Brains were pried open in the Moraine Valley library on March 5 at 11 a.m. as multiple members of the psychology department took a look at Mary Shelley’s immortal character, Frankenstein’s monster.

In “The Creature Within: Using Psychology to Understand Frankenstein’s Monster” psychology department chair Amy Williamson explored a variety of topics via a panel of professors comprised of Laura Lauzen-Collins, Nick Shizas and Mitch Baker. 

What is it about our own psychology that makes this character so enduring?

Lauzen-Collins proposed that scary stories allow us to confront anxiety and fright in a safe manner, saying it also makes evolutionary sense that humans would be interested in macabre subject matter.

“In terms of evolution, it makes sense for us to really hone in on things that might be dangerous for us,” Lauzen-Collins said. “In addition, horror movies and novels allow us to get that adrenaline rush but in a safe way.”

The panel later delved into another possible reason the story continues to resonate: the very real experience echoing through Frankenstein of prejudice, rejection, and the inability to meet societal standards. Racism, misogyny, homophobia, ableism, and bigotry of all kinds thread through this narrative in the experience of the monster. 

“There is prejudice out there, and rejection, and a lot of people have had to give up part of their identities and acculturate into the larger culture,” Shizas said.

The event gathered a crowd of about 35 students, consisting of two classes studying personality as well as lifespan/developmental psych. Attendees’ interests were piqued as hardly a single student drifted off during the discussion. This attentiveness was matched only by the panelists themselves, genuinely interested in their colleagues’ perspectives. The knowledge of science the panelists held mixed with their love for the text led to an alchemical reaction of rich insights. 

“I think it’s somewhat narcissistic to imagine that ‘I’m going to create something better than what we already have.’”

Psychology professor Nick Shizas

The panel discussion was one of several Frankenstein-centric events held in the MVCC Library this year, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the One Book, One College program.

The through line of the event was using the story of Frankenstein as a basis to talk about childhood neglect, trauma, and potential development.

Talk was then narrowed down to the main character of the specific story at hand with a brief psychoanalysis of Dr. Frankenstein. Utilizing this fictional example of a person, panelists theorized the moral implications of his goals along with personal motivations.

They brought up the idea of losing his mother as a child and what that might mean with his desires for resurrection.

“If you operate from the ideology that behavior is intentional and purposeful, it’s probably coming from somewhere, something that you experience,” Baker said.

Based on how the doctor discards his creation, his focus may have been on perfection and glory more than raw results and consequence. Possible sociopathic tendencies indicate that the monster in the story isn’t as obvious as you might think. 

“I think it’s somewhat narcissistic to imagine that ‘I’m going to create something better than what we already have,’” Shizas said. If the doctor were psychologically healthy, “he would be concerned with goals beyond his personal fame.”

Victor Frankenstein’s nurtured upbringing was also brought into consideration, as this was compared to subject matter being taught in the developmental psych class. This created a segue into the topic nature vs. nurture.

Religion, neglect, rejection, and antisocial personality disorder were all touched on before Shizas introduced some real-world examples. He cited court cases that helped illustrate the correlation between childhood trauma and adulthood leanings toward criminal behavior with low tolerances for stress, drawing a parallel to the fictional monster who repeatedly lashes out in violent ways. The idea that this horror story would be avoided if the monster was raised with acceptance was floated around and the character’s own assessment seems to support that thought. The monster claims he was born with love and caring, as all humans are. 

Lauzen-Collins assured the audience that people who have dealt with trauma aren’t doomed to repeat that behavior.

“Don’t walk away from this thinking you’ll turn out a certain way if you experienced anything bad as a child,” she said, emphasizing the importance of therapy, forming connections, and practicing vulnerability.

Baker added that there is no cure for trauma, but moving forward from it you can “reclaim it or reframe it.”

The panelists were quick to point out the way society treats individuals who are different has a very real toll on mental health. To conform also has a cost as aspects of oneself have to be sacrificed in order to assimilate. The reality is, stigmatized groups consistently face discrimination that restricts opportunities and contributes to social isolation. Self-hatred and the theme of loneliness are shared by both doctor and monster. Ironically, they may have recognized their shared experience if they didn’t hate each other so much. 

To fix the real world issues that echo that blight, anti stigma programs might be looked to. However, serious systemic retooling needs to take place in order for people to feel and be treated less like outsiders. 

The event ended with a Q + A from the audience. The theme seemed to be finding hypothetical ways to avoid such an outcome. Why did Victor treat the monster with such disgust? Could the monster have found happiness with a bride? The major takeaway however was this: Using this fictional template allows a venue to talk about very real and very serious problems. Fantasy makes discussions such as these digestible.

As pointed out by the panelists, Moraine Valley is well equipped to help anyone who happens to personally be dealing with any kind of struggle via free counseling in the S Building.

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Featured image graphic by Emily Stephens