Frankenstein and Radical Science by Marilyn Butler

Summary of Three Key Ideas from the Essay:

1) Creationism vs Evolution - One of the main ideas of this review is stating the points that suggest Mary Shelley's work displays creationism or a belief in evolution. For example, Butler states that people see a warning not to assume God's role as a Creator. However, it could also be interpreted that Mary Shelly attacks Christianity and connects to Lawrence's radical science theories.

2) Vitalism vs. materialism - There are two theories presented in this review, one is Abernethy's theory, vitalism, that besides the chemical and physical make-up of life, something made up for the soul, like "electricity" (Butler 306). Lawrence's theory, materialism, states that our mind is solely made up of chemical processes. Butler states that Frankenstein ". . . suggests the position of Abernethy, who proposes that superadded life-element is analoagous to electricity -- particularly when he uses a machine, reminiscent of a battery, to impart the spark of life" (Shelley 307). This is interesting to think about, although technically, the monster would still be sparked by material.

3) Incest - I'm not sure if this was a main idea (the two first subpoints were mostly the main ideas), but I thought that this was an interesting issue that was talked about. Lawrence negatively writes about incest in the Natural History of Man, and Mary Shelley also displays a negative attitude towards it. Butler demonstrates the marriage between Frankenstein and Elizabeth as "unhealthy" (Shelley 133).

This information greatly enhanced my understanding of the novel. I now almost see this as kind of a science-fiction novel, when before, I had not even thought about the novel portraying the dangers of science. Furthermore, this goes even deeper to say that Mary Shelly could have been portraying creationism, evolution, or both, when I never realized that religion also had a major role in the story. I also learned about theories that could have influenced her such as vitalism vs. materialism, which improves my understanding about how Shelley illustrates the creation of the monster itself. And lastly, I just thought that Shelley included an incestuous relationship because it was common at the time, not because she was commenting on human behavior and displaying negativity towards incest. 

Complex attitude short essay

Mary Shelley illustrates Victor’s complex attitude towards his work, by first demonstrating that Victor’s motives are misguided. Victor desires to feel powerful, and for this reason he states, “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through…” (Shelley 32).  The way Victor says this is as if he desires to be some powerful sorcerer. In addition, he wants to have a high status in the world. He states that “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.” (Shelley 32). Thus, Victor, rather than thinking about the good of human kind and what the ability to create life means, solely thinks about the awe of his own work. He does not evaluate the consequences of his actions, since he is so focused on the success of his scientific project.

 Secondly, Shelly demonstrates Victor’s complex attitude through his tense words. Victor’s words are dark and filled with loathing of his deed. For example, he states, “No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane…” (Shelley 32). “Hurricane” implies darkness and destruction; the reader gets a sense that his feelings are destructive. Other descriptions set the scene for a dark setting and deed, with words such as “My cheeks had grown pale,” “The moon gazed on my midnight labours,” “tortured the living animal, “my limbs now tremble,” “filthy creation,” etc. The reader realizes that the scientist Victor is doing is bizarre.

Hence, Shelley portrays Victor’s attitude towards his work through the two paragraphs of the passage on page 32. The first paragraph illustrates Victor’s attitudes towards the motives of his experiment, whereas the second paragraph illustrates Victor’s disgust with the experiment itself.  

A scene from Frankenstein

A scene from Frankenstein

The scene that stands out the most from Frankenstein was the last scene with the monster and Walton. I found this scene intriguing, because Walton and Dr. Frankenstein had only been thinking of Dr. Frankenstein's trials and hardships, and not the monster's. Here, the monster explains how sadness and loneliness turned him into the demon he is today, and Dr. Frankenstein never addressed these possible issues at the time he created the monster. I think this highly reflects society today, where those who commit wrong deeds may have become this way because of their society, family, etc. I also found it interesting that the monster asks why Walton only hates him, and not the humans who have acted wrongly towards him. The monster asks, "Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all human kind sinned against me? Why do you not hate Felix, who drove his friend from his door with contumely? Why do you not execrate the rustic who sought to destroy the saviour of his child?" (Shelley 155). I think his words also greatly reflect our world today; humans tend to wrongly judge "others" and appearances play too much of a role in our society. Sometimes we may tend to value appearances more than characteristics, which is unfortunately, what the monster suffered from.

Top Ten Books

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – I really liked how F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed the 1920’s in a very vivid, interesting, and understandable way. He depicted the problems of morality through an appealing story, and illustrated the extreme culture change of the 20's through colorful, bright images of what the characters did. It was an exciting read.

Persuasion by Jane Austen – I loved Persuasion. I had always been fascinated with old English culture, such as their houses and their way of dress, etc. Reading Persuasion was like being transported to those times, and I truly got to experience life as seventh century English woman. It was interesting how Jane Austen displayed this incredibly oppressive atmosphere, and instead of making it a feminist novel or a novel about rebellion, she just realistically demonstrated the condition of women at that time.   

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – This was a great novel that inspires a lot of thought. The themes in the novel are so relevant to today’s society: unfair judgment, remorse, revenge, etc. It is eye-opening in the sense that you can understand the problems of unjust judgment and the horrific consequences it can have on individuals. It is unfortunate that Dr. Frankenstein always thought that he was right and never thought about the sadness that his own monster was feeling, although I agree it was not right to build another monster.

The Boys Start the War by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – The Boy/Girl battle series was my favorite series when I was younger. I loved the hilarity of this first book, and the absolute fun of the pranks pulled by the boys and the girls on each other. What the boys and the girls did seems so exciting! It was a very enjoyable book to read.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket – I also loved the Series of Unfortunate Events. Lemony Snicket wrote his books in an interesting fashion, his writing style was not depressing at all, it was more melodramatic, and maybe even slightly humorous. His stories were like the dramatic, sad stories that every kid wanted to read.  The Bad Beginning was a great start, where the orphans had to do various chores for the infamous Count Olaf (the villain of the series).

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – I love futuristic dystopias, so of course I would love the Hunger Games. I have always been fascinated by the future, and the new technology it would have, new people, etc. The plot of Hunger Games is also incredibly interesting, with kids competing to survive in a game show. I also like how the Hunger Games, much like a lot of sci-fi novels, displays an oppressive government, allowing readers to reflect on society today. Additionally, I thought it was interesting how with this Hunger Games plot, Suzanne Collins was actually trying to educate kids about war.

The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini – This an amazing book about Afghanistan in general, and also how it was like when the Taliban took over. I am so glad I read this novel, because I now have a much greater understanding of the conditions that were there. I also have a greater appreciation and fascination with Afghani and Middle Eastern culture in general.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini – This novel is similar to the Kite Runner, but it is different in that it really is about the terrible conditions for women in Afghanistan. By reading this novel, I became aware of the atrocities suffered by women there. I learned about the concept of honor in their society and the several problems associated with it for women.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld – This book is also set in a futuristic, dystopic world with an oppressive government. The government mandates that everyone undergo an operation at the age of sixteen to turn “pretty,” but the population does not know that this affects their brains as well. I found this incredibly interesting – the danger of advanced technology and the government literally controlling its people. I also liked the theme of appearances and how people greatly care about their looks, because I think this highly reflects society today.

Girl Missing by Sophie McKenzie – This book was very interesting to read; it is about a girl and her friend who travel to find the girl’s real parents, since she was adapted. I loved this book because I was always wondering what was going to happen. I asked simple questions, such as how would her real family be like, what would happen after that, etc., but these questions were all very exciting to think about. It is a great story.