Man playing God in Frankenstein - Book Report/Review Example

Download file to see previous pages She takes up this issue, and presents her own version of the concept, debating whether man is qualified enough, in all senses, to try and take over the powers of the Creator, and what would happen if he would succeed in doing so. One of the major concerns of Mary Shelley, in Frankenstein, has been to warn the humanity about the dangerous nature of natural philosophical questioning coupled with the advent of science. The novelist has been effective in this celebrated science fiction to present the futile as well as dangerous nature of natural philosophical questioning, which has left the human beings to challenge the innate powers of God. Thus, Mary Shelly presents Frankenstein, in his attempts to discover the mysteries of life, as assuming that he can act the role of God. "By playing God, Victor Frankenstein has simultaneously upheld the creationist theory and parodied it by creating only a monster. In both ways, Victor Frankenstein has blasphemed against the natural order of things." (Mellor, 101) Significantly, total chaos ensues when this character disrupts the natural order of the world by taking the role of God, the Creator. Victor Frankenstein has only created a deadly force, through his creation and neglect of the monster. Through the character of Frankenstein, Mary Shelly establishes that ruthless pursuit of knowledge, challenging the natural order of things, can only bring about dangerous results. ...
However, it is only by venturing in such heretical grounds that one can actually try and understand the themes running through the novel Frankenstein. Did Victor indeed try to play God, or was he just an overzealous scientists who took it too far
While dissecting the themes and concepts forming the groundwork of Frankenstein, it is imperative to study the historical background and the era in which the novel was written. The 1800s were a time when radical scientific developments were taking place, and there was a sudden boom in the advancements that an ordinary person encountered in his daily life. It was demonstrated in the article, "Frankenstein and Playing God," that electricity could be used to spasm the muscles of a dead human being twenty years before the author wrote the novel, and it cannot be ignored that this phenomenon must have been the ignition that sparked Shelly's imagination in writing this novel. These observations tackle the question of why exactly did Shelly choose to write on this topic, which is crucial in understanding the mindset with which she developed the character, Victor.
The basic theme running through the novel is the ambitious pursuance of knowledge and science which finally led to Victor's death. He started off quite innocently with apparently good intentions, and in the beginning of the novel, he did not have any apparent ulterior motives as to the misuse of his knowledge. However, as he learned, the possibilities of his ...Download file to see next pagesRead more