Frankenstein Vs. Bladerunner

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Recommended: Mary shelley parental neglect

As society changes around us, we spot things we never noticed before: high divorce rates, murder rates, and drug use just to name a few. James Riddley-Scott and Mary Shelley noticed and had a fear of child abandonment. In Frankenstein, Shelley explores this subject through the viewpoint of a man, Victor, who creates a child so hideous that he cannot bear to look at it, and consequently deserts it. In Blade Runner, Scott explores this matter through a businessman, Tyrell, who makes replicants of humans, the Nexus 6, gives them only four years to live, and sells them as slaves. The children of these creators turn out to be smarter and more human than expected, and revolt against the way society treats them, giving us all a lesson in parenting and child development.

In Shelley?fs Frankenstein, Victor brings a monster to life only to abandon it out of fear and horror. ?gThe beauty of the dream had vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart?h (Shelley, 35). The reader must question the ethics of Victor. After all, he did bring this creature upon himself. This renunciation later comes to haunt Victor, and hurts his creation more than Victor can ever imagine. When Victor leaves the monster, Shelley is exploring abandonment by the parent. Later in the novel, when the monster tries to confront Victor and Victor shows that he does not want any part of the Monster by saying ?gBegone, vile insect! Or rather, stay, that I may trample you to dust!?h(74). Shelley is showing us that the monster is not being nurtured, as a child should. Blade Runner also looks at the roles of parenting and abandonment. When first meeting Tyrell, Roy states, ?gIt's not an easy thing to meet your maker?h, Scott reveals that the Nexus 6 have been discarded by their family, and have had a lack of a loving relationship throughout their lives.

The idea that parents play a double role as parent and creator continues throughout the stories. Tyrell is looked at as a parent and a way for a longer life. Sebastian and Roy meet Tyrell by riding in an elevator as though acceding to heaven where Tyrell lives. When they enter the businessman?fs bedroom, Tyrell demandingly asks Sebastian, ?gmilk and cookies been keeping you awake??h just as a father would talk to his son. In Frankenstein, Victor is viewed as a father or God figure that can create another life, an Eve for his Ad...

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...e your child no matter how he or she may look like or act. Victor and Tyrell saw their creations as less than human, and therefore treated them as such. If we see our children as less than human, and we neglect them, they may grow to believe that they are monsters. Shelley and Scott believed this, and set out to prove a point. One day our children will grow up, and they will no longer have a clean slate. A grown-up child will reflect all that we have taught them, good or evil. Scott and Shelley wanted to convey to all parents that, to their children at least, they are more than just disciplinarians. They can be the ones to teach about love, and they can bring more meaning into the lives they have created.

List of Works Cited

Blade Runner. Dir. James Riddley-Scott. Perf. Harrison Ford, Joe Turkel, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah, Joanna Cassidy, Brion James, William Sanderson, M. Emmett Walsh, Edward James Olmos, Morgan Paull, Columbia Tri-Star, 1982

Chapman, Murray. Blade Runner Frequently Asked Questions. October 1994 .

Shelley Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

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