Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Book Report/Review Example

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Introduction This book, Frankenstein, is about a scientist who found himself in the same predicament as the scientists of tomorrow. In this book, Frankenstein studied life and the human body until he was able to see the secret to life. However, being an immoral and obsessive man, he went too far and used his secret to usurp God’s power to create life. Although he intended for his creation to be beautiful, it was an ugly, revolting monster. Clearly, Shelley’s view of science was not that science itself is evil, but that science in the hands of a monster can produce some very evil things. (Levine, 127) I believe that science is a great thing, but it can not explain why humans act the way they do. Science can have a negative impact. Throughout Mary Shelleys book, "Frankenstein", there are numerous references to science and its uses. Shelleys idea of science is that if it is not used correctly then it can be evil. (Mellor, 100) Shelleys entire story is about the creation of life. The main character, Victor Frankenstein, brings science and life together. Frankenstein takes Gods role of the creation of life and makes it his own science project. He creates a monster. "I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body" (Shelly 43). For two years Frankenstein only focused on his creation and nothing else, science took over his life. This affects both his health and power of reasoning. This is when the reader is first introduced to Shelleys idea that science can be evil when misused. Frankenstein creates life, but his creation is taking lives. The monster was created in an attempt to demonstrate Frankensteins great knowledge of science. After the monsters first killing Frankenstein has a chance to do right and tell the truth, but he lets a friend take the blame. His character is then shown by him not being strong enough to face the truth about his wrong it his creation of life. He started his work to show off and become powerful and as a result of his intentions his monster is killing and he is left to live in fear of the next murder. (Levine, 131) Frankenstein was a man both infatuated with science and with questionable morals. In one passage, Shelley explains that Frankenstein, through his education from his father, did not believe in the supernatural. He was never fearful of anything dead or dark. Frankenstein said, “A churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life” (161). The passage goes on to describes how Frankenstein became obsessed with death and that he spent days and nights in these vaults filled with bones. In these vaults, he ultimately discovers the secret to life. Already Shelly portrays Frankenstein as being not a normal man. Nevertheless, being obsessed with death is not what makes him evil. An internet website tells of Alex Gray, a man who was also obsessed with death and the human form. However, instead of making something monstrous from his knowledge, he draws beautiful portraits of the human body. Studying a dead human body for science may or may not be immoral. However, using the knowledge to circumvent God is definitely immoral to most people and is certainly immoral to Shelley. (Mellor, 96) At this point, Shelly shows Frankenstein making the immoral decision to create life. Frankenstein begins the slow tedious process of gathering and putting all the body parts together to construct a living human. He feels that if the creature is a success, the new species will welcome him as their great inventor and source. What power he must have felt with this thought! He could be God to a new species! Frankenstein went on to reason, if he were able to create life, he would later be able to “renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption” (162). Finally, Frankenstein finished the human construction and he infused life into the creature. Frankenstein has done it! He has created life! Frankenstein then went on to narrate what he observed when the creature awakened: “I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs” (164). Acting as God and conquering death is the ultimate feeling of power! Shelly must have thought that the power Frankenstein felt was one of the main driving forces that immorally drove him to create life. She must have also felt that something as powerful as science was bound to be misused. Even though Frankenstein’s intentions seemed positive at first, the outcome was an ugly, horrible monster. In this passage, Frankenstein is deeply disturbed because his creation is terrifying and hideous: How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!--Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriance’s only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips. (164) How could Frankenstein be so afraid of and hate the very thing he worked so long to create? Shelley surely felt that Frankenstein, blinded by power, could not see the evil he was bringing to life. By now, Frankenstein is so fearful of the creature that he runs away from it. The creature escapes, and Frankenstein, being the immoral, cowardly man that he is, does nothing to stop it. Shelly must have felt that humankind, just like Frankenstein, could be blinded by the power of science. She could have also gone on to think that humans may intend to use science for good, but the outcome could be an unstoppable monster. (Bann, 68) Mary Shelley has given the novel a hidden message, this message is trying to put across the dangers of pride and egotism, as in the novel Victor feels that when he recreates life he will become world famous. (Levine, 135) The second message of this novel is that the careless use of science can become dangerous. Frankenstein not considering the consequences of his action is showing this careless use of science. Mary Shelley does not criticize this act of creation, but Victor is unwilling to accept responsibility, for his deeds. (Bann, 65) His creation only becomes a monster because of its rejection from humans and especially Victor Frankenstein. Conclusion Mary Shelly’s view should be clear by now. Not only did Frankenstein use science immorally, but also he created a monster and took no responsibility for it. For these reasons, Frankenstein is evil, and science is just his tool of choice. Shelley’s Frankenstein is book humankind must learn from. The important questions of morality must continue to be asked. Being creators of life is very enticing, but at some point society must draw the line. Mary Shelley’s main message of the novel is that you shouldn’t be over ambitious. Mary Shelley is trying to tell people that scientific experiments should not to be used to play with nature. Nature should be left alone because the consequences may be disastrous, as shown by Frankenstein’s experiment. Work Cited Levine, George, and U. C. Knoepflmacher, eds. The Endurance of Frankenstein: Essays on Mary Shelley’s Novel. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979: 127-135 Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Edited by Johann Smith. Boston: St. Martin’s Press, 1992. Mellor, Anne K. Mary Shelley: Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters. New York: Routledge, 1988: 96-102 Bann, Stephen. Frankenstein, Creation and Monstrosity. London: Reaktion Books, 1997: 65-68 Read More