The Mad Scientist

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The mad scientist is an interesting figure in contemporary culture, usually represented by an evil genius that uses fictitious technology in an attempt to ‘play God.’ History has shown us that the mad scientist is not far off from reality: From the alchemist Paracelsus claiming the ability to create life to Tesla and Newton using science to challenge the mysteries of the universe. We also see the mad scientist in 19th century literature. Both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau, showcase this character in all of his glory and destruction. These pieces of literature are woven into the anthology, Making Humans, which is cited in this analysis. In these novels, we see ‘the creator’ (Victor Frankenstein) versus ‘the imitator’ (Dr. Moreau). These are two different attempts at ‘playing God,’ and take the audience to a place where morality is no longer a question of what’s right or wrong, but how wrong and what that means for humankind as we know it.

Let’s start with Victor Frankenstein, in classification of the mad scientist I prefer to call him ‘the creator.’ His journey starts with his desire to assume the role of God among a new race, telling Walton, “A new race would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me” (Shelley 48). Victor’s desire for knowledge lead him to the hope that he can recreate God’s work through science. In order to do this, has to dig up and assemble dead bodies into a single being that he will inject the breath of life into. As the creator, Its necessary to compare him to the God in Genesis which states, “And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man becam...

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...ientific process results in a multitude of failed experiments who are simultaneously cast to live a life of false religion and pain, only to revert back to their primal ways. By exploring what makes these mad scientists immoral, I have come to the conclusion that science itself can’t provide moral guidance and the insatiable desire for scientific discovery can cause one to forget about what lies outside of science, mankind. So next time you decide to challenge Darwin or God himself, remember that just because we can doesn’t necessarily mean that we should.

Works Cited

New International Version. 1984. Bible Gateway. Web. 10 March 2011.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Making Humans.Ed. Judith Wilt. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.

17-171. Print.

Wells, H.G. The Island of Dr. Moreau. Making Humans. Ed. Judith Wilt. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin, 2003. 174-268. Print.

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