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Abstract

This thesis examines how empathy is depicted and served within the literature with a comparison of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Almond by Sohn Won-pyung. The study focuses on the ways in which the theme of emotional isolation, the theme of social rejection, and ethical development are reflected in the two texts and on the ways in which these situations influence the emotional and ethic paths of the main characters. With a qualitative research approach combining close reading and comparison, significant theoretical frameworks employed in the research include the theory of allocentric empathy by Patrick Colm Hogan, humanistic psychology advanced by Rogers (1961) and the Theory of Mind by Oatley and Mar (2011). They are also based on the theories of narrative empathy (Keen, 2007), ethical literary studies (Nussbaum,1990, Denham, 2020), and existential ethics (de Beauvoir, 1948). Although Frankenstein reveals the tragic nature of what denied empathy and moral indifference leads to, Almond introduces a redemption tale in which empathy can be acquired, ethical development possible, in spite of lacking emotional instinct and tendency. The analysis also looks at cultural and temporal variability of the texts and demonstrates the ways of the functioning of empathy under the various styles of narration, settings, and emotions. The results show that a high level of emotional expressiveness does not necessarily lead to being socially empathetic and a low level of emotional restraint does not indicate the inability to grasp ethical insights either. Based on its analysis, the thesis can thus support the argument that literature serves to develop empathy, not only as a sensation, but as an ethical posture, in that it allows the reader to engage in emotionally challenging moral environments. The study advances a culturally and psychologically sensitive discourse on empathy in narrative fiction, which relates to the emerging body of studies concerned with affect and ethical criticism.