The Evil Aspects in Notes from Underground, Paradise Lost, and Frankenstein - Essay Example

Three works, even though written in different periods, are characterized by the involvement of evil aspects that play a pulsating role in its success. This aspect plays a major role in determining the destiny of the characters in it. This underlying aspect, to some extent, has made these works more popular. 

Satan and his followers assemble and swear against God and his creature-man on Earth. Even though God had warned Adam and Eve about the cunningness of Satan, Eve falls into the temptation of the Serpent and this led Adam to commit disobedience to God. Satan’s attempts to win over man and thereby God have constituted the major aspect of the poem. Even though the protagonist in Paradise Lost is Man, the involvement of Satan in almost all parts of the poem has made many consider Satan as the hero of the poem. True the over dominance of evil aspects in Paradise Lost is in fact very vivid throughout the poem. William G. Riggs says that “We have seen that evil in Paradise Lost as if at a loss to discover its true shape, mimics good, and in consequence, the shape of evil is often deceptively attractive to unwary humanity” (Riggs 169).

The movie, Frankenstein has been proclaimed for its science-fiction aspects. The young scientist, Frankenstein’s attempts to recreate a human creature was about to succeed but Fritz, the devoted assistant of Frankenstein, by mistake, had put a criminal brain. This might have been the flaw of their attempt. The brain of the creature knows only hatred, murder, and horror. The creature had been aroused with this criminal brain and this led to the death of Little Maria. The evil aspect of the creature, even though mistakenly installed, causes the movement of the move. The drowning of Maria was seen as the epitome of the creation of an evil brain in the creature. In another sense it can be said that Frankenstein wanted to challenge God’s creation and as he did create a creature on his own like God might have punished him for it. Of course, one cannot deny the dominance of evil aspects in the film. The good ending of the film by destroying the creature and the marriage of Frankenstein with Elizabeth gives out the message of the victory of truth over evilness.

In the story, Notes from Underground, the protagonist, Underground Man is against the human law and system. He presents himself as antagonistic towards laws and human conventions which do not find the originality in a man. He prefers to an underground away from the mainstream of the public and society. The book is divided into two parts. The first part tells of his character whereas the second part takes the events that happened 15 years before part 1. Readers can understand that throughout his life the Underground man had only one as his possession- his hatred to all. Whomsoever he confronted, like Simonov, Zverkov, and Liza, he had used this avenge to them in one way or other. His mind was filled with only the thoughts of hatred towards all others. He had shown this hatred even to himself. He was not at all accepted by others. The basic character of the Underground man is against society and the common affairs. The evil aspects of hatred are prevalent over the novel and it can be exceptionally called a story of a peculiar person. The notes prepared by the narrator tell that the Underground Man in this novel is not a hero but an anti-hero who shows only evil elements to others.

In analyzing the evil aspects in these three works it is very clear that the evil aspects in Paradise Lost and Frankenstein have some reasons but the evil aspects in the story Notes from Underground do not claim an amble reason. The story is more psychological and it perplexes the readers. If a close observation is done it can be understood that the evil aspects in Paradise Lost stand as supreme in all these three works. It takes a relevant reason from the very beginning and the sustainability of the aspect is there throughout the work. All three works, of course, are relied on the aspects of evil and this caused the wide popularity among the readers in different nations.