Monster Stories by Ishiguro and Shelly - Book Report/Review Example

The monsters who serve society as mere by products in the effort to use scientific advancements to ultimately save more important lives There are a lot of things that are currently happening in the world. Countries have been fighting each other and a lot of corruptions has been reporting in many countries. In connection to this, there is need for every man to be reminded what humanity is. Two authors; Ishiguro and Shelly, have just done that. These two authors have touched on “monster” tales which have been considered taboo for a long period of time. However just like other “monster” stories, the way Ishiguro retells his story is significantly different from the traditional Shelly’s Frankenstein. Most authors tend to make their story friendlier especially when it is based on the “monsters”. In connection to this, the main aim of this paper is to describe how Ishiguro’s story is significantly different from the traditional Shelly’s story. The two authors stories are based on “monsters”, however, Ishiguro’s story is about clones who are brought up to be donors when they are young adults. On the other hand, Shelly’s story is based on Victor, who is a scientist, therefore when his mother died, he felt so sad that he decided to find ways of recreating dead bodies, and eventually he was successful. The first significant difference is that the traditional Frankenstein story majorly focussed on the “real monster”. The real monster is the person who due to his selfish interest, decided to recreate a dead man. This despite the fact that death is evitable. While, Ishiguro’s story focusses more on the creatures, in fact the story does not talk about the people who created the monster. There are other several differences between these two books; however, I would like to discuss five main differences. These are, secrecy, monstrosity, treatment of the clones, mimicking of the society, and dangerous knowledge. Treatment of the clones and monster. The clones in Ishiguro’s story and the monster in Shelly’s story are treated differently, despite the fact that both of them have been created scientifically. The clones were able to mingle in the society freely; this is because they had the same appearance as other normal human beings (Shelly 25). On the other hand, after Victor had created the monster, he becomes so guilty that he has recreated a human being, but he has no provisions of taking care of the monster (Ishiguro 30). Therefore, Victor runs away and seeks solace within the university while, the monster goes to the countryside. It is therefore evident that the way Ishiguro has retold his story is significantly different from the original version of the story. In Shelly’s story the monster, was not being taken care of, while in Ishiguro’s story, we see the monsters having a peaceful live. Shelly, also through her story has brought out the cruelty of the “real monsters”, something which we Ishiguro has not brought out (Shelly 10). This shows how mankind is not able to embrace change. It depicts the deep rooted judgement that every other human being is facing today. Through her book, Shelly wanted to show that even scientific creatures have feelings and that they should also be given an opportunity to express themselves, before they are judged. This is because, from the story, after Victor had ran away, the monster moves to countryside to seek solace (Shelly 21). However, this is different from the way the clones are being treated, because they were even taken to school. Where they are supposed to learn how to stay with the other human beings. Kathy, who is the major character in Ishiguro’s book, is portrayed as kind and loving. She was brought up as a donor, throughout the story we see her as caring and loving (Ishiguro 18). Also, Shelly’s original version monster story, Victor has been shown to be vengeful. As the story ends, Victor wants to kill the monster because he killed his fiancée on the wedding day. Victor therefore was annoyed by the monster, and therefore he decided to look for the monster and kill him. However, unfortunately he is the one that ends up dying. While in Ishiguro’s story, the real monsters have not been talked about. Therefore, Ishiguro is not telling his audience, how the people who created the “monsters” treated the clones (Shelly 30). The secrecy. Shelly’s story has a lot of secrets. Victor after creating the monster, he did not share the information with any one. According to Victor, it is important not to share the knowledge someone has, because; there are a group of people who will tend to discourage the scientist. Therefore, if someone wishes to excel in science, he or she needs to be secretive. It is this lack of sharing that made Victor not to know how to care of the monster. The monster was kept away from human beings because Victor needed to monitor how he was adapting to the new environment (Shelly 23). On the contrary, in Ishiguro’s story, secrecy has not been discussed at length. Apart from, when Kathy and his friends were still young. However, after they had grown up, they were allowed to mingle with others. In fact, they were allowed to go to school, just like the rest of the children (Ishiguro 25). It is obvious that, informations about clones, is always kept secret, however, in Ishiguro’s story that information seems to be with the public. While, Shelly has tried to limit the public’s access to that information. It is therefore clear that the way Ishiguro has retold his story is different from Shelly’s story. Dangerous knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge is at the centre of Shelly’s Frankenstein. Throughout the story, Victor keeps on doing research. In fact, there are days when he forgoes his meals in order to finish a research he had started in the morning. At this point, the author is trying to show the lengths men go in order to meet their targets. At some point, Victor’s marriage hanged in the balance, because he never cared for his family (Shelly 30). In connection to this, the more a man gets to understand, the more he gets obsessed by the activity. On the other hand, Ishiguro tries to explain why it is important to understand nature. For example, the three main characters in his story are very polite; in fact they have been brought up knowing that it is important to give. Kathy, who is the main character, kept on wondering when they will be allowed to donate some of their body parts. Therefore, the author is trying to show that it is important to have knowledge (Shelly 19). The world today is full of evil, if there was a way men could be trained on the need of sharing what we have, the world could have been a very peaceful place to live in. Monstrosity. Both the books show the monstrosity that exists in the world today. However, the way the authors portrays the monstrosity is different. For example, in Shelly’s Frankenstein, the way the monster is being handled shows the cruelty of mankind. This is because throughout the story, the scientific beings are kept in isolation. Despite the fact, that they too have feelings just like other human beings (Shelly 7). On the contrary, Ishiguro’s, never let me go, show how the clones were being trained to donate their vital organs to others. This is dangerous because; there are some organs which when removed may lead to death. The author therefore was trying to show the need of understanding one another (Ishiguro 8). Mimicking of the society. Both the authors show how human beings have gone to dangerous lengths of mimicking the society. By creating clones and monsters, the authors are showing how man is trying to compete with God. However, in Shelly’s Frankenstein, the author is trying to show that it is not possible to create a human being. This is because; the monster was very different from other human beings. Therefore, it shows that man cannot create another human being. In connection to this, the path that man has taken is very dangerous (Shelly 31). On the other hand, Ishiguro’s, never let me go; the author is showing that by creating clones, man is not doing himself good. This is because Kathy and Tom who were clones were very generous and they were always ready to donate their vital organs, however, this is not right because, assuming they donate a heart, and then they die instantly. It will make no difference because in the long run a life is going to be lost (Ishiguro 36). CONCLUSION In summary, these two books show how some people use their knowledge in order to achieve their selfish interest. In Ishiguro’s story, the main focus has been on the clones who are brought up in order to be donors. Unfortunately, after donating their organs four times they die. It is ironical because, it is death that the scientists who created them are trying to avoid. While in Shelly’s story after recreating a dead body, Victor still wants to kill the monster for killing his fiancée. In connection to this, it is clear that most scientist misuse their scientific knowledge. Bibliography Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never let me go. United Kingdom: Faber and Faber. 2005. Print. Shelly Mary. Frankenstein. France: Superior formatting. 2010. Print. Read More