Discussion of Frankenstein
- CzechTigg
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Re: Discussion of Frankenstein
For those who know Red Dwarf, I love the joke where Kryten gets really upset when the Monster is called Frankenstein, when it should be the Creator.
- Aithne
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- Gnj
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Man, what a story. I don't even know where to begin. First of all, I cannot believe how young Shelley was when she wrote this masterpiece. Although it takes a while to get going, I found the writing so exquisite that it felt like a gift picking up the novel and reading just a few sentences.
The chapter where the creature describes his plight, as he tried to integrate with humanity really struck me. After finishing that chapter I had to put the book down and just breathe.
On the other hand, as a scientist I found the story to contain a lot of heavy meaning and warning that are still relevant today. In particular, this idea of having an almost obsession with the life sciences, believing that they will bring us the answer to all of our problems can be a very dangerous path to tread. I believe this novel conveys a strong life lesson that no matter how far our quest for knowledge may take us, we must always take into account the responsibility of our findings. I find it interesting that the subtitle of this novel is 'The Modern Prometheus' - Prometheus being the Greek God who brought knowledge to humanity and was subsequently punished through eternal torment. In the same way, Frankensteins' quest to learn more and more about the human body, and to ultimately create a human, leads to his eventual downfall.
I have always believed that stories can be a sort of seat belt for the sciences, reminding it of its morals and its servitude to society, and not just for the mere obsessions of the mad scientist and his greed. I would like to hope that this novel still sends out those ripples in this modern age of technology.
- ALynnPowers
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My opinion rests upon the idea that if Victor hadn't been an idiot and abandon his creation, or at any point actually treated his creation with the respect it deserved as a thinking, feeling, moral person, the book wouldn't have been a tragedy.
I also see Frankenstein as a parable about artificial intelligence. We too often associate AI with worldwide destruction because of movies, but a genuine AI would decide for itself how it wanted to deal with humanity, and it's probably that decision would at least in part depend on how humanity treated it.
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I'm not sure if I'll change my rating yet, but that it's still in my head should prove how much I enjoyed it.
Agreed. I kept wanting to smack him.dhaller wrote:I tend to have a very different approach to this book than most, especially compared to standard English Literature dogma.
My opinion rests upon the idea that if Victor hadn't been an idiot and abandon his creation, or at any point actually treated his creation with the respect it deserved as a thinking, feeling, moral person, the book wouldn't have been a tragedy.
I also see Frankenstein as a parable about artificial intelligence. We too often associate AI with worldwide destruction because of movies, but a genuine AI would decide for itself how it wanted to deal with humanity, and it's probably that decision would at least in part depend on how humanity treated it.
What is grief, if not love persevering?
Grief is just love with no place to go.
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That's certainly one way to look at it. I also had a thought that it was a commentary on how we treat the other as well. While it certainly doesn't excuse the creature's actions, Shelley's prose goes a long way towards explaining why his constant rejection and villification has made him thus. He starts off in awe of man and nature, only to slowly devolve into a being of hate as people spurn him. It's a bit of a complex dive into it as well, because it offers little judgement on whether Victor himself was right, leaving the creature's end to be quite ambiguous.Juliana_Isabella wrote: ↑21 Mar 2019, 19:41 Although I had heard that Frankenstein was largely based around the common nature vs. nurture debate, I think there's a lot more going on in this story. Firstly, the author seems to have a lot to say about the role of women, especially when you connect the way Victor treats Elizabeth with the way his creation intends to treat his promised mate. The story suggests that women are created (sometimes literally) to be "developers" of men rather than people in their own right. This narrative begins with Victor claiming ownership of Elizabeth and reaches its height when the creation claims he has a right to a mate because he has been rejected by the world. The theme of men believing they have a right to women only gets more interesting when you consider Mary Shelley's history. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, wrote one of the founding texts of feminism (Vindication of the Rights of Woman), but Mary Shelley wasn't raised by her mother, as she died months after her daughter was born. In addition, Shelley's husband (also a writer) was abusive, giving her another perspective on the power dynamics between men and women. Altogether, it's a worthwhile read, and I think it has a lot to say beyond the typical scientific philosophy reading.
- Adair
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I mean, when you pity the monster and the poor Doctor at the same time, it means the author is fully aware what she is doing it.
I enjoyed the book so much that I know this will be one of those books that I will pick up again and again in the years to come.
― Lemony Snicket
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