Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" relates a tragedy that occurred because of insensitivity and the negative emotion that resulted. His father belittled Frankenstein's reading of Cornelius Agrippa by calling it "sad trash" but did not explain his reaction, so Frankenstein was "by no means assured" that his father knew what he was talking about, and continued his reading. Later when he went to the university at Ingolstadt, a professor ridiculed Frankenstein, saying, "Good God! in what desert land have you lived", and that he must begin his studies "entirely anew". Unfortunately, Frankenstein had a rebellious bent, and these belittling words created resentment in him. He liked what he had read and had been given no reason to abandon it. Because of his resentment, Frankenstein was determined to continue with his studies, and he eventually did prove himself correct by creating a living, rational creature.
Frankenstein's creature was a monster, as it turned out. This monster, like Frankenstein, experienced rejection. First Frankenstein himself ran away from the results of his great experiment. Then other humans the monster came upon ran away from him. Even the few humans he finally decided would accept him were scared away by his terrifying appearance. Since he desperately desired affection but could find it nowhere, the monster created a psychological shell and went on a murder spree to cope.
In the end, Frankenstein's family was destroyed and Frankenstein himself died in his attempt to kill his creation. All this because Frankenstein applied himself when he was laughed at and his monster applied himself when he was rejected. Clearly, negative emotion is the major driving force in this novel. Frankenstein created a monster and the monster destroyed Frankenstein because of rejection and belittlement.