Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Growing up I knew Frankenstein to be a block headed green guy with bolts in his neck. I could only really recognize him for his common cultural icon, usually wearing a dopey expression on his face because Frankenstein was always around for Halloween as a costume or a weird bubbly plastic decoration or a toy for young kids. Soon enough I realized that this was the modernized version of Frankenstein. I read some creepy and eerie comics and watched, the brilliant, bride of Frankenstein but I still didn’t think there was much to the story behind the actual monster until I read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in my high school English class. I remember enjoying the book, surprised to see that the monster had complex emotional qualities. Mary Shelley’s monster was a character you could identify with. It has an existential sort of quality because of the monster’s “accidental” creation and neglected existence. It was interesting to see how doctor Frankenstein reacted to his own creation and how he would have to deal with his guilt and owe up to what he’s done. He had to take responsibility for his actions or else pay the consequences which the monster forced on him.

Reading the book for the second time I payed attention to the sort of themes. Dr. Frankenstein wanted to find a way around death or to Conquer nature. Man versus nature is a recurring struggle in many works of literature or stories and is especially a western ideology that is very applicable to current events. Dr. Frankenstein could be compared to man trying to control natural forces and now the "monster" we've created is threatening us with things like global warming.

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