Link between Genesis and Frankenstein.
It should be first noted that Frankenstein almost directly references itself to Genesis, via Paradise Lost. The monster compares himself to Adam and Satan. "Like Adam, I [...] Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition" (Frankenstein, Ch15, pg94) And Victor was like god, as the monster's creator. However, Victor acts as a foil to god, treating his creation differently. While god "blessed" his creations (Genesis 1:28), Victor abandons his monster immediately after creation, referring to it as a "demoniacal corpse" (Frankenstein, Ch5, pg36). These set up the comparison between Genesis and Frankenstein.
Both books raise questions of the characteristics of creation, of Nature and Nurture. Frankenstein appears
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Part of the reason why Eve ate the fruit of knowledge was because "tree was to be desired to make one wise", so that humans "will be like God". Before any knowledge of morality, humans already had the desire to be great like god (the sin of pride). And throughout Genesis, humans naturally became sinful and evil even with divine intervention. (Genesis 4:24, 6:5, 18:20) Also, it is a character flaw of humans to be superficial, such as when "they knew that they were naked" and tried to hide their nakedness (Genesis 3:7-10). This idea is supported by Frankenstein where Victor abandoned his monster (Frankenstein, Ch5, pg35) and even the outcast De Lacey family beat the monster upon seeing him (Frankenstein, Ch15, pg99). Only the blind man who could not see the monster's horrid appearance showed the monster kindness (Frankenstein, Ch15, pg97-98). Here, it appears Genesis supports that human Nature tends toward evil.
In god's Nurture, god selected blameless people like Noah (Genesis 6:8-9) and Abraham (Genesis 17:1-8) to bless. In later parts, people became fearing of god and treated Abraham (Genesis 20:8-16) and Isaac (Genesis 26:28-29), whom god blessed, with deference. This showed the effect of nurture by god, seemingly supporting Nurture winning over Nature like in
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Even with punishments such as the flood, humans still sinned. (Genesis 4:24, 6:5, 18:20) Superficially, it appears to support Nature winning over Nurture. On the other hand, if we do not assume that God is entirely perfect (1), God was maybe too tolerant or inconsistent in his punishments, resulting in nurturing the wrong values. God protected Cain after killing Abel (Genesis 4:15), which resulted in Lamech considering himself right for killing 2 people and that he should be protected even more than Cain (Genesis 4:23-24). And god did not stop this, nor did he tell Lamech that this was wrong. Thus, god's inaction seems to reinforce that murder might be a good thing. As a result, the nurture of implicitly allowing murder was what contributed to the sin of humans. This implies that Nurture may actually be stronger than
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein is a novel narrated by Robert Walton about Victor Frankenstein and the Monster that he creates. Frankenstein grew up surrounding himself with what he loved most, science. He attended Ingolstadt University where he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, but being involved in academics was not enough for him. Frankenstein wanted to discover things, but did not think about the potential outcomes that could come with this decision. Frankenstein was astonished by the human frame and all living creatures, so he built the Monster out of various human and animal parts (Shelley, 52). At the time Frankenstein thought this creation was a great discovery, but as time went on the Monster turned out to be terrifying to anyone he came in contact with. So, taking his anger out on Frankenstein, the Monster causes chaos in a lot of people’s lives and the continuing battle goes on between the Monster and Frankenstein. Throughout this novel, it is hard to perceive who is pursuing whom as well as who ends up worse off until the book comes to a close.
Both characters were similar in how they were ‘resurrected’ in each of their books. Frankenstein performed an experiment through a process involving galvanism to produce the Creature, and
In the book of Genesis, God is creating the world and eventually creates his children Adam and Eve. Like Adam, the creature in Frankenstein was created by another being, in this case Victor Frankenstein. As a creation, the monster has had no choice in his own development just like Adam didn’t. Frankenstein abandoned his creation and left it to fend for itself and cope with abandonment as it learns the workings of the world. This is similar to Adam’s excommunication from the Garden of Eden as he himself was cast away from God. The creation says, “Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed,” (Shelley 84) which shows how even though Frankenstein is the parental figure he has disowned the creation similar to the story of Adam. In the book of Genesis, as a result of God’s negligence as a parent, Adam acts in rebellion towards God. Likewise, the creature’s abandonment leads it to act in a malicious manner towards Frankenstein and other human beings. The negligence of the parental figures led both of their children to have eccentric behavior as they had to develop their own understanding of the world without any guidance from a parental
Volume II, Chapter II of Frankenstein is a key turning point as Victor and the Creature he created, finally met, however things do not go smoothly as Victor starts to hurl abuse at the Creature. In addition to this chapter we learn that Victor is very hard-hearted as he immediately takes a dislike to his own creation because he had a concept that the Creature he had created was beautiful and fine-looking. Victor also tries to play God just like God in Christianity. God created Adam and Eve - Adam first and Eve after because Adam demanded for another person - we see that later in the book the creature demands a lady creature just like Adam. However, in this later stage of the book, Victor says. He however failed at this because he abandons the Creature which then creates a harsh reality for him and the people around him.
The most important religious comparison in Frankenstein, are the outstanding similarities between Victor as God and the monster as Lucifer. This idea is proven by the monster in the quote where he states, " I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed." Broken down, this quote shows us that the monster feels that he is the neglected creation and that he has been created to be unhappy, although he has committed no wrongdoing, and he doesn't deserve to be mistreated by society. As it goes in the bible, God created Lucifer as the most brilliant and beautiful angel in the sky with good intentions, but Lucifer turned his back on his creator and began a notorious streak of evil as the "malignant devil." Now if the role of God is switched with that of Victor, and the role of Lucifer is switched with that of the monster, the story is retold in almost the same context. Now to prove that this is not just farfetched speculation, the monster even says in his quote that he ought to be Adam, God's successful creation, rather than the fallen angel (Lucifer). Among other quotes in which the monster deigns Victor as [his] creator, this is a powerful novel reference and this quote beautifully shows the direct motif of religious role-playing in Frankenstein.
The consequences of one’s actions reflect who they are. Without consequences, our actions are meaningless. Jurassic Park, written by Michael Crichton, and Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, both focus on the creation of life, scientific innovations, and excess knowledge. Hammond and Frankenstein do not think of the result of their creation and pay for it later. Both of these science-fiction novels explore the consequences of scientific innovations. Although Hammond cherishes his creation and Frankenstein despises his, both men neglect to think ahead and cause their projects to destroy their lives by killing the surrounding people and, in the end, destroying them.
Free will is an inherited ability everyone obtains from birth. This ability allows humans or any living being the freedom to act on their own behalf without being influenced or forced by an external medium. However, this fragile, yet powerful capability is susceptible of being misused that may result in unsavory consequences to the one at fault. In Paradise Lost and Frankenstein, both texts feature powerful figures who bequeathed the characters in focus, the freedom to do whatever they desire in their lives. Satan and Adam and Eve from Paradise Lost, and the monster from Frankenstein are given their free will from their creators, all encounter unique scenarios and obstacles in their respective texts however, have distinctions in how they handle
Victor Frankenstein, the main character in Mary Shelley’s novel, is the creator of the monster. When Victor created the monster, he believed he created the monster for the betterment of humankind, but he actually created the monster because he desired to prove to the world that an average human can do Godly acts. The desire to create the monster goes back to Victor’s childhood. As a young kid, Victor’s passions always lied in science and chemistry and in college; he became obsessed with the idea of creating life out of inanimate objects. He then decided to specialize in Alchemy. Within Shelley’s book Frankenstein, Victor said:
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, many similarities can be seen between the creature and his creator, Victor Frankenstein. While Victor and the creature are similar, there are a few binary oppositions throughout the book that make them different. The binary oppositions in the novel serve as thematic contrast; and some of the most illustrative oppositions between the two characters are on the focus of family, parenthood, isolation and association with others.
God and Frankenstein's creations stunningly resemble each other. The monster relates to Satan, Adam, and Eve. Victor quotes, "You may render me the most miserable of men, but you shall never make me base in my own eyes," this is when the monster asks for a companion, Victor refuses. The monster also shows that he will go to any extent to be happy and complete vengeance when he goes on a murder spree. Adam quotes " for with thee/ Certain my resolution is to die; /How can I live without thee?" Resembling the monster, hence he wants a companion, Eve.
In "Paradise Lost", God creates man; in Shelly's story, Victor Frankenstein creates monster. Early in Shelly's book, we find that Victor has found out how to generate life "upon lifeless matter" (27), akin to God's creation of man from dust: "he formed thee, Adam, thee, O Man, / Dust of the ground" (Milton 189). Victor's representation of himself as a father relates well to Milton's illustration of God as the "Almighty Father" (65) and even the monster relates his existence to adam, "Like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence" (Shelly 74). Lastly, as Adam and Eve fell in Paradise Lost when they ate from the tree of knowledge, the monster "falls"--"but sorrow only increased with knowledge" (Shelly 69). The ...
Both stories share a central theme, that the acquirement too much knowledge is dangerous. Throughout Frankenstein, the reader is left with the feeling that Victor's obsessive desire to defeat nature, through the creation of another life, directly led to the many tragedies that befell him, "Learn from me, if not by my precept, at least by my example, how dangerous is the ac...
Storment, Suzanna. "Frankenstein: The Man and the Monster." Commentary page. October 2002. Washington State University. 8 April 2003. http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/frank.comment3.html.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.