Science, Technology and Ethics in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Book Report/Review Example

Frankenstein is a scintillating novel that speaks about the oppressive forces in the society. We can see oppressive forces operating in the novel that ultimately made it a tragedy. These opposing forces damaged the entire show as no good things happened in the entire story. Growth of science and technology is portrayed as an oppressive force that oppresses the gentle humanity. This dangerous growth of technology is found to be enslaving the aspects of humanity in this novel. Technology acts as an autonomous force that enchains the natural humane forces. Technology crosses all barriers of ethics to move to new heights. The rapid technological growth and the corresponding inventions have restricted man to be ‘mere cogs in the social machine’. Human being’s pursuit of knowledge has given birth to several oppressive forces that are trying to eliminate humanity and the entire human community from the face of the earth. In the novel Frankenstein, the main character Victor Frankenstein (the doomed protagonist who is the narrator of the major portion of the story) attempted to go beyond the accepted human limit. He endeavored something which he should not have done; attempting to access the secret of life. Victor’s strange quest for knowledge made him give birth to a dangerous ugly-looking monster who took away from him everything he loved. A similar endeavor was done by Robert Walton (the Arctic seafarer whose letters open and close the novel) who is trying to surpass all previous human explorations and discoveries by attempting to reach the North Pole. It is Walton who picks the almost dead Victor out of the ice and cares him to bring him back to life. Victor’s ruthless chase for knowledge created the monster that murdered everyone dear to him. The monster is the eight-foot-tall, horrible creation which is trying to integrate himself into human social patterns. This strange creature is intelligent and sensitive and tries to bring harm to its creator. This ruthless monster which is the child of technology represents the dangerous technology which is the most perilous oppressive force of the society. The then-current European view of technology (during the time of the novel Frankenstein) was more or less like a monster or gigantic force that harms the nature and humanity in every possible way. The human made technology also has turned out to be curse for humanity like this monster made by Victor. The technology that was supposed to be a liberating force turned out to be a curse for humanity. Human beings make tools and techniques that do not work well for them. Technology fails human beings. They try to answer with technology, problems above problems. Frankenstein is a novel about oppressive forces. Dangerous pursuit of knowledge and cursed human inventions are the oppressive forces operating in the novel. Humanity or human beings are oppressed (literally and allegorically) in the novel. The oppressive force, the monster stands at the center of the action. He was rejected by the society. He starts dangerous activities because of his grotesque appearance and because of his perverted or abnormal manner of the creation. He is out of strange chemicals and stolen body parts. Monster is the result of dark, supernatural workings and is not the pure result of collaborative scientific efforts. This dark supernatural working is another oppressive force that troubles human beings and leads them to destruction and death. Monster is the symbol of the oppressive forces in the world that are the brain child of human beings. Several of the human inventions are powerful and destructive enough to swipe out the entire humanity from the earth. What about the invention of Atom Bomb. The inventor Albert Einstein was in the same plight as experienced by Victor Frankenstein here. What good it furnished for the betterment of the humanity. Was it ever found to be genuinely beneficial for a single individual in the world? The unwanted pursuit of knowledge has presented nothing but tears, pain, separation and absolute annihilation to the world. The origin of HIV is also suspected to be the result of some devilish pursuit of knowledge and inventions (in a laboratory). The monster is the representative of this human knowledge thirst that works against its creator. The monster or the dangerous knowledge that Victor used to create the monster is the oppressive force that killed Victor’s brother, his wife and finally Victor. Monster was made by abnormal manner of creation. Abnormal knowledge track manufacture nothing but man eating monsters. Abnormal knowledge track is attempting to clone human beings. Abnormal knowledge track is destroying killing babies inside its mother. Abnormal creation has become the most popular field of study for scientists who represent Victor Frankenstein in the present world. Aggressive and wrong hunt for knowledge or inventions is yet to introduce several more oppressive forces or monsters into this world. HIV has become an oppressive force that has gone much beyond the control. World is about to witness several similar ones readymade from the laboratory. There are various monstrous entities in the novel, Frankenstein that is more dangerous than the real monster. Perilous knowledge is an example. We can also say that Victor himself is a monster. His selfishness, secrecy, and strange ambition separated him from the human society and made him engage in activities that harmed him to death. He is indeed a monster inside. He finally created his own creation and tried to escape from its consequences. He recognized the fault only because the monster turned against him. He would have never minded if the monster created problems for strangers (and not to him). Victor does not seem to have any good intention in the creation of the monster. He was just behind the cruel thrill of dangerous inventions. He is also a monster, may be more dangerous than the real one. He represents another oppressive force that negatively influences the value, peace and prosperity of the human race. The novel Frankenstein says that the cruel longing for knowledge, of the light (Light and Fire) is obviously unsafe. Victor gained nothing and lost everything he had. He was out of a decent family and had every means to be happy. Similar is the fate of human beings. Nature has bestowed them with everything that they need to be happy. Still there originates ruthless quest for knowledge in the mind of few who father the oppressive forces that disturbs the peace, prosperity and well being of human beings in earth. In the novel Frankenstein several innocent people are oppressed, literally as well as allegorically. Victor brother William is killed by the oppressive force, the monster. Victor’s new wife Elizabeth, the gentle one is also killed by the monster. Both these characters (William and Elizabeth) represent gentle humanity in the novel. Victor himself is afflicted. The novel altogether became oppressed. The author of Frankenstein Mary Shelly took up this matter (of ruthless knowledge quest and the subsequent birth of oppressive forces) and beautifully illustrated it in the form of a Gothic novel. This resistance to oppression is found to be the characteristic of the Romantic era as that period was not characterized by the birth of ruthless technology and subsequent oppressive forces. The current world no loner resists the oppressive force, it is so used to it. References Bann, Stephen (editor). Frankenstein, Creation, and Monstrosity. London: Reaktion Books, 1994. Branagh, Kenneth. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Classic Tale of Terror Reborn on Film. Edited by Diana Landau. London: Pan, 1994. Ketterer, David. Frankenstein’s Creation: The Book, the Monster, and Human Reality. Victoria: University of Victoria, 1979. Levine, George, and Knoepflmacher, U. C. (editors). The Endurance of Frankenstein: Essays on Mary Shelley’s Novel. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979. Patterson, Mary K. The Monster in the Mirror: Gender and the Sentimental/Gothic Myth in Frankenstein. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1987. Read More