A Study in Frankenstein

I was hooked on reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I stayed up late to finish it. I did not expect it to be what it is. It's not a cheerful story in the sense of enjoyment of a nice story. But rather, there are so many themes and questions one can ask/talk about from this story. It reaches into humanity and charges us all with confronting such things. With hints that reflect back to Milton's Paradise Lost, it offers fodder to chew on for a while.

The struggle to be accepted, listened to, valued, and loved is very strong. Who is the monster here? The created being had no control or decision in his creation story, yet his creator has rejected him, left him alone, and spurned. There is the sense of responsibility not taken for the creation made. The emotion, pain, feelings, and suffering is all real, and Frankenstein tries to shove them away, but it all comes back to haunt him by way of his creation.

Frankenstein does not accept the creature for who he was. Why? In his obsession to create the being, he ignored his family, friends, and his own life. He was consumed in the worst ways, but the moment his created being woke up, he fled and felt immediate disgust regarding his creature. Who would feel that about something they worked on for years to create?

As I read this story, I think of the love we have as created beings. God created and loves us so deeply, He said it was good when we were created. He pursues us. He wants to draw us closer to Him in a relationship. All things that Frankenstein does not do.

Are we meant to hold the power of creation in our hands? It becomes a dangerous thing, and we would not do it out of the love unfailing. but we would do it out of selfishly for power, as Frankenstein demonstrates.

Another great literary example of this is C.S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength. There is an example of man creating an immortal being for power and control over others. Animals and humans being the subject of experiment to gain such power. An evil is present there as the pseudo college group takes life apart in order to learn the secrets of putting together to control and gain power.

He that breaks a thing to find what it is has left the path of wisdom.
- J.R.R. Tolkien

We are not perfect, like God, but those who act as though they were a god, seek it with a darker power that will lead them to fall deep into destruction. These stories grip me because they are so applicable today. Frankenstein was published in 1818. Way ahead of her time, Mary Shelley was, and perhaps she had no idea how her story would be applicable 200 years later. We moderns look to other ways to build our creations in the machines we give thoughts to take on the likeness of humans. Is it right for us to do that? Do we diminish our humanness by creating something else that takes on our human traits?

These authors saw something in the way we could make some disastrous choices. They aren't far off, and it's both fascinating and frightening. I think I am drawn to these kinds of books because I like to see the light of how it could be amidst the darkness. I like to see the author's perspective of our human failings and ambitions, and the truth in that. The wisdom that then shines outward is for us to evaluate. These are books that make you think. They ask the deep questions.