Crusoe. Inside of Frankenstein, a man named Victor Frankenstein, in his quest to create a new species, creates a monster that seeks to destroy everything he loves, and causes Victor to eventually hate, loathe, and despise it with the core of his being. Inside of Robinson Crusoe, a man named Robinson Crusoe wants wealth and he wants it fast, so he goes on multiple voyages, some leading to success and most leading to ruin. He is stranded on a deserted island for thirty five years, where he makes lots of technology and also meets some savages that he eventually manages to make a friend out of that he calls “Friday.” These two entertaining stories both show lots of character development.
Developing our individuality lets us become more special and unique to allow ourselves to stand apart from the rest of society. By being more unique and having special talents, we allow ourselves to show our abilities and for people to understand how we are different yet still beneficial. Inside of Frankenstein, Victor had created a monster, but if he had not abandoned it and traumatized it into understanding that its appearance was what forced others to hate and despise him, the monster would probably have stayed civil rather than killing all of Victor’s loved ones, but after seeing the evil, it thought “Should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No: from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species.” And inside of Robinson Crusoe, the main character had become separate from all of the evil that human society had, which allowed him to unleash his creativity and gain a multitude of benefits, and after he was finally rescued he decided to "reclaim the profits of his estate in Brazil, which has granted him much wealth." This shows the clear benefits of developing our individuality and making sure that it comes across as special and talented rather than villainous actions, because it’s important we try to make ourselves separate from the crowd. This is how developing our individuality allows us to increase our abilities and makes us better and more different from the rest.
Inner evilness is a natural part of ourselves, and it is the innate part that makes us inclined to destroy and to hurt others rather than being rational and doing the beneficial thing in the long term. We have to try and suppress it in many trying situations because it will exacerbate the situation and only make the problems worse, rather than solving it or at least trying to. Inside of Frankenstein, the monster tried to ask for a partner and a companion, but his anger eventually boiled out and he released his hatred as revenge on Victor, killing many. The monster thought “But again when I reflected that they had spurned and deserted me, anger returned.” Victor had been wrong to abandon the monster. Also, in Robinson Crusoe, the main character utilized religion to convince himself that his current situation was simply a punishment for his previous sins, of there were many. This allowed him to deal with his anger and exhaustion, where he thought “which I am now such a sorrowful penitent for being guilty of, but to draw the just picture of a man enslaved to the rage of his vicious appetite.” He realized his greed had got him stranded and his anger would only make things worse. By trying to weaken our irrational instincts, we can improve our efficiency and help others rather than harming them, which is immensely important. We have to try and control ourselves and to stop our inner evilness in order to improve and to avoid hurting others.
Maintaining our virtues throughout the course of our lives is incredibly important due to how it will benefit everyone around you including yourself. If everyone tries to stay kind and help others, it will allow people to benefit from each other and improve productivity and efficiency as a whole. In Frankenstein, Victor didn’t maintain his virtue and gave in to his urge to hurt the monster, and this caused and led to his own death, and he thought “My rage is unspeakable when I reflect that the murderer, whom I have turned loose upon society, still exists. My rage was without bounds; I sprang on him, impelled by all the feelings which can arm one being against the existence of another.” However, this only made it worse. In Robinson Crusoe, Robinson Crusoe stayed alive and peaceful, because he made sure to think positively rather than bitterly. The text reads, “Thus we never see the true state of our condition till it is illustrated to us by its contraries, nor know how to value what we enjoy, but by the want of it.” He stopped being as greedy and became more grateful for what God had given him. We have to try and help others by maintaining our virtues because otherwise we may cause unintended harm to others that can be hurtful rather than beneficial. It is pivotal that we make sure that we acknowledge how important maintaining our virtues is to help others and benefit ourselves.
Both Frankenstein and Robinson Crusoe help show many important themes that allow us to improve our life and reap the benefits. The themes are that we have to try and develop our individuality in an attempt to stand out of the crowd and help others acknowledge our own special talents, how suppressing our desire to hurt others in difficult situations will help us prevent the situation from worsening rather than exacerbating it, and maintaining our virtues while we are emotionally stressed and tired will allow us to help others. Developing our individuality will allow us to be more special and unique compared to other people, and trying to control our natural inner evilness helps us stay kinder. We also have to remember it is crucial that we try and stay good and maintain our virtue to make sure everyone is benefited. Frankenstein and Robinson Crusoe are both amazing books that teach great lessons.
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